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- Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 04:30:39 PDT
- From: Ham-Space Mailing List and Newsgroup <ham-space@ucsd.edu>
- Errors-To: Ham-Space-Errors@UCSD.Edu
- Reply-To: Ham-Space@UCSD.Edu
- Precedence: Bulk
- Subject: Ham-Space Digest V94 #81
- To: Ham-Space
-
-
- Ham-Space Digest Mon, 4 Apr 94 Volume 94 : Issue 81
-
- Today's Topics:
- ANS-092 BULLETINS
- EME contest scheduling
-
- Send Replies or notes for publication to: <Ham-Space@UCSD.Edu>
- Send subscription requests to: <Ham-Space-REQUEST@UCSD.Edu>
- Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu.
-
- Archives of past issues of the Ham-Space Digest are available
- (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/ham-space".
-
- We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
- herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
- policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: 3 Apr 94 18:13:58 GMT
- From: agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.intercon.com!panix!zip.eecs.umich.edu!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!@
- Subject: ANS-092 BULLETINS
- To: ham-space@ucsd.edu
-
- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.01
- AMSAT-OE SPONSORS SEMINAR
-
- HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 092.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
- SILVER SPRING, MD APRIL 2, 1994
- TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
- BID: $ANS-092.01
-
- AMSAT-Austria Sponsors Space Education Seminar 16-APR-1994 In Innsbruck
-
- The AMSAT-Austria group (AMSAT-OE) will announce their first Educational
- Development Seminar meeting using the amateur radio satllites AO-21 and
- DOVE (DO-17). It is most fitting that these satellites will be used to
- broadcast the announcement of this meeting because the theme is the
- advancement science education through use and observation of OSCARs. Look
- for the announcement from DOVE beginning on 15-APR-1994 in its telemetry
- broadcasts and look for the synthesized voice message from AO-21 this week.
-
- The meeting will take place on 16-APR-1994 at the Technical Highschool of
- Innsbruck, Austria and is being sponsored by the Department of Electronics
- and Telecommunication. The presenters planned will be OE1VKW, DG2CV, and
- EA2CLS/KB7HTA, and I2KBD. All of these radio amateurs are well know in
- educational circles. They have a lot of interesting information for those
- in attendence. All are invited to join AMSAT-OE at this seminar. For more
- information, contact Wolf Hoeller (OE7FTJ) at his INTERNET address of
- uibk.ac.at.
-
- [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank Wolf Hoeller (OE7FTJ) for this
- bulletin item.]
-
- /EX
- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.02
- OPERATING TIPS FOR AO-27
-
- HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 092.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
- SILVER SPRING, MD APRIL 2, 1994
- TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
- BID: $ANS-092.02
-
- N8QGC & N4TPY Offer Some Operating Suggestions For AMRAD-OSCAR-27 (AO-27)
-
- N8GQC has been working staions on AO-27 all the way from his Detroit area
- QTH to as far away as Mexico City, Mexico, Baffin Island, and the North
- West Teritories. He notes that these are great contacts for a Low Earth
- Orbiting (LEO) satellite. In his discussions with the AO-27's ground con-
- trol station station operator N4TPY, N8GQC has put together a list of "good
- operating practices" that N4TPY would like all those who use AO-27 to
- follow:
-
- 1. Please use as little power as possible. It is recommended that you
- use your H/T when possible. If not, then use no more then 25 Watts
- ERP.
-
- 2. Please try to be kind to other satellite operators. The object should
- be to make as many contacts as you can, and to step on as few as
- possible.
-
- 3. The satellite has no set schedule of availability at this time. The
- control stations will make it available only on weekends during daylight
- passes. Sometimes during the week AO-27 may also be on, but it will be
- "hit or miss."
-
- N8QGC has worked AO-27 with a very simple set up. He transmits on the
- uplink frequency of 145.850 MHz using a homebrew 1/4 wave vertical antenna.
