From: cowdin@pogo.DEn.mmc.COM (Dave Cowdin)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: ANS-009 BULLETINS
Date: 10 Jan 93 23:27:40 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu
Originator: daemon@ucsd.edu

SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-009.01
ARSENE LAUNCH IN APRIL

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 009.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 9, 1993     BID:$ANS-009.01
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

A New OSCAR Satellite Known as ARSENE To Be Launched In April '93

The French amateur radio satellite organization known as "The Radio Amateur
Club de l'Espace" (RACE) recently sponsored a conference to discuss in
detail the first OSCAR satellite scheduled to fly in '93.  The conference
was held in Toulouse, France on 12-DEC-92 and was attended by over 80
interested amateurs representing many diverse areas of amateur radio.  RACE
President, Jean Grau (F8ZS), was present to show off the new ARSENE "logo"
which, incidently, was designed by Marc De Filippis (F6EZH) whose talent is
well known by the amateur community because he is the creator of the
MICROSAT's logo which was choosen by AMSAT-NA.  The ARSENE logo is a very
original representation of the satellite in outstanding colors criss-
crossed by a signature and surrounded by three names.  These names
summarize the different individuals and organizations that were involved in
the ARSENE project over the past 10 years.

F8ZS mentioned some very important preliminary details which all radio
amateurs should know when planning to work ARSENE.  At the present time the
planned launch date for ARSENE is scheduled for 20-APRIL-93 and will fly
aboard an ARIANE-4 rocket launcher along with a geostationary television
satellite known as ASTRA-1C.  Right after launch there will be two stations
in place at La Reunion Island prepared to copy telemetry from ARSENE
immediately after it separates from the the rocket booster.  These two
stations will gather telemetry and send it Toulouse, France where the
ARSENE satellite ground control station (FF1STA) will begin to analyze
the satellite's condition during these first critical hours of its life.
For those who would like to collect and analyze the telemetry yourself, you
can copy the telemetry on the 2M downlink frequency of 145.975 MHz using a
packet radio TNC.

On the fourth orbit, ARSENE's "apogee-kick-motor" will be fired in order to
place it into the proper orbit.  The final orbit will have an apogee of
36,000 KM, a perigee of 20,000 KM, an orbital inclination of zero degrees,
and an orbital period of 17 and one-half hours!  This orbit will allow
stations located between latitudes of 60 degrees north and south to see and
use ARSENE for at lest 50% of its period!

The following are the ARSENE's transponder frequencies:

UPLINK FREQUENCY #1:           435.050 MHz
UPLINK FREQUENCY #2:           435.100 MHz <-----
UPLINK FREQUENCY #3:           435.150 MHz      |
                                           Mode S Combination (CW/SSB)
DOWNLINK FREQUENCY #1:         145.975 MHz      |
DOWNLINK FREQUENCY #2:        2446.500 MHz <----

ARSENE WILL BE A PACKET RADIO "RELAY" SATELLITE.  It will not have a
bulletin board system capability.  All three uplink link frequencies will
only accept AX.25 1200 baud FSK packet.  However, when ARSENE is in Mode S,
one can transmit on 435.100 MHz and listen to their downlink on 2446.500
MHz.  During Mode S, one can use use this "analog" transponder for CW or
SSB.  The downlink passband on Mode S is 16 KHz wide.

During the next three months there will be many bulletins that will be
fourthcoming from the RACE of France to help further explain the various
operational aspects of ARSENE.  Also, while the ARSENE launch team is in
Kourou, French Guiana preparing for launch, there will be daily HF
nets from there to help share information about ARSENE to the radio amateur
world.  On launch day, there will be a "launch-net" to help keep amateurs
around the world informed on the progress of ARSENE, especially in the
first critical orbits.  Please stay tuned to AMSAT Nets and AMSAT News
Service (ANS) bulletins for more information about ARSENE and the launch
day activities.

