Volume 16, Number 13 (March 28, 1997)

Address Changes: Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.

Editorial: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org.

IN THIS EDITION:

PHASE 3D LAUNCH PUT OFF UNTIL SEPTEMBER

Modifications to the Ariane 5 rocket's electrical systems and software will mean another costly delay for the Phase 3D Amateur Radio satellite. The European Space Agency (ESA) announced March 24, that the Ariane 502 which will carry Phase 3D aloft from Kourou, French Guyana, has been rescheduled for a mid-September launch. ESA said the schedule change was in response to recommendations of a board of inquiry that looked into the causes for the failure of the Ariane 501 launch last year.

"This additional action, which does not call into question the design of the launcher nor its flight readiness, is intended to improve its robustness, increase the operational margins and allow for degraded operating modes," an ESA press release said.

In a joint statement a day after the ESA announcement, Phase 3D Project Leader and AMSAT-DL (Germany) President Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, and AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, expressed continuing confidence that ESA and CNES (the French Space Agency managing the Ariane 5 program) will succeed in completing all the tasks necessary for a successful flight test of Ariane 502. "Naturally, we are disappointed that our launch will not be as soon as we had hoped," said Meinzer. "However, I am pleased that ESA and CNES are taking care to improve the operational margins for the Ariane 5 booster. This action helps give us renewed confidence in the overall probability for a successful launch of our satellite."

Tynan said a complete analysis had not yet been done but that he believed the delay would add "on the order of $100,000" to Phase 3D's cost. That's on top of an estimated $200,000 combined funding shortfall that AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-DL were reporting in late February. So far, AMSAT-DL has invested nearly $1.6 million in Phase 3D, compared to nearly $1.4 million for AMSAT-NA.

Phase 3D fund-raising efforts will continue. "Every month adds costs," Tynan concluded. "This shortfall can only increase now as a result of this latest schedule change." Both AMSAT leaders urged everyone to continue doing as much as possible to insure the needed funds will be in place for the completion and launch of Phase 3D in September.

Earlier this year, the Japanese AMSAT group, JAMSAT, helped bridge the funding gap by transferring $50,000 to AMSAT-NA. The money represented excess donations from JAMSAT members for the Phase 3D SCOPE camera. The completed SCOPE camera, designed and built entirely by JAMSAT, has been installed and successfully powered up at the Phase 3D Integration Laboratory in Orlando, Florida, where preparation and testing continue.

Tynan emphasized that the Phase 3D team plans to take maximum advantage of the schedule change to perform additional testing. "It's not time being wasted," Tynan said, adding that the Phase 3D team "will use the delay to be even more sure about the spacecraft's readiness."

Prior to announcement of the latest delay, AMSAT-NA Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF, had been reporting that AMSAT was racing to meet the early July launch schedule and that work on the satellite was moving along swiftly.

A series of pictures of Phase 3D work in progress is available via the AMSAT-NA Web site at http://www.amsat.org. Depending on its workload, the integration team hopes to be able to update these photos as work progresses.

ATV ROCKET LAUNCHES SET

The Aerospace States Association Rockets for Schools program has announced plans to launch three rockets during May that will carry Amateur TV (ATV) payloads. All launches will use 11-foot-long Super-Loki sounding rockets identical to the rocket used for the successful Wisconsin Rockets for Schools program launch in May 1996 described in "New Heights for ATV" (QST, Feb 1997).

On May 10, a Super-Loki rocket carrying an ATV payload on 439.25 MHz with GPS data on the audio is scheduled to be launched from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. If successful, the event will mark Delaware's first suborbital rocket launch. The Aerospace Education Department and the Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation are sponsoring the project in conjunction with the Aerospace States Association and several other supporting agencies. Teams of students in grades 7 through 12 are being recruited to assist in designing and building various payload components. For the latest information on the Delaware launch, see http://www.dpi.state.de.us/dpi/launch/ on the Web or contact Sam Guccione, K3BY, e-mail sguccion@outland.dtcc.edu.

On May 17, two Super-Loki rockets carrying ATV payloads will be launched at separate times from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan (the site of the May 4, 1996, launch). Current plans call for the first to transmit ATV on 434.25 MHz with Morse code telemetry on the audio, and for the second to transmit ATV on 439.25 MHz with GPS data on the audio. For the latest information on the Wisconsin launches, see http://phy.mtu.edu/rocket/ on the Web or contact Greg Heinen, KB9OBV, at heineng@orbitec.com, or Bryan Suits, WB8WKN, at suits@mtu.edu.

The Super-Loki rocket, which uses solid propellant, can carry the payload to altitudes of more than 30 miles.--Bryan Suits, WB8WKN

"ROCKOON" LAUNCH FOILED BY RFI

Bill Brown, WB8ELK, reports that an RFI problem led to scrubbing the planned North Carolina launch from a balloon of an amateur rocket carrying ATV and APRS systems on March 22 (see "'Rockoon' Bearing ATV to Launch March 22," The ARRL Letter, Vol 16, No 12). The group of space enthusiasts, which includes several hams, has rescheduled the launch of the "rockoon"--a rocket launched from a high-altitude balloon--for late April.