- His total uplink power is 10 watts. N8GQC find that this gives him a very
- strong signal into the satellite. But he especially wants hams to know
- that he has also worked AO-27 using a H/T with a "rubber-duck" antenna and
- 2.5 watts output! However, receiving this satellite can be somewhat
- difficult. N8QGC uses a KLM 440-6X antenna to receive. This is the the same 6
- element UHF YAGI that he uses for transmitting on AO-21 when he isn't
- communicating through AO-27. AO-27's downlink can be heard on on 436.800
- MHz. N8QGC is in the process of experimenting with several different
- receiving antennas. For mobile operations using AO-27 he has tried using
- his full-wave 70CM antenna on the car but has noted that doesn't work
- very well. On the receive side, he reports, it still takes a 6 element
- Yagi antenna.
-
- By keeping the above suggestions in mind, all users of AO-27 will be able
- to enjoy it to its fullest capabilities.
-
- [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank N8GQC & N4TPY for this bulletin
- item.]
-
- /EX
- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.03
- SATELLITE W.A.E.Z.S. AWARD
-
- HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 092.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
- SILVER SPRING, MD APRIL 2, 1994
- TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
- BID: $ANS-092.03
-
- Worked All European Zones by Satellite (W.A.E.Z.S.) Award Available
-
- AO-10 and AO-13 user Mario Di Iorio (IW6BNC) is active from his QTH in
- Macerata located in the center of Italy, grid square JN63RH. Mario is also
- the manager of W.A.E.Z.S (Worked All European Zones by Satellite) Award.
- Mario reports that very few radio amateurs know of the existence of this
- award. The European zones are: 14, 15, 16, 20, and 40. The award is divided
- into a bronze, silver, and gold award. The follwing is the criteria for
- each catagory:
-
- 1) The basic award or the "Bronze" award can be obtained with a single QSO
- with any radio amateur station in Macerata, Italy and 3 European
- zones.
-
- 2) The "Silver" award can be obtained with making contacts with 4 European
- zones and 1 operator from Macerata, Italy.
-
- 3) The "Gold" award can be obtained with 5 European zone contacts plus one
- contact from any station in Macerata, Italy.
-
- The follwoing are the only valid amateur radio operators from Macerata.
- And they are are: 1) IK6LMB, 2) IW6BNC, 3) IK6MQM. Send your requests for
- this award to:
-
- W.A.E.Z.S AWARD MANAGER
- c/o A.R.I. MACERATA
- P.O. BOX 66
- 62100 MACERATA - MC ITALY
-
- and please include 10 IRCs.
-
- The orginal QSL cards are not needed as proof of confirmation of the contacts
- but only a list of QSOs containing all the details of the contacts between
- the stations involved. This award is valid for a single satellite but it
- changes with respect to the different modes of operation, e.g., SSB, CW or
- a mix of the the two modes. IW6BNC hopes to see many stations striving to
- obtain the W.A.E.Z.S award. If you have further questions about this award
- and its rules, direct your inquiries to:
-
- Mario Di Iorio (IW6BNC)
- P.O. Box 66
- 62100 Macerata - MC
- Italy
-
- Or you can send IW6BNC a packet message to his local packet radio BBS of
- IW6BNC @ IW6BET.MC.ITA.EU.
-
- /EX
- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.04
- LATEST ZRO TEST NOTES
-
- HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 092.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
- SILVER SPRING, MD APRIL 2, 1994
- TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
- BID: $ANS-092.04
-
- WA5ZIB Offers The Some Observations On The Recent AO-13 ZRO Tests
-
- The current round of ZRO Tests via AO-13 are complete. No tests were
- missed and all went well. Some interference was experienced on the Feb-
- ruary 19th test, but it was not critical. The tests of February 19th and
- 26th were completed just prior to AO-13's switch to Mode "S" with no time
- available for discussion with participants after the tests. These ZRO
- tests were scheduled very close to the mode-switch time due to a minor error
- in predictions made months in advance. The February 26th test was begun a
- few minutes early to ensure that all levels would be sent prior to mode
- switch. Many thanks to those on the AO-13 AMSAT Operations Net that
- identified the potential schedule conflict before it became a problem.
