sjb (06/12/82)
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A M S A T
S A T E L L I T E R E P O R T
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Number 34
31 May, 1982
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ISKRA 2 Kicked Out the Door
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On 19 April, 1982, the USSR launched space station (then unmanned)
Salyut 7. On 13 May, two cosmonauts were launched aboard the new
Soyuz T-5 booster, and they docked with the station the following
day. At 1107 UTC, 17 May, they opened the airlock of the station,
and out flew ISKRA 2. However, the bird cannot seem to turn its
transponders on due to the same desensing problem that is preventing
UoSAT officials from turning one of the UoSAT transponders off.
The ISKRA satellite will have a short life, spending a maximum of
six weeks in space before falling into the atmosphere and burning
up.
According to TASS and others, ISKRA 2 contains a transponder for
amateur radio, memory device, command radio channel, and a telemetry
encoder for the relaying of scientific information and data about
the operation of the other equipment. A malfunction in the command
decoder has prevented officials from turning on the transponder.
The transponder band is 21.230-21.270 MHz uplink and 29.580-29.620
MHz downlink; the beacon is at 29.578 MHz plus/minus Doppler shift.
Transponder output power is around 1 watt; the beacon can ``be
operated at 300 mW or 1 watt ...''
ISKRA 2 is like AMSAT OSCAR 7 physically, employing the cylinder
with hexagonal cross sections; each side is covered with solar
cells. Dimensions are approximately 50-60 cm tall by 30-40 cm
wide, weighing 28 kg.
Phase IIIB Nearing Completion
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On Thursday, 20 May, the AMSAT DL crew landed at Washington
National Airport with Phase IIIB's main instruments: the
Mode B and L-transponder. By the following Sunday, most of
the boxes had been secured to the spacecraft, and it was
readied for a full power-up test. After that, the bird
will be subjected to the thermal vacuum test at Goddard
Space Flight Center
AMSAT to Run UN Station
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The United Nations has requested that AMSAT help in establishing
a Mode J station at the UN Secretarial building, New York, New
York. The station now there operates Mode A by the call 4U1UN.
The station needs the ``systems engineering, software and training.''
W2RS will be the Project Officer. No explicit deadline has been
set for completion of the station, but Autumn is seen as a tentative
period to shoot for.
ASE CBBS
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The Amateur Software Exchange Computer Bulletin Board System
is up and running fine, reports N5AHD, system operator. 20
users have checked in, and 100 messages have been generated
in its first few weeks. Points to keep in mind for its
use:
1) It will likely be up evenings and weekends. Published
up-times are to be considered as minimums.
2) If you run into difficulty, contact N5AHD at:
Bob Diersing
4129 Montego
Corpus Christi, TX
78411
(home) 512-852-3196
(office) 512-991-6810, ext. 289
3) ``Orbital data is most often updated on Thursdays or Fridays.''
4) Type '?' to get a brief list of instructions or 'F' (giving
'INSTR' as the file name for the full description of commands.
The CBBS phone number is 512-852-8194. ``Any Bell 103-compatible
modem will work well.''
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The AMSAT Satellite Report is a bi-weekly publication of the
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. Material may be quoted
without permission as long as credit is given. Material in
two single quotes (``*'') is taken directly from the bulletin,
while that in double quotes ("*") is an actual statement.