"We were all ready to launch the rockoon system when--just three minutes before liftoff--we heard three loud pops from the rocket gondola," reports Brown, the group's "balloonmeister." "It turned out to be the cutdown squibs." Brown said the cutdown squibs were intended to fire after seven hours to let the rocket gondola and balloon descend--in case uplink commands failed--so that the balloon would not fly unattended at night. But RFI caused the timer to go off after just a few minutes, causing the malfunction.

The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5)--a chapter of the National Space Society (NSS)--has spent the past two years developing and testing components for the rockoon. The HAL5 program is called Project HALO, for High Altitude Lift-Off.

Brown said that while the rockoon launch did not go forward, the group did take the 434-MHz ATV transmitter (with live TV camera views) off the rocket gondola and flew it to 55,000 feet attached to a small weather balloon. "Hams across North Carolina were treated to spectacular views of the Carolina coast sent down from the payload," he said. Unfortunately, the payload parachuted down just two miles west of Wilmington, North Carolina, and landed in a swampy area just north of an industrial park, where the crew was unable to recover it. Joked Brown: "The alligators probably have eaten it by now!"

A new launch date has not yet been set. For more details check the HALO Web site at http://iquest.com/~hal5/HALO/SL-1/ or e-mail hal5@iquest.com.

NEW, IMPROVED TRANSCEIVERS ON THE HORIZON

Yaesu's new FT-920 HF/6-meter transceiver will be available in early May, the company announced this week. The radio already is being advertised for sale in some overseas ham radio journals. Yaesu says the FT-920 will offer 100 W output on all bands; digital signal processing (DSP) in all modes (with auto notch and noise reduction); built-in antenna tuner, memory keyer and RS-232C level converter; and MOSFET finals. It's expected to retail for under $2000.

ICOM has announced the IC-706MkII, with several improvements and additions to the popular tiny HF/VHF transceiver at the same price as the original IC-706. The MkII will offer slots for two optional filters, a "sub" dial (to tune the second VFO or for RIT), 20 W output on 2 meters, a separate band-change key, crossband split, band-stacking register, and better sensitivity outside the ham bands. The MkII should be available in May, according to ICOM. No retrofits are possible for existing IC-706s.

Ten-Tec has announced the OMNI-VI Plus, an upgraded version of its popular HF transceiver. The OMNI-VI Plus includes DSP noise reduction, low pass, auto notch and adjustable CW offset (with tracking sidetone) plus another filter position. A retrofit program is available for current OMNI-VI owners. The OMNI-VI Plus is priced at $2585.

SPANISH HAM RADIO PROGRAM TO DEBUT

Starting next week, Radio Mexico International will launch a new Spanish-language program aimed at sparking interest in Amateur Radio and shortwave listening. Estacion DX (DX Station) will debut April 2 at 0200 UTC on XERMX, Radio Mexico International, at 9705 kHz. The host of the new program will be Yuri Bilbatua Ferrer, XE1NVX, a member of the board of directors of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE), in charge of media relations.

Estacion DX will be retransmitted three times per week on various frequencies used by the station. Ideas and written contributions of general interest to radio amateurs and SWLs are welcome. Send them to Yuri Bilbatua, Box 21-300, 04021 Mexico City, DF, Mexico; e-mail nuvox@mexred.net.mx or at.

The program is expected to deal with a wide variety of SWL and ham radio topics, such as DXing, ham radio public service activities, antennas and space communication. Project sponsors are hoping the program will provide a way for ham radio clubs in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries to cooperate in promoting Amateur Radio.--Fred Laun, K3ZO

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DAY IS MAY 17

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council has chosen "Telecommunication In The Service Of Humanitarian Assistance" as the theme for 1997 World Telecommunication Day (WTD-97), a theme lying at the very heart of Amateur Radio. World Telecommunication Day takes place each year on the anniversary of the creation of the ITU, May 17, 1865.

A specialized agency of the United Nations, the ITU has the vital role of overseeing the division of the range of radio spectrum for the entire world. Based on the demonstrated or perceived needs of different services, which include broadcast, maritime, aeronautical, amateur and others, member-nations of the ITU decide which radio services will be allocated which bands of frequencies. Once that's done, the regulators for each country take over to write domestic regulations in accordance with ITU international agreements.

Amateur Radio is expected to be featured in a special telecommunications center designed to commemorate the event, to be located in front of the ITU Headquarters building, at the Place des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. It is expected that special event station operators will use the call sign 4U1ITU, which is the call of the ITU Headquarters club station.

ARRL International Affairs Vice President and IARU Secretary Larry Price, W4RA, and Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, will be in Geneva for other meetings and are planning to represent ARRL and IARU in person. It is further anticipated that ARRL will arrange a schedule with the Geneva special event station to convey a commemorative message from ARRL/IARU. (IARU is a Sector Member of the ITU. ARRL is the International Secretariat of the IARU). US groups involved in emergency communication programs such as ARES and RACES would also be invited to contact and exchange messages with the station.

