AMSAT UK MONTHLY SATELLITE REPORT:FOR DECEMBER 05/JANUARY 06
As compiled by PAUL 2E1EUB.Inclusions to be included in this monthly report to reach me by the 25th of each month please, at: 2E1EUB@AMSAT.ORG. This report can also be found at www.amsatuk.org and on paket Radio
or may be heard live on 3.780mhz +/- QRM on the last Sunday of each month around 10.00 local time. The next takes place every Sunday.
VO52/HAMSAT
AMSAT India has applied for and has been granted an OSCAR number for HAMSAT. In the future HAMSAT will be referred to as VUSat-OSCAR 52 or VO-52 for short.
For additional information about HamSat please see:
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/sat_summary/hamsat.php>
This bird has heavy trafic! and plenty of new comers, lets hope it stands the pace, Ive already noticed weaker signals than first noted. The foot print is not massive and it moves quick ,but its possible to work the USA just about. NOW BACK OPPERATING ON THE INDIAN TRANSPONDER.
HAMSAT frequencies: ------------------- Indian transponder: Uplink : 435.225MHz to 435.275MHz LSB/CW Downlink: 145.875MHz to 145.925MHz USB/CW Beacon : 145.940MHz continue carrier signal Dutch transponder: Uplink : 435.225MHz to 435.275MHz LSB/CW Downlink: 145.875MHz to 145.925MHz USB/CW Beacon : 145.860MHz 12WPM with CW message
AO-51 ECHO
Status: operational//
modes l/s and v/s working well, but takes some tracking! still problems with the qrm level on mode v uplink.The new modes this month went down well ,v/ssb u/fm was very different! A few stations all at once could have qso's just about. Reports welcome from stations using the digital side of ao51. Some improvements have been made after studying the latest data! PLEASE NOTE:The bbs call sign has now been changed to: PECHO-12 and the broadcast call is :PECHO-11
January 2006 Amsat Kid's Day on AO-51
Amsat-NA, the AO-51 Command Team, and the AO-51 Operations Team will sponsor Kid's Day on AO-51 on January 8, 2006. The event will run from approximately 0100 utc 8 January until 0345 utc 9 January. The event is open to all kids, worldwide. We ask all amateur radio stations to give this short time window to promote satellite operations with kids, by actually showing a kid how to make contacts via AO-51, providing a station to contact, or stepping aside to allow others to make contacts with the kids. During the event, please limit contacts to stations that are operating with kids at the microphone. This should allow the kids to have a nice QSO and pass some information. Kids can tell their name, age, who is helping them operate on AO-51, where they live, and other information about themselves.
AO-51 will be configured in the following mode during the event. Please note the change in the uplink frequency for the event. The PL tone will be turned off for the event.
Uplink: 145.880 mhz FM voice
Downlink: 435.300 mhz FM voice
The digital transponder on 435.150 will be turned off during the event.
See http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html on the ARRL website for more Kids Day information.
Have fun and enjoy AO-51!
73 KE4AZN
Amsat VP-Operations
Echo Command Station
AO-51 Digipeater function enabled for a Trial Test Session
21 DEC 2005: The digipeat function on AO-51 has been turned ON for a trial run, starting on 20 December. This is a shared uplink and downlink with the PBBS, so do not overload it with continuous, or high duty rate, beacons or broadcasts.
Downlink: 435.150 FM 9600 baud
Uplink: 145.860 FM 9600 baud
Digi Callsign: PACB-1
To verify that the digipeat function is currently turned ON, look for the text "d:1" in the LSTAT message that is broadcast by AO-51. If the text is "d:0" the digipeater is OFF.
Thanks to Jeff (KB2M) and Gould (WA4SXM) for their work in testing the digi function before the Trial Session.
