BID: $SPC0524 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY MAY 24, 1993 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution. * ARSENE NEWS * =============== According to telemetry sent by ARSENE the satellite is working perfectly. The problem is that nobody has heard anything on VHF downlink frequency of 145.975 MHz. The control station FF1STA at ENSAE school in Toulouse has put ARSENE in a mode with complete telemetry sent both in SHF downlink 2446.47 MHz and 145.975 MHz. This was set in order to allow a careful search for a small signal on VHF band. The ARSENE team is asking for help from all radio amateurs to find any VHF signal coming from ARSENE. The idea is that the xtal of the local oscillator could have been broken and that the oscillator could oscillate on any frequency from 140 to 150 MHz due to the Xtal parasitic capacitor. The other hypothesis is that the coax was cut between the VHF PA and antenna. Any report of a signal coming from ARSENE would help. Telemetry signal basic data are at 128 Hz with 2048 Hz Manchester encoded PSK at 128 bauds. The following are new keplerian elements based on observed data from the ARSENE team 12 hours after ARSENE apogee motor was fired on May 17, 1993 at 11:45 UTC. ARSENE 1 83804U 93 56 B 93137.48960010 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0044 2 83804 1.0727 128.6322 2950120 138.8574 109.1916 1.41880000 134 Satellite: ARSENE Catalog number: 83804 <- Note: NORAD number is 22654 Epoch time: 93137.48960010 Element set: 4 Inclination: 1.0727 deg RA of node: 128.6322 deg Eccentricity: 0.2950120 Arg of perigee: 138.8574 deg Mean anomaly: 109.1916 deg Mean motion: 1.41880000 rev/day Decay rate: 0.0000e+00 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 13 Checksum: 231 [Info via Bernard, F6BVP] * BALLOON TO SATELLITE LINK * ============================= The High Altitude Radio Project plans to launch a weather balloon carrying a one watt Morse beacon transmitter transmitting on a frequency of 145.890 MHz on Saturday June 12, 1993 at about 15:00 UTC. The launch will be under the supervision of Joe, WB9SBD at his site in Hillsboro, Wisconsin. If all goes well, the balloon will be at an altitude of between 80 and 100 thousand feet when its signal will be picked up by the RS10/11 satellite and relayed on a downlink frequency of 29.3852 MHz (+/- Doppler), starting at 15:48 UTC. RS10/11 will be on orbit # 29923, travelling from north to south and passing over the Great Lakes at this time. Its downlink signal should be audible over most of the continental US, except the extreme west coast, which will be marginal. All of Canada, Greeland, and Central America and most of Alaska, Iceland, and the northern part of South America will be covered. The purpose of this flight is to: 1) "Just Do It!", since it is not believed that such a balloon to satellite radio link has ever been attempted, and 2) to test the feasibility of using RS10/11 to help track a possible around the world balloon flight to be launched by Joe, WB9SBD later in the year. Special QSLs will be available for all those who receive the balloon uplink, satellite downlink, or both signals. Reports should also include the date, time, and frequency of the received signals. The balloon callsign will be N9LTD and the calls of the other members of the launch and recovery team will be transmitted periodically. Please forward all reception reports to: H.A.R.P. PO Box 14748 Madison, WI 53708 The rain date for this event is Sunday, June 13, 1993, on RS10/11 orbit # 29937. Launch attempts will continue every weekend until the launch is successful. A list of usable passes, calculated from RS10/11 orbital elements dated May 6 is provided below. An SSB ground station will be parked a few KHz away from the balloon frequency to answer any questions during the flight. (That is why the balloon's beacon frequency is in the SSB portion of the satellite's transponder passband.) Date Time (UTC) RS10/11 Orbit Number Sat 12-Jun-93 15:48...16:02 29923 <-- First Attempt Sun 13-Jun-93 16:18...16:32 29937 Sat 19-Jun-93 15:47...16:01 30019 Sun 20-Jun-93 14:32...14:46 30032 Sat 26-Jun-93 14:01...14:15 30114 Sun 27-Jun-93 14:31...14:45 30128 Sat 03-Jul-93 14:01...14:14 30210 Sun 04-Jul-93 12:45...12:58 30223 <-- Note 2 passes Sun 04-Jul-93 14:31...14:44 30224 <-- on July 4! Questions or comments regarding this experiment should be directed to Dave Mullenix on packet at: N9LTD @ WD9ESU.WI.USA.NA, or to his telephone BBS at (608) 249-7130, 300 to 14400 baud. [Info via Dave Mullenix, N9LTD] * FO-20 SCHEDULE * ================== FO-20 will be in Mode JA from 10:50 UTC on 26-May-93 through 11:08 UTC on 27-May-93. The Mode JD packet mailbox will be in operation at all other times. [Info via Kazu, JJ1WTK/3] * DOHOP RESULTS * ================= Here is first report of DoHoP #3 operation. Window 1: Nothing on this orbit due to too many users of RS-10. Window 2: Better this than last window. Dave G4CUO worked Oscar DJ0MY, DL1SM, and heard PA3FMG and IK7FGE. Date Time Sat Lat Lon QRA Separation Worked or Heard Sub Sat Approximate ============================================================================ 16May93 12:54:45 RS14 45.1n 15.4e JN75QC RS10 55.7n 5.6e JO15TQ 1661 kms DJ0MY 16May93 12:57:10 RS14 53.3n 17.3e JO83PH RS10 47.6n 5.6e JN27TO 1201 kms IK7FGE Window 3: On this orbit the transponder was switched off so there weren't any contacts, but it was back on for the next orbit so the new software routine seems to be working. Window 4: All OK on this orbit and Dave G4CUO worked KM3B, KA8CNI, W8TX, and F9SR. There are other signals on the tape which will have to be noise filtered to make them clear. 16May93 16:25:40 RS14 49.4n 36.4w KN89EJ RS10 52.5n 48.2w LO42CM 1037 kms KM3B 559 16May93 16:27:20 RS14 55.1n 34.9w KO75KC RS10 46.9n 47.0w LN36MV 1438 kms F9SR 559 We await further reports from many stations in Europe and USA who heard DoHop signals, but did not transmit. A very successful day with many thanks to Andy, Leo and all in Moscow. [Info via Ian, G0NKA, of the DoHoP group] * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation regarding SpaceNews, especially: DG0MA N0USE KZ1Z N1LHW SM6/W3IWI IW4CQI ON4KVI IW5CNC PS7KM Also, greetings to Mikael Palm and all at the Swedish Space Corporation! * 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.ocpt.ccur.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! -=>> /EX