SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-014.01 AMSAT-NA OPPOSES INSTANT LICENSING HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 014.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 15, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-014.01 AMSAT-NA OPPOSES FCC "INSTANT LICENSING" PROPOSAL AMSAT-NA has filed comments with the FCC in opposition to the "instant licensing" proposal contained in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, PR Docket 93-267. Under the FCC's proposal, unlicensed persons who pass an amateur license examination for the first time would immediately be permitted to operate for up to 120 days, using self-assigned call signs, while waiting for their licenses to arrive. In its comments, AMSAT-NA cited the potential for abuse by persons who may never have had any intention of taking an examination, as well as the impossibility of verifying the self-assigned calls since they would not be registered in any database. The "guaranteed anonymity" of a self-assigned call sign system would, in AMSAT-NA's words, multiply the potential for interference by unlicensed persons with amateur radio operation. This is particularly relevant to the Amateur-satellite service, AMSAT-NA went on to say, because the 2M, 10M and 70CM bands, which presently contain the most popular satellite uplinks and downlinks, are also among the most likely to be affected by such interference. The international nature of satellite operation means that problems could be caused for amateurs, and govern- mental authorities, in other countries as well as in the United States. As an alternative to "instant licensing," AMSAT-NA urged the FCC to pursue the use of electronic filing and processing of amateur license applic- ations. AMSAT-NA's comments in PR Docket 93-267 generally paralleled those of ARRL, with special emphasis on the problems which would be caused for the Amateur-satellite service. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-014.02 CORRECTED STS-60 KEPS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 014.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 15, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-014.02 WA5DID Provides Corrected STS-60 SAREX Keplerian Elements In last week's ANS-008 SAREX bulletin, the STS-60 keplerian elements con- tained an incorrect epoch date. Please use the following keplerian set provided by Lou McFadin (WA5DID) and Gil Carman (WA5NOM). STS-60 1 00060U 94034.56756353 .00033600 00000-0 25200-3 0 47 2 00060 57.0033 215.8607 0010675 264.1500 95.8328 15.72291901 26 Satellite: STS-60 Catalog number: 00060 Epoch time: 94034.56756353 (03-FEB-94 13:37:17.49 UTC) Element set: 004 Inclination: 57.0033 deg RA of node: 215.8607 deg Space Shuttle Flight STS-60 Eccentricity: .0010675 Prelaunch Element set JSC-004 Arg of perigee: 264.1500 deg Launch: 03-FEB-94 12:10 UTC Mean anomaly: 95.8328 deg Mean motion: 15.72291901 rev/day Gil Carman, WA5NOM Decay rate: 3.3600e-04 rev/day*2 NASA Johnson Space Center Epoch rev: 2 Checksum: 254 The AMSAT News Service would like to thank WA5DID and WA5NOM for the updated and corrected keplerian elements for STS-60. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-014.03 TAPR HAS A NEW ADDRESS! HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 014.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 15, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-014.03 Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) Association Has Moved! Tucson Amateur Packet Radio has moved its offices. The new mailing address is: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio 8987-309 E. Tanque Verde Rd. #337 Tucson, AZ 85749-9399 The voice telephone number is (817) 383-0000. This number has a voice mail system attached and is available 24 hours a day. A FAX server will be operational within the next few weeks to automatically fax information to you. The incoming FAX number is (817) 566-2544. More information on the office move will be published in the Winter, 1994 edition of Packet Status Register. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Bob Nielsen (W6SWE) for this bulletin item. W6SWE can be reached at the following address: Internet: w6swe@tapr.org, or, w6swe@wb7tls.az.usa.na] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-014.04 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 014.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 15, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-014.04 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 14-JAN-94 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: L QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1993 Dec 27-Jan 31 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 180 | OFF Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 220 | Mode-S : MA 220 to MA 230 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-BS : MA 230 to MA 250 | Blon/Blat 240/-5 Mode-B : MA 250 to MA 256 | OFF Omnis : MA 250 to MA 150 | Move to attitude 180/0, 31-Jan-94 L QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Jan 31-Apr 04 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 90 | Mode-BS : MA 90 to MA 120 | Mode-S : MA 120 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 240/0, Apr 04 Poor Sun angle and battery testing need maximum OFF time. [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] FO-20: The following is the current FO-20 operating schedule: From January '94 thru March '94, the analog mode and the digital mode will be on alternately for a week at a time. ANALOG MODE: 26-JAN-94 8:20 -TO- 02-FEB-94 6:50 UTC 09-FEB-94 7:15 -TO- 16-FEB-94 7:40 UTC 23-FEB-94 8:05 -TO- 02-MAR-94 6:40 UTC 09-MAR-94 7:05 -TO- 16-MAR-94 7:30 UTC 23-MAR-94 7:52 -TO- 30-MAR-94 8:15 UTC DIGITAL MODE: Unless otherwise noted above. [Kazu Sakamoto (JJ1WTK) qga02014@niftyserve.or.jp] AO-16: Operating normally. [WH6I] LO-19: Operating normally. [WH6I] KO-23: Up and running. Busy as usual. [WH6I] PoSAT: Appears to still be on it's commercial frequency. There was a message regarding amateur service that indicated it will be on amateur frequencies at the end of the month. [WH6I] ITAMSAT: On 1200 Baud, currently collecting WOD data. A note on the bird indicates that the BBS will return to operation soon. [WH6I] MIR: Cosmonauts Vasili Tsibliev and Alexander Serebrov returned Friday, 14-JAN-94, to Earth after six months in space on-board MIR Russian space station. The TM-17 Soyuz spacecraft landed at 08:18 UTC in Karaganda. The two cosmonauts have been in space from 01-JUL-93. The Personal Messaging System (PMS) on-board MIR continues working under the callsign R0MIR-1, operated by the actual crew that arrived last Saturday in TM-18 Soyuz. [LW2DTZ] 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