73 KE4AZN
Echo Command Station
January 2006 AO-51 (AMSAT Echo) Schedule
January Schedule
30 Dec
In support of TamSat Request for Asian Scouting Event
PL Tone is OFF as requested
FM Repeater, V/U, High Power Mode
Uplink: 145.920 mhz FM, NO PL Tone
Downlink 435.300 mhz FM
4 Jan
Enable the Tone, no Mode Change
FM Repeater, V/U, High Power Mode
Uplink: 145.920 mhz FM, 67 hz PL Tone
Downlink 435.300 mhz FM
8 Jan
AO-51 Kid's Day Event (See info on Amsat.org)
FM Repeater, V/U, High Power Mode
Uplink: 145.880 mhz FM voice, 67 hz PL Tone
Downlink: 435.300 mhz FM voice
9 Jan
Opportunity for Digipeater Testing
9k6 Digital, V/U, High Power, PBP BBS (Pacsat Broadcast Protocol BBS)
Uplink: 145.860 mhz FM, 9k6 PBP Digital
Downlink: 435.150 mhz FM, 9k6 PBP Digital
Digipeater will be Turned ON
16 Jan
FM Repeater, V(ssb)/U FM (Experimental)
Uplink: 145.880 mhz USB
Downlink 435.300 mhz FM
22 Jan
FM Repeater, V/U
Uplink: 145.920 mhz FM, 67 hz PL Tone
Downlink 435.300 mhz FM
9k6 Digital, V/U, PBP BBS (Pacsat Broadcast Protocol BBS)
Uplink: 145.860 mhz FM, 9k6 PBP Digital
Downlink: 435.150 mhz FM, 9k6 PBP Digital
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) - ARISS
Status: Operational
Current Mode: X REPEATER ..UP 437.800 DOWN 145.800 FM
Digipeater: OFF (END OF DEC)145.800 fm
Russian callsigns RS0ISS, RZ3DZR
USA callsign NA1SS
Packet station mailbox callsign RS0ISS-11
Packet station keyboard callsign RS0ISS-3
It was great to see lots of UK hams work NA1SS Bill McArthur when he showed up on the x repeater over the holidays! a few asked him questions which he answered, everyone came out of the woodwork !! the repeater really could not handle the pile up! If you did not manage to work the repeater try transmitting just below on the uplink when first heard...and hope it can here you over Europe! it was nice to see a couple of the AMSAT-UK committee members exchange reports on there ...yes G3VZV & myself....and I was thinking they only played 80m.
The International Space Station crew will get a special Christmas delivery when the next Russian cargo ship docks to the orbiting laboratory Dec. 23. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the 2:55 p.m. EST docking beginning at 2 p.m.
The Progress spacecraft will launch Dec. 21 at 1:38 p.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The craft will spend two days closing in on the station before docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment. NASA Television will not broadcast the launch. This will be the 20th Progress to dock with the station.
Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev will find almost three tons of food, fuel, oxygen and spare parts aboard the craft, as well as holiday gifts from their families. McArthur and Tokarev are in the third month of a six-month mission.
ARISS NEWS:
California Contact Successful
On Thursday, December 15, five students from Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California spoke to Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. Bill answered seventeen of their questions as an audience of approximately 35 students, teachers, and others gathered for the event. The radio equipment used for this contact will remain as the school amateur radio station. The contact audio was webcast by MSNBC, and was available on the IRLP and Echolink nodes. Twenty-two Echolink connections were made from the following countries: France, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S.A.
Among the media covering the event were the North County Times, Union Tribune, and Corridor News. Links to two of the stories follow:
"Mt. Carmel High students make contact with the beyond."
<http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/12/16/news/inland/21_11_4412_15_05.txt>
25th Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree
The 25th Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree has been approved for Saturday, 31 December 2005 at 0912 UTC. The jamboree is held once every four years with scouts, ages 12-18 and will be held this year from December 28 to January 3 in Sattahip, Chonburi Province in Thailand. The hosting committee expects a turnout of 25,000 participants from the around the world, but especially from the 23 member countries in Asia-Pacific.
Article on Canadian School Contact
Ralph McCall School in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada experienced a successful contact with the ISS on Friday, 02 December 2005. An article has been posted to Alberta's Wild Rose Chapter 151 website, which contains photos of the event. See: <http://www.qsl.net/ve6afo/iss_contact2005.html>
Story Covers Sanderson High School Contact
Sanderson High School students spoke with Bill McArthur via amateur radio on December 8. A write up on the contact can be found on the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club website. It includes the audio and photos of the event. See:
<http://www.bigbendarc.com/photos-history/photos/iss/iss_index.html>
McArthur Continues Voice Contacts
Over the 17-18 December weekend, Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, made contacts with stations in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, Thailand, Japan, Italy, and Portugal. He has already made over 200 general contacts. ARRL covered his activity on the ISS ham radio station in the article, "ISS 12 Commander Shooting for WAC, WAS and Maybe DXCC from Space." See:
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/12/15/1/?nc=1>
Russian Special Event Planned
Russian delegate, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, reports that a special event is being planned for December 25 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov, U6MIR. Amateur radio operators are invited to participate. It is expected that Korolev and Star City stations will operate shortwave and UHF. Two contacts with the ISS are planned for December 25 and December 26 at 20:00 UTC. On December 26-27 the ISS Ham radio will be placed in repeater mode, and cosmonauts at Energia and Star City may also participate in the activities. Two thousand anniversary QSL cards with Strekalov's portrait have been printed for the event.