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Bernard (F6VP) for the
information which went into this bulletin item.  If you would like to
contact Bernard, he can be reached at his local packet radio BBS of
F6BVP @ F6BVP.FRPA.FRA.EU or at his INTERNET address of f6bvp@amsat.org]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-009.02
ARSENE TELEMETRY PROGRAM

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 009.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 9, 1993     BID:$ANS-009.02
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

ASENE Telemetry Decoding Program Available Now

Immediately after the launch of ARSENE, all radio amateurs are invited to
decode and analyze the telemetry from ARSENE's 2M beacon located on a
145.975 MHz.  Using a "standard" AX.25 1200 baud FSK TNC, one will be able
to copy this all of this telemetry quite easily.  The 2M telemetry beacon
will have an output power of 15 watts!  The ARSENE packet beacon  will
transmit 30 analog telemetry channels providing information about the
condition and function of the different on-board modules on the satellite.
FC1OAT has written a program to decode the ARSENE telemetry online.  The
telemetry will be transmitted on the same frequency as the packet traffic
using <UI> frames of AX.25 standard protocol.  The only hardware needed to
copy the telemetry is a standard 1200 bauds TNC without special modem
connected to the audio output of a VHF receiver tuned on 145.975 Mhz.  The
program will work with either a CGA or EGA/VGA graphic adaptator and it is
available through the French packet radio association "ATEPRA" on a
shareware basis.

To obtain your copy of the the ARSENE telemetry decoding program, please
write to ATEPRA at the address given below:

Association Technique pour l'Experimentation du Packet Radio Amateur
23, rue de Provins
F-77520 MONS EN MONTOIS
France

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Bernard (F6VP) for the
information which went into this bulletin item.  If you would like to
contact Bernard, he can be reached at his local packet radio BBS of
F6BVP @ F6BVP.FRPA.FRA.EU or at his INTERNET address of f6bvp@amsat.org]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-009.03
TELMETRY ANALYSIS TOOL RELEASED

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 009.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 9, 1993     BID: $ANS-009.03
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

KB5MU Offers A Telemetry Analysis Program

KB5MU has just released a new program that may be of interest to some of
you called ITSTAMP.  Here is his short description of this new program:

  "ITSTAMP is a utility for InstantTrack users interested in analyzing
   tables of data collected during satellite passes.  It takes any
   timestamped ASCII table, and adds to each record the azimuth,
   elevation, and range from you to the satellite."

This program is available now for anonymous ftp from tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov
as /public/amsat/itrack/itstamp.zip.  It will be available in Section 5
of Compu$erve's HamNet forum as soon as it is blessed by the sysop
(as ITSTMP.ZIP, to conform to Compu$erve's file naming limitations).
It will also be available on the following BBS systems:

    DRIG BBS         214-394-7438
    Celestial RCP/M  513-427-0624
    AMSAT-West       714-738-4331
    RadioSport!      619-279-3921

And, of course, it is also available for download from AO-16, LO-19, and
UO-22.

The application that triggered the creation of ITSTAMP was analysis of the
a performance measurement output "metric" that will be generated by the
next version of the PB.EXE prgram needed to download files from the
PACKSATs.  The newest spacecraft software periodically transmits a count of
what has been sent on the downlink.  The forthcoming PB.EXE can compare
this count to its own local count to determine what percentage of downlink
frames it has received successfully.  This information will be logged to a
file.  For instance, log records might look something like this:

722125229, 222029, 704518970, 532668, 924,  81,  88
722125244, 222044, 704531018, 540987, 924,  69,  88
722125259, 222059, 704542652, 552111, 924,  96,  88

That first number on each line is a "timestamp" in the usual Pacsat
format.

It would be interesting to find out how much the downlink error rate varies
as a funciton of satelite azimuth and elevation from your QTH.  So, if you
then run ITSTAMP and you should get something like the following:

722125229, 222029, 704518970, 532668, 924,  81,  88, 80, 59, 11880
722125244, 222044, 704531018, 540987, 924,  69,  88, 79, 58, 11843
722125259, 222059, 704542652, 552111, 924,  96,  88, 79, 58, 11806

Notice the azimuth, elevation, and range are now at the end of each record.
You can then run these new records into a spreadsheet or some other data
analysis tool to learn more about the data.

You could do the same thing with any ASCII table derived from spacecraft
telemetry, or your S meter reading, or anything else.  The only requirement
is that the records be timestamped in this format.

KB5MU wants to warn "telemetry" gathering enthusiasts that ITSTAMP by
itself doesn't do anything very useful; it is merely intended to be added
to be part of your telmetry data analysis "toolbox."

KB5MYU would be interested to find out if this program useful, or if you
have any suggestions for improvements.

