SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-064.01 UOSAT-2 TURNS 10 YEARS OLD HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 064.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MARCH 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-064.01 UOSAT-2 (UO-11) Celebrates 10 Years Of On-Orbit Service At 17:59 UTC on March 1st, 1984, the second satellite designed and built by the University of Surrey, UoSAT-2 (UO-11) was launched on a Delta rocket from the Western Test Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Among its many experiments, UoSAT-2 carried the Digital Communications Experiment, which was one of the first (if not THE first!) non-military use of store-and-forward techniques with Low Earth Orbiting satellites. UoSAT-2 was an early test-bed for many of the technologies that have since been incorporated into a number of other packet radio satellites. For all those who wonder how long these satellites last, it should be noted that UoSAT-2 is still operational, ten years after launch! Happy Birthday UoSAT-2 !!! [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Eric Rosenberg (WD3Q) for the information contained in this bulletin item. Eric can be contacted at his INTERNET address of ericr@vita.org] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-064.02 SAMPLE RS-15 KEPS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 064.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MARCH 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-064.02 KE3HP Presents A "Sample" Keplerian Element Set For RS-15 Based on information about RS-15's orbital paramaeters in last week's ANS bulletins, KE3HP has generated a set of predicted elements for this satel- lite. KE3HP assumed that the launch would be from Plesetsk at 12:00 UTC on 01-MAY-94. He generated these elements using OrbiTrack, an excellent MacIntosh shareware program by Bill Bard. Satellite RS-15 predicted Catalog Number 99999 Epoch 94 121.57362967 05/01/94 13:46:02 UTC Drag2 0.00000000 Rev/Day^2 Inclination 67.0000 Deg RAAN 22.8163 Deg Eccentricity 0.0001152 Argument of Perigee 360.0000 Deg Mean Anomaly 0.0000 Deg Mean Motion 10.73887722 Rev/Day Epoch Revolution 0 Semimajor Axis 8678.14 km Precession 1.3232 Deg West/Day Period 134.09 Min Apogee 2301.00 KM 1429.77 SM 1242.44 NM Perigee 2299.00 KM 1428.53 SM 1241.36 NM The only element strongly influenced by the launch date and time will be RAAN. The primary difference is that these predicted elements will show the satellite passing over your QTH at a different time than when the real bird will. If you take these elements and "plug" them into your satellite tracking programs, one of the facinating features that you will discover about this orbit is that even on a low elevation pass (10 degs or less) RS-15 is visable for up to 20 minutes! This will make RS-15 an excellent satellite for Mode A operations. Please stay tuned to the AMSAT News Service (ANS) bulletins for further information about the launch of RS-15. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank KE3HP for the information contained in this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-064.03 AO-13 OPERATIONS NET SCHEDS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 064.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MARCH 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-064.03 Current AMSAT Operations Net Schedule For AO-13 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. If, at the start of the OPS Net, the frequency of 145.950 MHz is being used for a QSO, OPS Net enthusiasts are asked to move to the alternate frequency of 145.955 MHz. Date UTC Mode Phs NCS Alt NCS 13-Mar-94 0130 B 075 VE2LVC W9ODI 19-Mar-94 1730 B 073 W5IU WA5ZIB 26-Mar-94 2130 B 084 WA5ZIB W5IU Any stations with information on current events would be most welcome. Also, those interested in discussing technical issues or who have questions about any particular aspect of OSCAR statellite operations, are encouraged to join the OPS Nets. If neither of the Net Control Stations show up, any participant is invited to act as the NCS. AO-13 ZRO Tests For March 1994 The following schedule of Mode "B" tests were chosen for convenient operating times and favorable squint angles. The tests can be heard on 145.840 MHz. Andy McAlister (WA5ZIB) will conduct all the tests. Mode "JL" tests will no longer occur due to the failure of AO-13's 70CM trans- mitter. Day Date (UTC) Time Areas covered Saturday Mar. 19, 1994 1930 UTC NA, SA, Europe, Africa Saturday Mar. 26, 1994 2315 UTC NA, SA Note that the dates and days are shown in "UTC". Any changes will be announced as soon as possible via the AMSAT HF and AO-13 Operations Nets. All listener reports with date of test and numbers copied should be sent to Andy MacAllister (WA5ZIB), AMSAT V.P. User Operations, 14714 Knights Way Drive, Houston, TX 77083-5640. A report will be returned verifying the level of accurate reception. An S.A.S.E. is appreciated but not required. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-064.04 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 064.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MARCH 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-064.04 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 06-MAR-94 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: 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 [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] FO-20: The following is the current schedule for transponder operations: ANALOG MODE: 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] 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