Educational Outreach/School Selection Committee Meeting Held
The ARISS Educational Outreach/School Selection Committee meeting was held on Thursday, 08 December 2005. Items of discussion included current school contacts, and NEEIS evaluations. The next meeting is planned for 09 February 2006. The minutes have been posted to the ARISS website.
See: <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arissschm.htm>
AO-7 AMSAT OSCAR 7
Status: Semi-operational in sunlight.
Return to active status: June 21,2002
Emily, W0EEC has created a website to allow the users of AO-7 to record
contacts, observations and use of the satellite more effectively at:
http://www.emilyshouse.com/experthams/ao7/main.php
This includes the ability to log contacts.
Mostly in mode B, ! with dx stations heard regularly, with some qrm on the 2m down link. But still plenty of traffic, showing that the old mode b transponder is much liked and rated. Tending to disappear or change modes part way through passes, perhaps due to poor solar lock.?
ao7 seems to be changing its trend its spent a lot of time in mode A this month...why not try CW or phone ....100w eirp l/h circular uplink.......2/6db linear antenna on the down link are the requirements !its poss to work mode A with less....stations worked this month inc: K3SZH N8BBQ K1VZI S57LM G1OCN
AO-27 AMRAD *******
Status:semi Operational( On!)
Evening time UK/Europe,FM repeater on first part off each pass.
The latest information on AO-27 can be found at:
http://www.ao27.org
An AO-27 question-and-answer page is available on the AMSAT-NA web
site,
I’ve used ao27 in the last few days and worked dx on the bird and it sounds great, with a good down link signal, lets hope its ok ,a big thank you to the control team for bringing ao27 back to life!
FO-29 JAS-2
Status: Operational
working well, with strong downlink signals at times.
Voice/CW Mode JA
Please send the reception reports to lab2@jarl.or.jp . Please use the
subject line: 'FO-29reception report'.
SO-50 SAUDISAT-1C
Status: Operational.
Uplink: 145.850 MHz
There have been unconfirmed reports on the amsat-bb emailer that So-50 has shifted downlink frequency as much as 5khz up.
To switch the transmitter on, you need to send a CTCSS tone of 74.4 Hz.and then ctcss of 67hz to keep the bird open:
UO-11 OSCAR-11…semi operational
14 December 2005
During the period 21 November to 14 December 2005 the VHF beacon on 145.826 MHz. has been heard from 05 to 10 December. Signals have been very variable during this period. Sometimes received at good strength, at other times they were inaudible , even with the BFO switched ON (ie. in CW mode). If the watchdog resets as expected, then the beacon should restart around 31 December. However, more observations are needed to confirm the timing of the watchdog timer, and whether it is being reset prematurely. Therefore, it may be worth listening for the satellite a few days before 31 December. The on-board clock continues to show a very large error. On 09 December it was 21.8 days slow. All the analogue telemetry channels, 0 to 59 are zero, ie they have failed. The status channels 60 to 67 are still working. The eclipses have now ended, and the satellite should be in continuous sunlight for the remainder of this year, and next year until early May. This should help the satellite to continue transmitting, although continuous sunlight can cause problems due to excessive temperatures. Power supply problems can be caused by poor earth pointing attitude, ie the sunlight illuminating the ends of the satellite, instead of the solar arrays. The watchdog timer appears to be operating on the 20 day cycle, ie. approximately ten days ON followed by 10 days OFF. It appears to be unaffected by problems of the on-board clock. However, poor solar attitude, and battery problems, may be combining to produce a low 14 volt line supply. This appears to be causing the beacon to switch OFF prematurely, and resets the watchdog timer cycle. It seems very likely that the battery is now unable to retain its charge, due to having endured around 100,000 partial charge/discharge cycles, always a problem with NiCad cells. When analogue telemetry was transmitted, it showed an unexplained current drain from the 14 volt line. This just adds to the present problems. The Beacon frequencies are - VHF 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry UHF 435.025 MHz. OFF S-band 2401.5 MHz. OFF Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my website which contains an archive of news & telemetry data. It also contains details about using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The URL is www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/
AO-16 PACSat
Status: Semi-operational, the digipeater command is on and open for
APRS user
Broadcast Callsign: PACSAT-11
BBS: PACSAT-12
GO-32 TECHSAT-1B
Status: Operational
Roni, 4Z7DFC, reports:
Techsat1b BBS's is back ..but still having problems...
