BID: $SPC1227                                                                   
                                                                                
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                               SpaceNews                                        
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                        MONDAY DECEMBER 27, 1993                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA.  It is         
published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.          
                                                                                
                                                                                
* AO-21 GOES MULTIMEDIA *                                                       
=========================                                                       
As reported last week in SpaceNews, the RUDAK group of AMSAT-DL achieved        
another milestone with the development of more sophisticated software for       
the OSCAR-21/RUDAK satellite.                                                   
                                                                                
Although some key members are already very busy with P3D activities, much       
time has been invested to implement new attractive modes on AO21.               
                                                                                
Besides the Voice Broadcast which was successfully used throughout the last     
year with several greeting messages in different languages, RUDAK is now        
capable of transmitting picture files in WEFAX compatible format.               
Unfortunately there is no camera onboard AO-21, so the pictures have to be      
uploaded first by the AO-21 command station.                                    
                                                                                
Not only is RUDAK now capable of transmitting FAX pictures, the pictures        
themselves are uploaded and stored in JPEG format!  They are also converted     
from JPEG to WEFAX format online by the RTX-2000 RISC processor during          
transmission, so not much memory is needed to hold the images.                  
                                                                                
JPEG compression gives an enormous reduction in file size compared to GIF       
picture format, without much loss in quality.  This saves a lot of space in     
the 1MB RAMDISK and will also speed-up the upload time drastically.             
                                                                                
RUDAK is also capable of holding several picture and voice broadcast files      
in the RAMDISK at the same time.  They can be transmitted on a schedule         
mixed with FM-Mode and 1200 baud AX.25 Telemetry.                               
                                                                                
The "Multimedia" satellite premiere will be activated for the first time on     
December 24 and some special season greeting in voice and picture will be       
transmitted.                                                                    
                                                                                
Stay tuned on AMSAT OSCAR-21 and be prepared for some surprises!                
                                                                                
The RUDAK downlink center frequency is 145.987 MHz.  The uplink for FM-Mode     
is 435.014 MHz.  The WEFAX format is like METEOSAT WEFAX Specification          
(MGCS): FM, 2400 Hz Subcarrier frequency with double sideband AM modulation,    
300 Hz start signal for 3 seconds, 450 Hz stop signal for 5 seconds,            
800 x 800 Pixel Image format with 256 grey levels, 4 Lines/sec.                 
                                                                                
* MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR *                                        
  AMSAT-DL, Germany and AMSAT-U, Russia                                         
                                                                                
[Info via Peter Guelzow]                                                        
                                                                                

* SANTA GETS CLEARANCE *                                                        
========================                                                        
To all our friends who have participated in SAREX operations this past year:    
                                                                                
The Kennedy Space Center has given clearance for Santa to land on the           
Shuttle landing strip.  The folks in Mission Control have given their go        
ahead for deorbit burn and landing operations.  Engineering has declared all    
systems operating properly and the range safety officer has cleared the         
landing area of all interfering craft.  We are ready for final Christmas        
operations.                                                                     
                                                                                
We trust that our friends in the north have taken good care of Santa's          
Reindeer during this past year and all systems are go.                          
                                                                                
We here at the Johnson Space Center and the SAREX team send our Seasons         
Greetings and Wishes for a Happy New Year.                                      
                                                                                
[Info via Lou McFadin, W5DID at the NASA Johnson Space Center]                  
                                                                                
                                                                                
* 2 METER AMSAT NET *                                                           
=====================                                                           
All interested are invited to check in to the WA2SNQ repeater satellite net,    
on the 147.075 MHz repeater in Dix Hills, Long Island.  Beginners are           
welcome, as are old hands.  We are especially looking for PACSAT users.         
There will soon be a Oscar 13 gateway in operation during good AO13 passes      
during net time.  Please stop in and say hello Tuesday  nites at 7 PM.          
                                                                                
[Info via Scott, WB2UZR @ WA2NDV.#NLI.NY.USA.NA]                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
* CELESTIAL BBS NUMBER CHANGE *                                                 
===============================                                                 
The telephone number of the Celestial land-line BBS system will change          
effective 6 January 1994 from 513/427-0674 to 513/253-9767.                     
                                                                                
[Info via WX8X]                                                                 
                                                                                
                                                                                
* NEW AMSAT LAND-LINE BBS *                                                     
===========================                                                     
Dave, KB9BNR has added a land line port to his packet radio BBS (QCBBS),        
a F6FBB packet BBS with three RF ports supporting RF data rates from 1200       
to 9600 baud.                                                                   
                                                                                
The BBS has a very nice satellite section containing realtime satellite         
tracking facilities as well as text files on each Amateur satellite.  There     
are also back issues of SpaceNews and ANS bulletins available, and Dave         
hopes to add a bigger hard disk soon and include much more information.         
There are also lots of other Ham Radio files on the system, such as radio       
mods, SWL frequency lists, and much more.                                       
                                                                                
On your first connect to the system you will have read only status.  You        
can send Dave a message if you would like full access to the system.            
Simply provide your name and callsign and select a password for your login      
and pass it along to Dave.  The next time you connect, you will have full       
access to the system.                                                           
                                                                                
The telephone number is 309-797-3827.  The BBS supports baud rates from         
300 to 9600 baud, with 8N1 data format and is available 24 hours a day.         
                                                                                
[Info via Dave, KB9BNR]                                                         
                                                                                
                                                                                
* FO-20 OPERATION SCHEDULE *                                                    
============================                                                    
The following is the FO-20 operation schedule for December 1993 through         
February 1994.  During this period, the analog and digital transponder modes    
will on alternately for a week as they were in December.                        
                                                                                
ANALOG MODE:                                                                    
                                                                                
15-Dec-93 7:41 -to- 22-Dec-93 8:05 UTC                                          
29-Dec-93 8:30 -to- 05-Jan-94 8:50 UTC                                          
12-Jan-94 7:30 -to- 19-Jan-94 7:50 UTC                                          
26-Jan-94 8:20 -to- 02-Feb-94 6:50 UTC                                          
09-Feb-94 7:15 -to- 16-Feb-94 7:40 UTC                                          
                                                                                
The digital (Mode JD) transponder is available at all other times.              
                                                                                
[Info via Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK]                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
* THANKS! *                                                                     
===========                                                                     
Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation regarding SpaceNews,      
especially:                                                                     
                                                                                
     G3IOR    N3JIX     W3PYF     AA4MI     ZS5FR     KD6ILO     YT7MPB         
     WD8LAQ   F9XG      Frank L. Weissferdt                                     
                                                                                
                                                                                
* 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                                                       
PACKET   : KD2BD @ N2KZH.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.                                                               
                                                                                
                                                                                
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