
SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-132.01
PLANS SET FOR AMSAT AT DAYTON HAMVENTION '96

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 132.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 11, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-132.01

	A new date marks the Dayton Hamvention this year, and once
again, AMSAT will be there in force.  The event is now less than a week
away, set for May 17-19, 1996 at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

	One of the highlights for AMSAT at Dayton this year is that
AMSAT-NA President, Bill Tynan, W3XO, is being honored by the Dayton
Amateur Radio Association (DARA) as the Hamvention "Ham of the Year".
Bill and his loving wife Mattie, are now set to be honored both at a series
of receptions and meetings arranged by DARA during this year's activities,
as well as during Bill's actual award presentation at the grand banquet
on the Saturday evening of Hamvention.

	Speaking of Bill's award, AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President
Keith Baker, KB1SF, recently noted that, "The Dayton Hamvention "Ham
of the Year" award is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious awards
one can receive as a Ham.  It is with great pride that I join with other
AMSAT members in offering our sincere congratulations to Bill for an
award that is both richly deserved and long, long overdue."

	The AMSAT booth will once again be in its regular place in
the inside exhibit area in booth numbers 445-448.  AMSAT booth activity
this year will be under the expert guidance of Barry Baines, WD4ASW, 
AMSAT-NA's VP for Field Operations.

	 AMSAT forums are now slated for Friday, May 17th at 1-3 PM
in Room 1, and will feature both a SAREX forum and a satellite beginner's
forum.  On Saturday at 1 PM in Room 5,  the very latest on the Phase 3-D 
satellite will be outlined in a panel discussion of key members of the 
Phase 3-D development team, followed by a discussion on how to get
ready to exploit the planned microwave capabilities of the Phase 3-D
satellite.

	As in the past, a Friday evening AMSAT dinner is being planned.  
This year it will be at the Amber Rose Restaurant in East Dayton.  Dayton
area AMSAT members Ed Collins, N8NUY and Gerd Schrick, WB8IFM, have
been working very hard behind the scenes to help insure the evening will be a
memorable one.  The event is set to kick off on Friday evening, May 17th with a
social hour beginning at 6:30 PM.  A buffet-style dinner will follow at 7:30 PM.

	All in all, Hamvention '96 is shaping up to be another banner year
for both AMSAT and Amateur Radio with lots of formal and informal AMSAT
activities planned during the event.

[ANS thanks Keith Baker, KB1SF, for the information contained in this bulletin
item.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-132.02
NASA SETS MAY 19 AS LAUNCH DATE FOR MISSION STS-77

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 132.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 11, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-132.02

[ANS EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a non SAREX mission.]

	At the conclusion of a flight readiness review meeting
today, NASA managers set May 19, 1996 as the official launch date
for the agency's next Space Shuttle mission, designated STS-77. 
The original target date of May 16 was not available on the Eastern
Range schedule. 

	NASA's fourth Shuttle mission of 1996 will involve Shuttle
Endeavour and a six-person crew performing microgravity research
aboard the commercially owned and operated SPACEHAB Module.
The crew also will deploy and retrieve a research satellite and perform
rendezvous operations with a test satellite.

	Launch of Endeavour on May 19 is scheduled for 6:30 a.m
EDT at the opening of a 2 1/2 hour available launch window.  The
STS-77 mission is forecast to last just over 10 days. Mission Control in
Houston will be closely monitoring power consumption and cryogenic
fuel reserves associated with the Shuttle's power system during the
flight.  Mission managers will have an option of shortening the mission
one day if necessary.  An on-time launch and nominal mission duration
would result in a landing on May 29 a little after 7 a.m. EDT at Kennedy
Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.

	The STS-77 crew is commanded by John Casper, making
his fourth Shuttle flight.  The pilot for the mission, Curt Brown is making
his third flight.  There are four mission specialists assigned to the flight. 
Andrew Thomas, serving as Mission Specialist-1, is making his first flight.
Mission Specialist-2 is Dan Bursch who is making his third flight.  Mario
Runco, serving as Mission Specialist-3  also is making his third flight. 
Mission Specialist-4 is Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau, who is flying 
in space for the second time.

	STS-77 will be the 11th flight of Endeavour and the 77th mission
flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in 1981.

[ANS thanks Ed Campion of the NASA HQ Public Affairs Office for
this bulletin.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-132.03
SATELLITE STATUS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 132.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 11, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-132.03

RS-12:  	Operating normally

RS-10 :	Operating normally
	FG5GI has been on RS10 and RS12 towards the end of pass.

AO-27:  	Operating normally

[ANS thanks Rusty Hack, NM1K, Amsat Area Coordinator for Connecticut
for this information about RS-10 ,12 and AO-27]

AO-10:  	Reportedly, AO-10 shut down almost immediately after the solar
	panels were no longer providing charge. The shutdown occurred
	at 14:37 UTC on May 9th, which is just a couple of minutes after
	the tracking program showed there was no longer an
	intersection of the satellite's footprint and the terminator.

[ANS thanks Chris Hill, VK6KCH, for this news on AO-10.]

AO:13:	A  partial eclipse of the Sun by the Moon will deprive Oscar-13 of
	solar power on 1996 May 17 [Fri] from 0030 to 0225 utc, Orbit 6068,
	MA 151-195.  Maximum obscuration is 73% at 0135 utc, MA 175.
	This event will be visible (in the telemetry) from South Africa,
	India, S.E. Asia, and Australia as a substantial drop in solar panel
	temperatures, and reduced power production.
	The transponders will be OFF during the eclipse period.
	Details are also illustrated by a GIF drawing in the Internet file:
	ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/moonecl.zip  (15k)
	Otherwise, AO-13 is operating normally.

	South Pacific stations have been active recently on AO-13 and 
	some on AO-10. Tada, C21/JA1WPX, is QRV on Nauru and Aki, 
	TE9RLI, is on Cocos.  Both have had 55+ signals. Yves, FO3PJ,
	has also been on from Raiatea.  He's a high school teacher
	there, not a DXpedition.  He doesn't have an amplifier so
	listen carefully for him. 

	These stations are often heard calling CQ with no one coming
	back to them.  It's a lot of work to put a satellite station on from
	remote locations, and many times the operators
	must get up in the middle of the night so we can work them. 
	KC6DIJ urges, "Let's show them that we appreciate it."

[ANS  thanks James Miller G3RUH for the AO-13 eclipse information and JC
Smith, KC6EIJ, for the AO-10 and AO-13 operating news.]

WO-18: 	Experienced a software crash at 05:50:11 UTC on
	17-Apr-96.  Initial operating software has been reloaded by
	groundstation controllers, and the satellite is currently
	transmitting telemetry, OBC status, and beacon frames
	on a downlink of 437.102 MHz using right-hand circular
	polarization.  The digipeater is temporarily off the air.

[ANS thanks John A. Magliacane, KD2BD, and SpaceNews for this bulletin on
Webersat.]

LO-19:	Continues to provide excellent service to users all over
	the world.  LO-19 is operated by AMSAT-LU and operates with
	a transmitter output power level of between 0.8 and 1.4 watts
	with a data rate of 1200 bps.

[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, John A. Magliacane, KD2BD, and
SpaceNews for this bulletin on LO-19.]

Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to
wt0n@amsat.org

/EX