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Paul Williamson (KB5MU)
for this bulletin item.  If you would like to contact KB5MU about this new
utility, his INTERNET address is kb5mu@amsat.org]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-009.04
AMSAT OPERATIONS NET SCHEDS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 009.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 9, 1993    BID: $ANS-009.04
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

AMSAT-NA Operations Net Schedule

AMSAT Operations Nets are planned for the following times.  Mode B Nets
are conducted on AO-13 on a downlink frequency of 145.950 MHz and the Mode
J/L Nets on a downlink of 435.970 MHz.

 Date           UTC    Mode     Phs       NCS     Alt

 16-Jan-93       2200   B        36      W5IU    WA5ZIB
 24-Jan-93       0200   B        43      WJ9F    VE2LVC
  6-Feb-93       2200   B        45      VE2LVC  W9ODI

Any stations with information on current events would be most welcome.
In the unlikely event that either the NCS or the alternate do not call
on frequency, any participant is invited to act as net control.

Slow Scan Television on AO-13

SSTV sessions will be held on UTC Saturdays and Sundays at Mean Anomoly
30.  The downlink is on Mode B, 145.960.  OPSNETS will take priority,
look for SSTV activity immediately after the net.

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-009.05
CURRENT OSCAR STATUS REPORT

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 009.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 9, 1993     BID: $ANS-009.05
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

Current OSCAR Status Reports: 01/09/93

FO-20: Date: 01/09/93: FO-20 is in Mode JA SSB mode on Wednesdays UTC.  At
all other times the Mode JD BBS will be in operation.  Mode JA Uplink pass-
band is 145.900-146.000 MHz.  Downlink passband is 435.900-435.800 MHz.
Mode JA is an inverting transponder.  The Mode JA beacon can be heard at
435.795 MHz.  [WD0HHU]

AO-21: Date: 01/09/93: FM Transponder in operation for 6 minutes, a voice
transmission for 3 minutes, and 1200 baud AFSK telemetry transmission
for 1 minute.  This cycle repeats every hour of everyday.  Uplink frequency
is 435.016 MHz and downlink frequency is 145.987 MHz FM.  4Z5BS notes that
one can hear music in the back ground while the voice message is being
transmitted. [4Z5BS]

AO-13: Date: 01/09/93: PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE FROM VK5AGR:
L de VK5AGR 25-DEC-92 21:00 UTC - The last session of magnetorquing to
change AO-13's attitude from 134/6 to 130/0 commenced on 25-DEC-92 at 21:04
UTC i.e. Orbit 3471 MA 237.  As the Sun Angle has been sitting around the -
40 to -45 degrees, the Mode-B transponder operation has had to be
restricted to 55 MA units.  After the completion of this 1 perigee
magnetorque the Sun Angle will steadily improve each day so full Mode-B
operation will be reintroduced as soon as possible.  In the interim Mode-B
will be switched ON from MA 15 to MA 90 and again from MA 170 to MA 240.
The omni antennas will be ON from MA 170 through perigee to MA 15.  Don't
rely on gossip and rumor! Continuous up-to-date information about AO-13
operations is always available on the beacons, 145.812 MHz, 435.658 MHz and
2400.646 MHz in CW, RTTY and 400 bps PSK.

MIR: Date: 01/09/93: U6MIR was very active on speech FM on New Year's Eve,
exchanging greetings messages.  The packet station has been off for much of
the time recently.  On 20-JAN-93 SOYUZ-TM-15 will take replacement
cosmonauts Manakov and Polishchuk to MIR to dock 26-JAN-93.  G3IOR has
heard nothing as to the likely amateur radio activity of this new crew, but
he can only assume the usual cosmonaut training will also include
instructions in amateur radio and how to run the radio equipment aboard
MIR.  The current crew of Solovyov and Avdeyev will return in TM-15
1-FEB-93 1st.  On 5-FEB-93 a PROGRESS supply will go to MIR.  Another
visiting French cosmonaut is due to go up in July '93.  If he is half as
active as his French predecessor Michel Tognini (F5MIR) we will be in for a
treat!  MIR QSL's have been long awaited by many.  The problem of non-
supply has been brought about by the change over in governments, and,
beleive it or not, there is a desperate shortage of envelopes in Russia!
Now UA3CR, RV3DR and LW2DTZ have met to discuss this this problem.  MIR
QSL's should be sent with S.A.S.E., 2 IRC's or one green stamp to: Sergei
Samburov, RV3DR, prospect Kosmonavtov. d.36, kw.96, Kaliningrad City,
MOSCOW 141070, RUSSIA.  For those stations which hear or work MIR and your
QTH is South America only, you should send your cards to Gustavo Carpignano
LW2DTZ, M.ROSAS 2044,  1828 BENFIELD, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA. [G3IOR]

