From: dave@eram.esi.COM.AU (Dave Horsfall)
Newsgroups: aus.radio.amsat
Subject: * SpaceNews 14-Dec-92 *
Date: 15 Dec 92 07:03:04 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: Pacific ESI, Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Bulletin ID: $SPC1214


                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========


                       MONDAY DECEMBER 14, 1992


SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA.  It
is published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.



* BALLOON LAUNCH OVER ARGENTINA *
=================================
Jos Machao, LU7JCN reported a balloon launch that took place on
21-Nov-92 at 09:19/LU from La Plata city (50 km S.E. of Buenos Aires).
The payload, constructed by Jos, consisted of a 250 mW FM transmitter
operating on 145.965 MHz and carried CW ID and tone telemetry.

The telemetry consisted of two tones transmitted after the CW ID.
The first tone reported the battery voltage with a duration of 5 seconds,
and used a calibration equation:

  V = (F*5.09*10^-3+1.503)

where

V = volts.
F = frequency in Hertz.

The second tone, with a 10 second duration, corresponded to the attitude
sensor of the payload.  The frequency of this tone corresponded to the angle
formed between the payload and the sun.

A complete sequence was as follows:

 CW ID      ---------------         ------------------------------     CW ID

  8 s   2 s       5 s         3 s                10 s               2 s

              Tono Bateria              Tono control de actitud

!--------  THE SEQUENCE LASTED 30 SECONDS AND THEN REPEATED  ---------------!

The FM tone CW ID was LU7JCN/B.  An operations net was held on 145.700 MHz
and 7.143 MHz, +/-QRM during the balloon flight.

The 250 mW transmitter was heard for more than 500 KM (310 Mi) away and the
estimated maximum altitude reached was 25 KM (75,000 Ft).

The ascending velocity was 300 Meters/second (1000 Ft/Sec) and the winds
moved the balloon to the East/Northeast.  Stations from Santa F, Entre Rios,
Buenos Aires, and Uruguay reported copying the balloon's beacon signals.

At 02:30 hours after launch, there were violent frequency changes in the
attitude sensor, indicating the balloon's explosion and the free-fall of
the payload.  The free-fall continued for 30 minutes, while the beacon's
signals grew stronger on Uruguay's coast.

[Info via Gustavo, LW2DTZ, and Eduardo, LU7AKC]


* OSCAR-21 NEWS *
=================
An OSCAR-21/RS-14 operating change was recently made and reported by the
1200 bps packet beacons transmitted with the spacecraft telemetry.

The following packet frames were received from the AO-21/RS-14 by KD2BD
on 145.987 MHz:

RUDAK2>BEACON <UI C>:
++ Hi, this is the RUDAK-II experiment on AMSAT OSCAR 21 ++

RUDAK2>TLM-1 <UI C>:
RUDAK-II Telemetry   (92-12-13 00:19:12):
   Voltages     RM1-TCMD-Interface   Lock     Memory Errors
5V-R1 : 0.80 V    1-TX-ON  : OFF    RX2: *     Single: -122
5V-RTX: 5.02 V    2-RX12&48: OFF    RX3: -     Multi : 0

RUDAK2>TLM-2 <UI C>:
5V-RAM: 4.95 V    3-RNG    :  ON      AGC
 Total Current    4-Soft:  0.2 V    RX3: 147   Temperature
14V-I :  312 mA                     RX4: 204    27.2 deg C

RUDAK2>BEACON <UI C>:
RUDAK-II Schedule:       Downlink  145.987
UTC (Min. MOD 10)  Beacon Mode    Uplink/MHz
       0...5       FM Repeater     435.016
       6...8       Digital Voice     no
         9         AFSK Telemetry    no

RUDAK2>BEACON <UI C>:
 Slovenian Message:
<Hi, this is RUDAK-II on the satellite RS 14.
 Greetings to all, to MATJAz best wishes
 for his convalescence>


A digital voice message was added to the downlink sequence, reducing the
time available for Mode B FM repeater operations.


* FO-20 STATUS *
================
The latest Mode JA analog transponder schedule from Kazu Sakamoto,
JJ1WTK, at FO-20 mission control is as follows:

16-Dec-92 00:50 UTC -to- 17-Dec-92 01:10 UTC
22-Dec-92 23:25 UTC -to- 23-Dec-92 23:45 UTC
29-Dec-92 23:48 UTC -to- 30-Dec-92 00:07 UTC


* TNX DE KD2BD *
================
Thanks to all who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially:

4Z5BS


* FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED *
===========================
Mail to SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any
of the following paths:

FAX      : 1-908-747-7107
UUCP     : ...catfish.ocpt.ccur.com!ka2qhd!kd2bd
PACKET   : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
INTERNET : kd2bd@ka2qhd.de.com  -or- kd2bd@amsat.org

MAIL     : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD
           Department of Engineering and Technology
           Advanced Technology Center
           Brookdale Community College
           Lincroft, New Jersey  07738
           U.S.A.


       <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>>

-- 
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU)         VK2KFU @ VK2RWI.NSW.AUS.OC
dave@esi.COM.AU                ...munnari!esi.COM.AU!dave