SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS010
ARLS010 SAREX aboard STS-83; launch set for April 3

ZCZC AS10
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 010  ARLS010
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT  March 31, 1997
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS010
ARLS010 SAREX aboard STS-83; launch set for April 3

The Space Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment--SAREX--will be aboard
when NASA*s STS-83 mission accelerates skyward April 3 at 1901 UTC.
Eighteen schools, including institutions in the People*s Republic of
China and on Okinawa, have been scheduled for SAREX contacts during
the mission. Three hams will be aboard the shuttle Columbia. They are
James D. Halsell, KC5RNI, mission commander; Janice E. Voss, KC5BTK,
payload commander; and Donald A. Thomas, KC5FVF, mission specialist.
STS-83 is scheduled to last 16 days. The mission will carry SAREX
configuration C: voice and packet. The mission*s primary payload is
the microgravity science laboratory.

Schools selected for STS-83 SAREX contacts are: Alvin C. York
Agricultural Institute, Jamestown, Tennessee; Artesia Public Schools,
Artesia, New Mexico; Beau Chene High School, Arnaudville, Louisiana;
Center Street School, El Segundo, California; County College of
Morris, Randolph, New Jersey; Crittenden Middle School, Mountain
View, California; Edgewater High School, Orlando, Florida; Ione
Junior High School, Jackson, California; Lawrence Intermediate
School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey; Lester Middle School (Department
of Defense Dependents Schools, Pacific), Okinawa, Japan; Lexington
Traditional Magnet School, Lexington, Kentucky; Mountain View
Elementary School, Prescott Valley, Arizona; Public School No. 9, New
York, New York; Robert J. Burch Elementary School, Tyrone, Georgia;
S. J. Davis Middle School, San Antonio, Texas; Sonny Carter
Elementary School, Macon, Georgia; Troy Intermediate School, Troy,
Texas; and Tsinghua University, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China.

The SAREX Working Group has designated the following frequencies
during the STS-83 mission:

 FM voice downlink (worldwide): 145.55 MHz
 FM voice uplink: 144.91, 144.93, 144.95, 144.97, and 144.99 MHz
 FM voice uplink (Europe only): 144.70, 144.75, and 144.80 MHz

If packet is available, the FM packet downlink will be 145.55 MHz;
the uplink will be 144.49 MHz. The FM packet call sign will be
W5RRR-1.

The SAREX hardware will be flown in configuration B, voice-only,
battery operation, since no shuttle power could be spared for SAREX
on this mission. The SAREX equipment aboard STS-83 includes the
Motorola 2-meter FM hand-held transceiver, 15 spare batteries, the
window antenna, SAREX headset assembly, personal recorder and the
required interconnecting cables.

The SAREX team is also flying the Heathkit packet radio TNC for
possible use later in the flight. If power conservation measures are
successful, the mission control team will advise SAREX and the
astronauts to initiate use of the packet radio system, which also
includes one of the Shuttle Laptop computers.

Reports and QSLs go to ARRL-EAD, STS-83 QSL, 225 Main St, Newington,
CT 06111-1494. Include the following information: STS-83, date, time
in UTC, frequency and mode (FM, voice or packet). You must also
include an sase using a large, business-size envelope if you wish to
receive a card.
NNNN
/EX