
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-253.01
AO-16 FILE SERVER S/W RELOAD

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 253.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 10, 1994
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-253.01

AO-16 Command Team To Reload File Server

At 03:00 UTC 12-SEP-1994 the AO-16 Command Team will begin a reload of the
Ramdisk and File Server software.  This "Preventive Maintenance" is war-
ranted by the accumulation of uncorrectable SEU's (Single Event Upsets) in
the file control structures stored on the ram disk.  During the past year
four uncorrectable SEU's have been recorded in the directory, root directory
and FAT (File Allocation Table) entries of the error logs.  In the past, a
crash of the file server software was attributed to these types of errors.
Reloading and running the ram disk software will reformat the ram disk
thereby cleaning out all the bad SEU's.  Fortunately, these uncorrectable
errors are not occurring in the Error Detection And Correction (EDAC)
memory where the actual spacecraft operational software is run.  This allows
the command team to unload and reload a task or tasks with the shortest
amount of file server downtime.  The digipeater will be off during this re-
load and all stations are requested not to uplink to the satellite during
this time.  The AO-16 Command Team would like to thank all AO-16 users in
advance for your cooperation during this critical software reloading
process.

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Russ Platt (WJ9F) for this
  bulletin item.]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-246.02
AO-10 STATUS REPORT

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 253.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 10, 1994
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-253.02

AO-10 Condition

Several satellite operators have asked recently about the condition of
AMSAT-OSCAR-10 (AO-10).

Jim Kelly (KK3K) provides the information that he heard a strong telemetry
beacon Tuesday morning 6-SEP-94 at about 12:00 UTC.  It was at about
145.980 MHz and FMing.  Jim notes that AO-10 was in the window at the time.
He tried transmitting to it and was able to hear himself through the bird,
but the downlink signal was extremely weak and FMing was quite noticeable.
As a result, Jim discontinued using it immediately.

It should be noted that AO-10's Engineering Beacon is on a nominal freq-
uency of 145.987 MHz.  AMSAT-NA advises anyone hearing AO-10 exhibiting
this FMing characteristic, to refrain from using it, as Jim did.  This is a
measure to conserve the satellite's power system.  AO-10 may be old and
ailing but it's still usable at times.  Let's keep it going as long as we
can.

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-253.03
FINAL NOTICE FOR AMSAT-NA SYMPOSIUM

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 253.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 10, 1994
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-253.03

Last Chance to Pre-register for the 1994 AMSAT Annual Meeting and
Space Symposium

Martha Saragovitz (NOCALL) at AMSAT Headquarters reminds us that time is
running short to pre-register for the AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space
symposium to be held in Orlando, Florida October 7,8 and 9.  To meet the
deadline, pre-registrations must be received at the AMSAT office by
September 15th.  Registrations can be FAXed to: (301) 608-3410.

Anyone needing further information may call the AMSAT office at:
(301) 589-6062.  A registration form is page 14 of the July/August
1994 issue of The AMSAT Journal.

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-253.04
WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 253.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 10, 1994
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-253.04

Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 10-SEP-94

AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule:
M QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE ***  1994 Jul 11 - Sep 12
Mode-B  : MA   0 to MA  90 |  Omnis   : MA 230 to MA  30
Mode-BS : MA  90 to MA 120 |
Mode-S  : MA 120 to MA 122 |<- S beacon only
Mode-S  : MA 122 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 | Move to attitude 230/0, Sep 12
==========================================================================
   N QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE ***  1994 Sep 12 - Dec 19
   Mode-B  : MA  30 to MA 150 |<- OFF Oct 22 - Nov 07 for eclipses
   Mode-B  : MA 150 to MA 190 |       max duration 2h 12m
   Mode-BS : MA 190 to MA 218 |
   Mode-S  : MA 218 to MA 220 |<- S beacon only
   Mode-S  : MA 220 to MA 230 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF
   Mode-B  : MA 230 to MA  30 |        Alon/Alat 230/0
   Omnis   : MA 250 to MA 140 |  Move to attitude 180/0, Dec 19
  The battery charge state is of paramount importance during the eclipse
  seasons.  As always the command team may have to have to make temporary
  changes to the published schedule.  In that case we will try to minimize
  the inconvenience, setting Mode-B OFF from MA 230-256 in the first
  instance.
==========================================================================
[G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR]

FO-20: The long awaited software reloading of FO-20 has completed success-
fully completed on a pass at about  18:00 UTC on 06-SEP-94 and FO-20 was
commanded into its digital mode of operation (Mode-JD).  For a while,
Mode-JD operation will be continued.  However, the FO-20 ground station
is concerned that the system may crash when mailbox is activated.  The
controllers have have noticed some failures of onboard command system
during the reloading process.  Telemetry reports will be very much apprec-
iated if you capture it just before the any crashes.  Send your telemetry
to Kazu Sakamoto (JJ1WTK) at his INTERNET address of qga02014@niftyserve.or.jp.
But in a further status report, KD2BD reports that FO-20 mailbox came back
to life over the Labor Day weekend.  KD2BD notes that the satellite was
sending it's usual ASCII telemetry in AX.25, BPSK, 1200 bps format, and the
mailbox was in operation with several active messages.  [JJ1WTK & KD2BD]

AO-27: AO-27 has an Uplink frequency of 145.85 MHz FM and Downlink freq-
ency of 436.80 MHz FM.  N9AVG reminds everyone that like AO-21, AO-27
operates as part-time repeater. [N9AVG]

IO-26: ITAMSAT Status as of 9-SEP-94: After 40 days of stand-by, ITAMSAT
was switched on by ground command and a full spacecraft checkout was
performed by the control team.  IO-26 was in excellent shape, the battery
fully charged and the critical parameters in nominal status.  A couple of
test software were loaded and executed without any problem.  The reason for
the long silence is due to the heavy workload of the control team (I2KBD
also spent some time in Chile to help the CESAR team) and a lightning that
destroyed the main command station.  The reload of the Integrated House-
keeping Task (IHT) code with improved capabilities is scheduled to be
completed by the end of September to celebrate the first year in orbit of
IO-26, so expect a couple more weeks of discontinued use.  Best regards,
Alberto (I2KBD) ITAMSAT Mission Director.  [I2KBD]

KO-25: WH6I reports that KO-25 has still been operational this entire week
      as far as he can tell.  [WH6I]

KO-23: WH6I reports that KO-23 is up and running.  He wonders if there is a
      flaw in the directory as he seem to be having a lot of trouble
      clearing fills for the directory.  [WH6I]

AO-16: AO-16 is up and running without any problems. [WH6I]


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 @ N0QCU.  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