-
- No new Z9 reports have yet been received, but there's plenty of time to
- send in submissions. There is no charge for copy verification although an
- S.A.S.E. is appreciated. Send your copy to: Andy MacAllister (WA5ZIB),
- AMSAT V.P. User Services, 14714 Knights Way Drive, Houston, TX 77083-5640.
-
- More tests will be scheduled during the next season of Nadir pointing for
- AO-13. The dates will be posted to the AMSAT News Service (ANS).
-
- /EX
- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.05
- WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS
-
- HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 092.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
- SILVER SPRING, MD APRIL 2, 1994
- TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
- BID: $ANS-092.05
-
- Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 02-APR-94
-
- AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule:
- M QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Mar 19-Apr 04
- Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 90 |
- Mode-BS : MA 90 to MA 120 |
- Mode-S : MA 120 to MA 122 |<- S beacon only
- Mode-S : MA 122 to MA 145 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF
- Mode-S : MA 145 to MA 150 |<- S beacon only
- Mode-BS : MA 150 to MA 180 | Blon/Blat 180/0
- Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 |
- Omnis : MA 230 to MA 30 | Move to attitude 235/0, Apr 04 240/0, Apr 04
- [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR]
-
- FO-20: The following is the current schedule for transponder operations:
- ANALOG MODE:
- 6-Apr-94 6:45 -to- 13-Apr-94 7:10 UTC
- 20-Apr-94 7:35 -to- 27-Apr-94 7:55 UTC
- 11-May-94 6:54 -to- 18-May-94 7:20 UTC
- Digital mode: Unless otherwise noted above.
- [Kazu Sakamoto (JJ1WTK) qga02014@niftyserve.or.jp]
-
- AO-21: N8QGC has been working AO-21 from Detroit QTH and notes that AO-21
- is operating normally. It is on the following schedule: 5 minutes of FM
- repeater operation followed by 4 minutes of WEFAX transmissions. Fin-
- ally, the cycle is conclued with 1 minute of packet before switching
- back to FM repeter mode. [N8QGC]
-
- AO-27: AO-27 now acting as a 'J' mode FM transponder and is proving very
- popular in Europe, with increased activity daily. It has a strong ex-
- cellent quality downlink that can easily be heard on a hand-held receiver
- on 436.800 MHz +/- some 10 KHz of shift Doppler shift correction. It's
- sensitivity is far greater than 'B' Mode on AO-21. If there are no QRO
- stations on 145.850 MHz (+/- some 3 KHz of Doppler shift), uplinking us-
- ing a hand-held which can produce 2 watts ERP is capable of putting an
- excellent full quieting signal into the transponder. As evidence G3IOR
- has worked several other European stations using 2.5 watt hand-held
- dual-band transceivers and for optimum footprint coverage to VE8DX who
- was running just 3 watts into a ground plane omni-directional from Baffin
- Island. All were fully quieting signals! [G3IOR]
-
- STS-59: A brief reminder that STS-59 is scheduled to be launched on 07-APR-94
- at 12:07 UTC and will carry the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment
- (SAREX) payload. For complete details, please refer back to the
- $ANS-071.02 bulletin.
-
- The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) is looking for volunteers to contribute weekly
- OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a
- regular basis and would like to contribute to this bulletin, please send
- your observations to WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on
- INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO
- area, WD0HHU @ W0LJF.#NECO.CO.USA.NOAM. Also, if you find that the current
- set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at
- your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you
- provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts.
-
- /EX
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 3 Apr 94 17:39:49 GMT
- From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu
- Subject: EME contest scheduling
- To: ham-space@ucsd.edu
-
- About a week ago someone (I believe it was a G) posted a detailed analysis
- for the optimum weekends for the EME contests, based not only on visibility
- and S/N ratio, but also on European contest conflicts. I seem to have
- erased that day's email and would like to receive another copy if someone
- could be so kind. The scheduling has become a minor topic on the contest
- reflector and I wanted to be up on all of the issues.
-
- Thanks in advance. John W0UN broz@csn.org
-
- (On EME myself, but only at HF! Have gotten excellent echoes on 10M with
- a 32 element array and fair (at best) echoes on 15M with a 28 element array.)
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Ham-Space Digest V94 #81
- ******************************
-