MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 26/98 INDEX: IRIDIUM CONSTELLATION COMPLETE; GALAXY IV FAILURE; MEMBERS WRITE; Holes in the back of a BC-348, PRC-66? HUMOR; *********************************************** IRIDIUM CONSTELLATION COMPLETE; Sunday afternoon, May 17, at 4:16 PM marked what I believe is a watershed point in the history of electronic communication. The launch of a Boeing Delta II rocket, from Vandenberg AFB, CA carried 5 Iridim satellites into orbit. There are currently 67 working satellites in the Iridium system. (66 active and 1 orbiting spare). All have been launched in the last 12 months. Before Iridium, each satellite was custom built. These satellites were mass assembled in a factory. The Iridium name comes from the element Iridium which has 66 electrons circling the nucleus, much as this system has 66 satellites circling the earth. Starting in September 1998, this system of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites will allow users of a handheld phone to make and receive calls from anywhere on the earth's surface where they can see a good patch of sky. Prior to September, there are places where you need a suitcase full of equipment and a bulky antenna to communicate. After September 1998 you can communicate anywhere with a handheld device. The older Inmarsart system uses geo-stationary satellites and provides no coverage in the polar regions. Amateur radio operators worldwide blazed the trail for LEO satellites and proved their worth. Thanks to their pioneering efforts there will soon be no place in the world where you need to be cut off from communication. Here are some URL's concerning satellite phones: http://www.iridium.com/ http://www.teledesic.com/ http://www.ico.com/ http://www.inmarsat.org/inmarsat/index.html http://www.mot.com/GSS/SSTG/projects/celestri/ Randy Hoops - Springfield, MO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Au contraire, s'il vous plait. :-) The actual element Iridium has _77_ electrons. The original Iridium project was to have involved 77 satellites. However, the technology evolved sufficiently that seven orbits of satellites was "overkill", and that six would be sufficient to work the entire planet. I haven't looked at Iridium's web page yet, but I wonder if they mention the 77 to 66 change in their history files. :-) _Ray_ KB0STN *********************************************** GALAXY IV FAILURE; STATEMENT BY ROBERT BEDNAREK SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER 20 MAY 1998, 12:15 A.M. EASTERN TIME Regarding the Galaxy IV domestic U.S. communications satellite. "At approximately 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on May 19, the Galaxy IV satellite experienced an anomaly within its on-board spacecraft control processor (SCP), the primary system responsible for pointing the spacecraft relative to earth. The automatic switch to a backup unit failed as well. As a result of the SCP anomalies, the satellite began to rotate, thereby losing its fixed orientation. While PanAmSat is able to receive telemetry from and send commands to the satellite, full operation of the satellite's attitude control system has not been achieved at this time. PanAmSat has deactivated the communications payload at this time to conserve power. The satellite is in a stable, safe mode, and engineers at Hughes Space and Communications Co., which built the spacecraft, are examining all pertinent data to determine the causes of and potential solutions to the anomalies. "PanAmSat has advised its Galaxy IV customers that the satellite will remain out of service until Wednesday morning at the earliest. We are helping customers with short-term restoration plans for their satellite transmission requirements. In addition, given the size and flexibility of PanAmSat's global satellite network, we are examining long-term options in the event that we cannot reactivate the satellite, including the use of available capacity on other PanAmSat spacecraft with domestic U.S. coverage. "PanAmSat is deploying all possible resources within our company and the satellite communications industry to ensure continuous, high-quality transmissions for their video and telecommunications services." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ©1998 PanAmSat, All rights reserved. Headquarters - Greenwich, CT USA Tel: 203-622-6664 *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Holes in the back of a BC-348, Dennis , Dave sundheimer asked why the tapped holes ontop and back of BC-348 case. I have photo of the '348 installed in a Liberator bomber and it looks as though there was a angle bracket with a shock mount attached to the case. The shock mount in turn , was part of a rather substantial mount fixed to the fuselage of the aircraft. Didn't know my self until I saw the question and looked in the a/c manual. Cheers Pete Williams VK 3 IZ jupeter@net-tech.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRC-66? Dennis, Have a question: Does anyone know if the PRC-66 was ever formally adopted by the US Army or USMC? Or did it remain as a USAF radio? 73 Joseph W Pinner Lafayette, LA KC5IJD EMail: kc5ijd@sprintmail.com ed) Currently, the only known user for the PRC-66 was the Airforce as reported by Jane's, & what's been found on surplus examples. Fed Log also list the Airforce as the only purchaser. PRC-66;Backpack VHF/UHF,AM transceiver.Intended for use by FAC's, paratroopers,& other combat communications teams in landing,parachute drop,& fighter strike control operations.Developed by Collins of Canada as a replacement for the PRC-41,these radios are known to be in use by the US Air Force.Installation kits & accessories are available for vehicular installation. Ops 225-399.9 on any of 3500 synthesized channels,spaced 50kc apart. RF power output is 3 watts.Requires 24vdc supplied by either alkaline or rechargeable nicad batteries.Set is small enough to be held & operated with one hand.Original US Airforce cost $8926.23. *********************************************** HUMOR; In a tiny village lived an old maid. In spite of her old age, she was still a virgin. She was very proud of it. She knew her last days were getting closer, so she told the local undertaker that she wanted the following inscription on her tombstone: "Born as a virgin, lived as a virgin, died as a virgin" Not long after, the old maid died peacefully, and the undertaker told his men what the lady had said. The men went to carve it in, but as the lazy no- goods they were, they thought the inscription to be unnecessarily long. They simply wrote: "Returned unopened" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lady approaches a priest one day and tells him, "Father, I have a problem. I have two talking female parrots, but it turns out they only know how to say one thing." "What do they say?", the priest asked. "They only know how to say 'Hi, we are nymphomaniacs. Do you want to have some FUN?'" "That's terrible!", the priest exclaimed, "But I have a solution to your problem. Bring your two talking female parrots over to my house and I will put them with my two male talking parrots who I have taught to pray the rosary. Then my parrots will teach your parrots to stop saying that terrible phrase and your female parrots will learn to pray and worship." "Thank you." said the lady. So the next day, the lady brings her female parrots to the priest's house. The priest's two male parrots are holding rosary beads and praying in their cage. The lady puts her female talking parrots in with the male talking parrots and the female parrots say, "Hi, we are nymphomaniacs! Do you want to have some FUN?" One male parrot looks over to the other male parrot and says, "PUT THE BEADS AWAY, MAX; OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!!!!!!!!!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ending it all... An 83-year old woman decided that she'd seen and done everything, and the time had come to depart from this world. After considering various methods of doing away with herself, she came to the conclusion that the quickest and surest method would be to shoot herself through the heart. The trouble was, she wasn't certain about exactly where her heart was, so she phoned her doctor and asked him. He told her that her heart was located two inches below her left nipple. So she shot herself in the left kneecap. *********************************************** (The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************