Uplink freq. ; 145.859, 145.890, 1269.800
More information of GO-32 can be found at:
http://www.iarc.org/techsat/techsat.html
NO-44 PCSAT 1
Status: Operational-in sunlight
PCSat is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater
http://pcsat.aprs.org
The APRS-equipped PCSat was built by midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academ.SAW SOME OPPERATIONS THIS MONTH AS IT CAME OUT OF ECLIPS
PCSAT2
UI Digipeater 145.825 MHz FM 1200 Baud AFSK TLM and PSK Downlink 435.275 MHz FM 1200 AFSK or PSK-31 PSK-31 Uplink 29.4 MHz PSK-31 Aux Downlink 437.975 MHz FM 1200 and 9600 Baud AFSK Voice Repeater Downlink 437.975MHz FM Deployed 3 August 2005 (OFF)
NEW OBJECT CLOSE TO SSETI
Taft DeVere from Headquarters Airforce Space Command, (HQ AFSPC) reports that the Air Force has discovered a new object that is quite close to the SSETI payload. This new object has been catalogued as 28897. They believe that this object was ejected on 15 Dec 2005 at about 1640Z. Additional tracking data indicates that it is slowly moving away from SSETI. This leads to the conclusion that the object is not a lightweight piece of foil or Mylar type material, since these decay more quickly. It seems that this is likely an object with some mass, and radars report it is quite small.
Below is the two-line element set for the new object.
1 28897U 05043H 05356.70226803 .00000182 00000-0 48118-4 0 58
2 28897 098.1779 252.6230 0017791 005.4499 354.6921 14.59489332 382
The initial speculation is that this new object could be NCube-2 satellite although no positive reception reports have been received yet.
NCube-2's downlink is as follows:
Downlink: 437,305MHz
Bitrate: 9600b/s
Modulation technique: GMSK
The message:
"DE=LA1CUB=NCUBE2=FF=LA1CUB===" is morsed using a 2400Hz tone, 26 words
per minute" where FF is a hex number [00=3,0V - FF=4,5V]
If battery voltage is above 3,8V, every 2 minutes
If battery voltage is below 3,8, every 5 minutes
In the end of the message an unnumbered AX.25 packet is attached
containing the string:
DE=LA1CUB=NCUBE2=NORWEGIAN CUBESAT - WWW.NCUBE.NO
In the header of the AX.25: Callsign: NCUBE Destination: EARTH
The satellite will transmit at a power of 1.5W at full battery charge
Reception reports will be welcome email to ncube@rocketrange.no and to
missioncontrol@sseti.org
Have YOU Responded to the Eagle Appeal?
AMSAT-NA members should have received by now an Eagle Appeal Letter from AMSAT-NA President Rick Hambly, W2GPS. The Appeal includes a letter from Rick, a colour brochure on Eagle, a donation form, and return envelope. This is the first fundraising effort for Eagle as it is expected to take four years to build and launch the first satellite and three additional years for the second. AMSAT must raise at least $150,000 in 2006 to keep the project on track.
Initial response to the Appeal has been good. SpaceQuest, Ltd. of Fairfax, VA made our first corporate donation to Eagle this past week. Many thanks to Mark Kanawati, N4TPY and Dino Lorenzini, KC4YMG for the strong support! AMSAT members will recall that AO-51 was built by SpaceQuest under AMSAT-NA contract and was launched in June 2004. In addition, 12 individuals have qualified for President's Club status this week as a result of their generosity in response to the Appeal.
AMSAT-NA members who pay US income tax may take a tax deduction from their donation to AMSAT, which is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501-(c)(3) scientific organization. To qualify as a 2005 tax deduction, the donation must be post marked in 2005 or submitted in 2005. Donations made after January 1, 2006 may be applied against 2006 taxes. AMSAT will gladly accept donations via the AMSAT website using your credit card, the mailing of checks, and PayPal submissions. The AMSAT office will be closed until January 4, 2006, so making donations via telephone will not be possible until after the first of the year. In addition, individuals who may wish to donate securities can do so as well and avoid capital gains on the securities that are donated. Contact AMSAT Treasurer Gunther Meisse, W8GSM for details on how to arrange a transfer to AMSAT. Due to passage of the Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005 (KETRA) by Congress, there are additional advantages in giving charitable gifts by December 31, 2005 to qualified organizations, such as AMSAT. Talk to your financial advisor about how KETRA can provide current income and estate tax advantages.
Your donation and personal support of Eagle is critical. If you haven't made your contribution, please consider making a donation.
Help AMSAT to hatch Eagle!
