SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS011
ARLS011 New satellites get OSCAR designations

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QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 011  ARLS011
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT  August 21, 1998
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS011
ARLS011 New satellites get OSCAR designations

Amateurs radio*s two newest satellites, TMSAT-1 and TechSat-1B, are
reported doing very well after a month in space. The two birds were
launched jointly in late July from Russia*s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Neither satellite is yet ready for general use as they undergo
initial loading of flight software.  Both satellites also have
received OSCAR designations from AMSAT.  TMSAT has been dubbed
TMSAT-OSCAR-31 (TO-31), while the Gurwin TechSat 1B will be known as
Gurwin-OSCAR-32 (GO-32). The assignment of consecutive OSCAR numbers
to new Amateur Radio spacecraft is a tradition that dates from the
launch of the very first Amateur Radio Satellite-OSCAR 1. In order
for an OSCAR number to be assigned, the satellite must successfully
achieve orbit and one or more transmitters must be successfully
activated in the Amateur Radio bands. Then, the builders/owners of
the satellite must formally request that a consecutive OSCAR number
be assigned to their satellite.  TMSAT, the first Thai microsat, was
constructed by Thai engineers in cooperation with engineers at the
University of Surrey in the UK.  It*s primarily designed along the
lines of a low-earth-orbiting communications satellite. The TMSAT
control station in Bangkok is HS0AM.  TechSat-1B is also responding
well to ground control commands, and the satellite recently took its
first picture from space. The satellite contains an ultraviolet
spectro-radiometer, a charged particles detector, and a
superconductivity experiment, among other experiments.  Images from
both satellites and access to additional information are available
via the AMSAT Web site, http://www.amsat.org. Both satellites are
expected to be available soon for general amateur use.
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