AO-16: Date: 01/09/93: The spacecraft spin rate has slowed to about 14 RPM.
This caused some solar cell power production to drop, which had to be fixed
by WB9ANQ by adjusting the power control algorithm parameters which we can
now do by command.  Transmitter power output was down a bit due to this,
but is now back to normal.  The spacecraft appears to be wobbling a great
deal at the equator but not much at high latitudes.  This may cause signal
fluxuations for stations who see the AO-16 from about + 15 lat to -15 lat.
Cause of the slowed spin and wobble is presently unknown, but probably
related to normal deterioration of the white paint on the antenna blades,
and perhaps seasonal illumination changes.  The Raised Cosine (RC)
transponder is in use.  The downlink frequency is 437.050 MHz.  WH6I
reports that AO-16 appears to be operating normally with the new PB.EXE
software. [WD0E & WH6I]

UO-22: Date: 01/09/93: Operating normally.  Uplink on 145.975 & 145.900 MHz
FM and receive on the downlink frequency of 435.120 MHz FM.  [WH6I]

WO-18: Date 01/09/93: After 668 days of continuous operation WO-18
experienced a software crash on 16-DEC-92.  The initial software was
reloaded and then started on 19-DEC-92, and it crashed after 28 minutes.
WO-18 was again reloaded and restarted on 22-DEC-92 and ran until
29-DEC-92 when we began loading the applications software.  After several
"crash-on-execute" experiments to determine the cause of failure, we did
another minimal software reload and restart on 6-JAN-93.  WO-18 should
remain in this state until approximately 12-JAN-93.  We will then retest a
suspected crash mechanism, and then reload the mission software.  [KB7KCL
at Weber State University (WSU).]

LO-19: Date: 01/09/93:  The Raised Cosine Transponder is in use with the
downlink frequency of 437.1255 MHz.  For broadcast downloads use PB.EXE
version 910509m, and for directory and file uploads, use PG.EXE version
910207r.  On Mondays, look for broadcast bulletin experiments. [LU8DYF]

KO-23: Date: 01/09/93: KO-23 Operations Report: 1) General Information:
Last week, Digital Signal Processing Experiment (DSPE) was ON to test its
voice broadcasting scheduler.  After the test, OBC-186 had to be reloaded
because the S/W did not have enough memory for other tasks.  As KO-23's
initial check-out phase is comming to an end, we will open KO-23's uplink
to all amateurs in the world on 15-Jan-93 and begin the operation of the
BBS.  The decision was made to share KO-23's capabilities in last week's
ground station meeting held on 4-Jan-93.  Though the on-board S/W is
unstable at times, we hope KO-23 can relieve some of the load from the
other PACSATs.  On 15-JAN-93, KO-23 will broadcast its openning message on
its downlink using its DSPE payload.  2) EARTH IMAGING SYSTEM (EIS): It
will start to take pictures again this week and we are hoping to explore
some more of its capability with the high resolution camera.  3) DSPE:
Voice broadcast scheduler was tested during last few weeks and it was
successful.  A PCM voice data sampled at 8KHz is processed (filtering and
compression) on a PC and coded using DSPE data format.  This voice file is
transmitted to DSPE on-board.  Then OBC-186 DSPE task transmits the voice
file to DSPE at the scheduled time.  DSPE decompresses its data and sends
it to douwnlink.  4) COSMIT RAY EXPERIMENT (CRE): Continues collecting
data. [H.S. KIM (G7LAZ) at HL0ENJ]

RS-10/11: Date: 01/09/93: NO STATUS REPORT RECEIVED THIS WEEK

RS-12/13: Date: 01/09/93: NO STATUS REPORT RECEIVED THIS WEEK!

UO-11: Date: 01/09/93: G0/KO5I has uploaded new and current information
concering UO-11.  Monitor its telementry beacon on 145.820 MHz. [G3IOR]

The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) is looking for volunteers to contribute weekly
OSCAR status reports.  If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work
regularly and would like to contribute to this bulletin, please send in
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
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc