IITC Newsletter Vol 3 No 1 : 20 January 2003 ============================================ All... Two items for this newsletter: one a request from the organization overseeing operation of the OSCAR/NIMS/Transit satellites most of us use in our work, and the other a notification from the Aberystwyth group regarding an upcoming experiment. 1. Request for Information --------------------------- The following request came in from Ethan Merrill, NIMS Satellite Constellation Support Manager. I asked it they wanted input from more than US users, and he replied with an emphatic yes. Please send any responses directly to Ethan. Fellow OSCAR Satellite Users, NAVSOC (the satellite control authority, satellite engineer & operator for the OSCAR satellites) is attempting to find out how many different organizations use the OSCAR's and for what purpose. This information will allow NAVSOC to manage the satellites better to serve the needs of all OSCAR users and may allow us to obtain more funding for the OSCAR satellite program. Please respond to the following questions via the e-mail or SIPRNet addresses at the bottom of this e-mail. Thanks, Ethan 1) Downlink Frequency Usage: a) Does your organization use only the 150 MHz freq ? Or only the 400 MHz freq ? Or both 150 and 400 ? b) Does your organization use OSCAR's whose downlink frequencies are only on the Operational offset (-80 PPM)? Or only the Maintenance offset (-145 PPM)? Or both frequency offsets ? 2) What does your organization use the OSCAR's for ? Thanks again, Ethan Merrill NIMS Satellite Constellation Support Manager Polar EHF Constellation Support Manager NIMS/TRANSIT/OSCAR Satellite Engineer Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC) 661 13th Street, Point Mugu, CA 93042-5003 Phone 805.989.8780 Fax 805.989.4280 e-mail: MERRILE@SATOPS.MUGU.NAVY.MIL SIPRNet: emerrill@navspace.navy.smil.mil 2. Note from Aberystwyth ------------------------- The following note came in from Eleri Pryse: It may be of interest to you that the Aberystwyth group are planning co-ordinated EISCAT incoherent scatter radar (mainland Norway radar and the ESR radar on Svalbard), Radio Tomography and CUTLASS(SuperDarn) observations on 24 February 2003, for the interval 03 to 15 UT. This was not a call for other groups to attempt collaborative observations, but it is being passed along to the community if anyone is interested in collecting data in conjunction with this effort by the Aberystwyth group. If you have any questions about this activity, please pass your questions to either Eleri or to Len Kersley (sep@aber.ac.uk or lek@aber.ac.uk, respectively). Jim Secan