P3E TO FLY SOFTWARE DEFIND TRANSPONDER
AMSAT-DL's Board of Directors has made the decision to fly the Software Defined Transponder (SDX) on their Phase 3-Express (P3E) spacecraft. SDX features AMSAT-NA's implementation of the Software Defined Radio based on the Quadrature Sampling Detector. This decision was made at a recent BOD meeting in Marburg, Germany. SDX will utilize space that was originally planned for the Rudak Modem Module (RMU). SDX will allow Karl Meinzer's (DJ4ZC) HELAPS (High Efficiency Linear Amplification by Parametric Synthesis ideas from his doctoral thesis to be fully implemented for the first time. With the use of the SDX processor, significantly improved linearity and efficiency in the U/V transponder can be achieved compared to the all analog implementations of HELAPS in previous Phase 3 satellites.
Placement of SDX on P3E opens an opportunity to provide an early demonstration of SDX's potential in space, including placement in an orbit that will provide flight time through the radiation belts. This "Phase 1 test" of SDX will in turn provide flight proof of concept that will benefit the later placement of SDX on AMSAT-NA's Eagle-class spacecrafts. It also provides a test platform for evaluation of SDX's weak signal processing that could prove valuable for an eventual Phase 5-A deep space mission that AMSAT-DL is evaluating. Along with improved receiver performance, SDX offers the ability to program configuration changes while in orbit and the integration of uplink and downlink bands via digital connections.
Howard Long, G6LVB of AMSAT-UK, will lead the development of SDX software for both P3E and Eagle. AMSAT-NA's Bob McGwier, N4HY and Frank Brickle, AB2KT, will conduct the integration of SDX with P3-E's HELAPS transmitters. AMSAT-NA's Lyle Johnson KK7P, and Chuck Green, N0ADI, who have served on a number of AMSAT satellite projects, will build the flight hardware.
AMSAT-DL President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS informed Bob McGwier, N4HY AMSAT-NA's VP Engineering of the Board's decision on November 28. "This is outstanding news" notes Rick Hambly, W2GPS President of AMSAT-NA. "The opportunity to fly SDX on P3-Express will provide an early opportunity to demonstrate the potential of SDX in orbit and gives AMSAT NA the benefit of in-orbit testing before placement on the Eagle-class satellites."
At a December meeting in Marburg, Howard, G6LVB demonstrated the functional SDX software on the target DSP processor along with a fully functional STELLA (Satellite Transponder with Equalizing Level Limiting Adapter). STELLA is designed to handle the situation where a User transmits too much power to the satellite adversely impacting the overall transponder AGC levels and thus reducing the output levels of other users on the transponder. STELLA has the ability to dynamically notch an excessive input signal to bring it into compliance with an appropriate output level versus the beacon on that band. Hambly added, "This announcement and the follow on work reinforces the close cooperation between AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK as we develop the next generation of high earth orbit amateur radio satellites."
SuitSat Readies for Operation
on 145.990 mhz
Now is the time to begin preparing your amateur radio station to receive signals from SuitSat, the most unusual Amateur Radio satellite ever orbited. SuitSat amateur radio equipment will be installed inside a surplus Russian Orlan spacesuit. It will become an independently orbiting satellite once it is deployed by the crew of the International Space Station during an extravehicular activity, tentatively planned for February 2nd, 2006.
Running only on internal batteries within the spacesuit, SuitSat will have a limited, but interesting lifetime beaming down special messages and an SSTV image as it floats in space. Having no external thrust to adjust its orbit after it is hand-deployed during the EVA, SuitSat will be in a free-floating, but decaying orbit around Earth. It is expected to remain in orbit up to 6 weeks after being deployed.
GIOVE-A launched and operating perfectly in orbit
GIOVE-A , the first European Galileo satellite, was launched successfully today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, by a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat rocket. Following lift-off at 05:19 UTC, the Fregat upper stage performed a series of manoeuvres to reach a circular orbit at an altitude of 23,258 km, inclined at 56 degrees to the Equator, before deploying the satellite at 09:01:39 UTC into its 14-hour medium Earth orbit.
Communications were established by SSTL with the GIOVE-A satellite immediately following separation from the Fregat upper stage. Telemetry received at the SSTL Mission Control Groundstation, in conjunction with the 25-metre tracking antenna at RAL Chilbolten, showed that all on-board systems were performing as expected.
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Id just like to wish all my readers a happy new year! I’m looking forward to working more of you on the birds! And lets hope there will be more birds too!
PAUL . 2E1EUB. (NORTH STAFFS::IO92BX) (AMSAT UK 6236)