
SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-019.01
SAREX TO FLY ON STS-76

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 019.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 19, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-019.01

The Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment, or SAREX will fly again on Shuttle
Mission STS-76 set for launch March 21, 1996 at 0834 UTC (3:34 AM EST) from
the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Landing is scheduled for
March 30, 1995 at 1707 UTC (12:07 AM EST) at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida. 9 day mission. 

Among those in the crew who hold amateur licenses are, Astronaut Richard
A. Searfoss KC5CKM who will serve as the Shuttle's Pilot, Mission
Specialist Linda M. Godwin, N5RAX and Ronald M. Sega, KC5ETH,  The
remaining crew members include Commander Kevin P. Chilton, and Mission
Specialists Shannon W. Lucid ( who is expected to have his amateur license
by that time) and Michael R. Clifford. 

This will be Linda Godwin's third shuttle flight. She used ham radio aboard
the shuttle Atlantis during STS-37 in April 1991, and from aboard Endeavour
during STS-59 in April 1994..  Searfoss last operated SAREX from the Space
Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-58 in October/November 1993. This will
be his second Shuttle flight.  Ronald Sega used SAREX from Discovery during
the first joint US/Russian shuttle mission, STS-60, in February 1994. 

During the mission, the shuttle will rendezvous and dock with the Russian
Space Station Mir. Later, the shuttle will return to Earth, leaving Shannon
Lucid with Mir for a 5 month stay aboard the Russian complex.

The launch will place the shuttle into Earth orbit at an altitude of
196-245 statute miles (315-394 km) and an inclination of 51.6 degrees.

During SAREX missions, the astronauts will typically make Amateur Radio
scheduled contacts with schools, personal contacts with family members and  
random contacts with the Amateur Radio operators.


Additional STS-76 mission information can be obtained from NASA:
     * NASA Spacelink computer information system (look under
Spacelink.Hot.Topics)
          BBS: (205) 895-0028 [VT-100, 8-N-1]
          Telnet, FTP, and Gopher: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
          World Wide Web: http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
          Internet TCP/IP address: 192.149.89.61
     * NASA Shuttle World Wide Web Home Page: http://shuttle.nasa.gov

The Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) is sponsored
by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation (AMSAT) and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA). SAREX is supported by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

ANS thanks Bob Inderbitzen NQ1R of ARRL for the information used in this
bulletin.

/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-019.02
TAPR/AMSAT DSP-93 KIT INFO

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 019.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 19, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-019.02

TAPR has announced that it is now taking orders until March 1st, 1996 for
the next DSP-93 kit production run.

Full information can be found on www.tapr.org or in
ftp.tapr.org/tapr/dsp93.  Software and documentation can be previewed at
either of these locations.

DSP-93 is a joint project between TAPR and AMSAT. 

ANS thanks TAPR for this information.

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-019.03
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA VHF, UHF, MICROWAVE GROUP TO MEET

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 019.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 19, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-019.03


The first meeting of the NEW VHF, UHF, Microwave Experimenter's
Club of Northern California will be held Sunday, January 28 at
1:00 pm in the Auditorium of Lockeed Building 202,  3251 Hannover 
St. off of Page Mill Rd. in Palo Alto.

Many years have passed since there has been a Northern California
HAM club for the VHF, UHF, and Microwave experimenters.  This
lack is about to be dealt with by the establishment of a new
local club to share ideas, equipment, testing, and promote active
operation.

Several talks have been lined up for this first meeting,
including:
Technical Aspects of Participation in SETI and System Analysis
        by guest speaker Paul Shuch, N6TX

Reports on the status and usage of the 24GHz band
        ATV - Steve Muther, WF6R
        FM - Bob Warmke, if he is available
        Weak signal and EME - by various speakers
        ARRL and FCC reports: - Brad Wyatt, if available
                                Chris Imlay, by letter
                                Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL

Reports on equipment and operating for each band from 6 meters to
47 GHz by such notables as K6QXY, K6MYC, AA6WI, WA0QII, Wa6ASL,
K6GZA, KK6TG, KD6LI, KK6MK, W0EOM and others. 

In addition, Nick Marshall, W6OLO will provide an exciting
discussion about putting a microwave repeater on the moon.

An up to the minute report on the Phase 3D satellite, especially
the 24GHz equipment to be on board will be provided by Lars,
AA6IW.

It is hoped that all area hams interested in our higher bands
will be able to attend. 

ANS thanks Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL for this information and Bob
Carpenter W3OTC for calling to our attention.

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-019.04
POPULAR MECHANICS TO CARRY ARTICLE OF INTEREST TO AMATEUR
SATELLITE ENTHUSIASTS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 019.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 19, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-019.04


The February 1996 issue of "Popular Mechanics"  includes a
feature article by Philip Chien KC4fYER on the now declassified
Corona spacecraft project.

Phil notes that the very first OSCAR satellite was a piggyback
payload on the Discoverer 36 mission, which was actually the
cover name for the Corona series of spy satellites!

The article includes a fairly good artist's rendition of what the
Agena upper stage with the KH-4 cameras looked like in space. 
>From what Phil understands the OSCAR payload was attached to the
Agena in place of where ballast would have normally been.

ANS thanks Philip Chien, KC4YER, Earth News - space writer and
consultant  for this interesting bulletin.

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-019.05
SATELLITE STATUS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 019.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD JANUARY 19, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-019.05

MIR

Thomas Reiter aboard the Mir orbital complex reports that the power supply
used for some of the Amateur radio equipment on Mir has failed.  An old
power supply was installed, but it is only capable of handling the old
ICOM transceiver and one TNC.  The Digital Voice Module has also failed,
so there will be no more automatic voice recordings in the near future.
All four fuses in the two connected transceivers blew, and only two spare
fuses are left to run the ICOM.

ANS thanks Dave Larse, N6JLH and John A. Magliacane, KD2BD for 
this information. 

In other MIR news, Philip Chien KC4YER says that he made a very successful
voice contact with MIR on January 19 at 08:45 UT. On the other end was 
was flight engineer Sergi Avdeev. Phil says that his English is
quite good and that they had a nice conversation with incredibly
good quality audio with signal levels at least 5 by 8.

KC4YER used a 5 watt handheld with a J-pole antenna.  And MIR was
on low power too.  Phil comments that it Just goes to show that
if you try enough times you'll get lucky.  He attributes his
success with the fact that it was 3:45 am local time and he
didn't have much competition.

AO-10

AO-10 "SLEEPING" AGAIN

OZ1MY points out that AO-10 recent absence is similar to that noted during
January and February  last year. His log shows that it lasted from
approximately January 7. until February 25. 1995.

Apparently, it's a matter of sun angle.

ANS thanks OZ1MY for this interesting observation.

/EX