Other planned activities and demonstrations in Geneva include live videoconferencing (possibly with relief workers at the site of operations in Rwanda and/or Burundi), satellite equipment (provided and operated by commercial suppliers), and VHF and HF mobile equipment. Videos, including a program currently in production on telecommunication in the Rwanda and Burundi operations, will be shown.

DENNIS E. MUNGHAM, VE3ASO, SK

Well-known VHF contester Dennis Mungham, VE3ASO, of Mountain, Ontario, Canada, died March 21, He was 48 and had been a ham for more than 35 years. Mungham was a member of the Toronto VHF Society and was considered a prime mover behind the VE3ONT contest group.--Peter Shilton, VE3AX

In Brief:

  • New ARRL/VEC fax number: The ARRL/VEC now has a fax number. It's 860-594-0339.

  • RS-16 Update: While the RS-16 transponders apparently have not yet been switched on, the beacons on both 2 meters and 70 cm have been active. B. J. Arts, WT0N, reports that during a pass over North America on March 14, RS-16's 10-meter beacons at 29.408 and 29.451 MHz were not heard, while the 70-cm beacons at 435.504 and 435.548 MHz were active. The 435.504-MHz beacon was very strong, while the 435.548-MHz beacon was very weak. Once the transponder has been turned on, the uplink passband on 2 meters will be 145.915 to 145.948 MHz, and the downlink on 10 meters will be 29.415 to 29.448 MHz.--B.J. Arts, WT0N

  • Alinco cuts prices again: For the second time in less than a year, Alinco has announced price reductions to dealers. The company cited the favorable dollar-yen exchange rate as one reason behind the price cuts. Alinco notes that it does not set prices at the dealer level, and that street prices can vary from one retailer to another.

  • Pre-WW II YL information sought: Wolf Harranth, OE1WHC, honorary curator of the world's largest QSL collection in Vienna, Austria, says he's seeking information on female hams operating prior to 1939, as part of a research project into the history of Amateur Radio. "So far we have listed 350+ YLs operating before 1939," he reports. He said he now needs background information (biographical information, old and current QSLs, photographs, etc) on as many of them as possible. To help, contact Wolf Harranth, e-mail kwp@rai.ping.com.

  • ScoutElmer Award: You don't have to be in Scouting to be the recipient of the ScoutElmer Award for helping Scouts to become hams. To qualify, you must be licensed and either be a past or present Scout or adult leader or know a currently active Scout or leader. ScoutElmers agree to respond to help answer ham radio questions from Scouts in their area for at least one month. To sign up, send e-mail to Mel Goldberg at myriad1@ix.netcom.com. Include your name and call sign, e-mail address; locations you can serve; mode(s) of communication, such as e-mail only, e-mail and telephone, telephone and ham class, etc; and your Scouting affiliation and position (past affiliation and date, if applicable), or your Scout or Scout leader sponsor. ScoutElmer Award recipients get a certificate, a Web site logo and the satisfaction that you helped promote Amateur Radio in Scouting. For more information, contact Mel Goldberg, KO6TF, via e-mail.

  • 1997 AMSAT-NA conference last call for papers: The 1997 AMSAT-NA meeting and space symposium will be held October 17-19, 1997, at the Airport Delta Hotel, Toronto, Ontario Canada. Those wishing to present papers must forward their request and a title by April 1. Topics may include all relevant amateur satellite disciplines. Abstracts must be filed by June 1, and final versions by August 1 (so that they may be printed in the proceedings). Those not able to attend are encouraged to send papers for inclusion in the proceedings. Submissions should be sent to Wayne Chandler, VE3WHC, Box 6, Carlisle, ON L0R 1H0, Canada; e-mail, ve3whc@amsat.org.

  • Improved WM7D call sign database: You can now search WM7D's fcc call sign database for clubs--by name, city, state, and/or ZIP Code. Check it out at http://www.rdatasys.com/~mdowning.--Mark Downing, WM7D

The ARRL Letter

The ARRL Letter is published by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Rodney J. Stafford, KB6ZV, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.

Circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.

Editorial, Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org.

Visit the ARRLWeb page at http://www.arrl.org.

The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate and readable in our reporting.

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How to Get The ARRL Letter:

The ARRL Letter is distributed directly from ARRL HQ only to elected League officials and certain ARRL appointees and to paid subscribers of the now-defunct hard-copy edition of The ARRL Letter . For members and nonmembers alike, The ARRL Letter is available free of charge from these sources:

  • The ARRLWeb page (http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/). This version of The ARRL Letter includes any photographs.

  • The HIRAM BBS: 860-594-0306.

  • The ARRL Technical Information Server (Info Server): Send an e-mail message to info@arrl.org. The subject line should be blank. In the message body, type send ltrmmdd.txt, where mm represents two digits for the month and dd represents two digits for the day (The ARRL Letter is published every Friday). For example, to request The ARRL Letter file for Friday, January 3, 1997, you'd type send ltr0103.txt. Then, on a separate line, type quit.

  • CompuServe and America Online subscribers, as a downloadable text file in the services' ham radio libraries

  • The Netcom server, run by the Boston Amateur Radio Club and Mike Ardai, N1IST: Send e-mail to listserv@netcom.com (no subject needed). The body of the message should say subscribe letter-list.