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| Quick Access to Project Pages: AO-51 Eagle P3E SSETI Cubesats |
AO-51 Operations 2 May - 31 MayMay 5 - May 7
FM Repeater, L/S
Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM, NO PL Tone
Downlink: 2401.200 MHz FM
May 8 - May 11
FM Repeater, V/S
Uplink: 145.88 MHz FM, NO PL Tone
Downlink: 2401.200 MHz FM
AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention 2008
Find out about AMSAT activities at Dayton this year. AMSAT at Dayton
AMSAT Engineering Team Rolls Out Projects for 2008
With the holiday season behind and everyone settling back into winter in the northern hemisphere, the AMSAT Engineering Team kicked off the new year with the first meeting of 2008 on Tuesday, January 8. Thirty-two radio amateurs met via a VoIP teleconference call to get down to work on AMSAT’s main missions which include the Eagle Satellite, the geosynchronous Phase IV Lite rideshare opportunity with Intelsat, and educational support for university projects.
Engineering project manager Barry Baines, WD4ASW moderated the meeting along with AMSAT’s Vice President of Engineering, Bob McGwier, N4HY. AMSAT’s volunteer engineers provided status and planning information for the projects listed below. Barry, Bob and engineering team members will provide members with detailed project information in future columns of the AMSAT Journal.
Rick Hambly, W2GPS, AMSAT President, reported that negotiations are continuing with Intelsat and are now going to focus on size, weight, and cost of the geosynchronous rideshare arrangement. Rick reminded everyone that our mission must excite potential grant funding sources via our unique emergency communication and educational capabilities. Watch the Journal for future details!
Matt Ettus, N2MJI has taken on the design of the Advanced Communication Payload. The first steps toward specification of the high speed digital channels, power requirements, uplink and downlink protocols, and class of stations supported have begun. Watch the Journal for future details!
Howard Long, G6LVB continues work on the linear transponders based on Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology. Development and testing are underway. High altitude balloon, SuitSat2 and SSETI missions are planning to utilize this transponder technology to provide early experience prior to P3E and Eagle utilization. Watch the Journal for future details!
Marc Franco, N2UO has started work on the VHF amplifier driver stage using the silicon carbide technology enabling the 86% efficiency of the main PA. Space rated components are under study. The 2 meter band HELAPS amplifier will be the initial design and possible scaling upward to the 70cm band is under consideration. Watch the Journal for future details!
Lou McFadin, W5DID leads the team developing SuitSat-2. The internal housekeeping unit (IHU) and AMSAT’s software defined transponder technology are the main items under development. Solar cells have been donated by NASA. A new antenna system on top of the helmet has been completed. Watch the Journal for future details!
Bob Davis, KF4KSS, AMSAT Lab Manager reported on several good projects that have arisen out of the cooperative efforts of AMSAT and the HAWK Institute of Space Sciences at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. Construction of the AMSAT lab in the 8500 square foot facility continues. The clean room and machine shop will be coming on line to begin the development of the Eagle satellite space frame. University students will utilize the facilities to develop and launch a high altitude balloon project and a university cubesat both carrying research-related and AMSAT-related payloads. Watch the Journal for future details!
If you want to help with the AMSAT Engineering Team, send an e-mail to Bob N4HY via n4hy@amsat.org.
Do you receive your own copy of The AMSAT Journal? If not, join today! It is one of your key membership benefits of AMSAT to keep you completely informed of all the latest developments and technical information.
Updated: 07 May, 08 |
AO-51 Mode as of 23:38 UTC
| Voice Up |
Voice Dn |
Beacon |
Digital Up |
Digital Dn |
Up Baud |
Dn Baud |
| 145.880 FM |
2401.200 FM |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Note - Mode changes are approximate and usually occur at ~ 02:00 UTC.
For additional information see AO-51 Full Schedule and News
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AO-16 Operations UpdateThe AO-16 Command Team investigated reports this week that the satellite had gone silent. The team is aware of the anomaly and there is no cause for alarm. Control Operator, Mark, N8MH said, "Over the last month AO-16 has gone from full illumination, 0 minutes of eclipse to over 250 minutes of eclipse. Since the bird has no fancy housekeeping code running, a reasonable explanation is that the battery voltage dropped low enough to put the bird into a protected (and silent) mode."
When AO-16 is silent the batteries continue to charge with minimal current being drawn to sustain the vital functions of the satellite (CPU). Thus, it is in a safe resting state at the moment, and the batteries continue to charge when in sunlight. Thanks to a brilliance in design, construction, and coding, the bird is hardy and excellent at self-preservation.
Mark was able to command AO-16 ON during a pass over the USA. The satellite resumed operating in its 1200 BPSK digital MBL telemetry mode on the 437.026 MHz transmitter. After further testing, Mark reported, "A quick look at the telemetry suggests that AO-16 is doing fine. The current transmitter output power is about 1.5 Watts. AO-16 is again configured for voice mode."
AO-16 has occasionally turned off on subsequent long eclipse periods. Mark explained, "At about 2043 UTC on 2 May 2008, I commanded AO-16 back ON again. Apparently the increasing eclipse periods require another reduction in the transmitter output power. AO-16 is now back and operational in voice repeater mode, with a slightly reduced output. It is reporting around 1.2 watts output, so it was still quite loud."
The increasing eclipse periods are too long to sustain operations at the previous transmitter output setting. The sustainable power budget is being managed empirically by Mark, with "best guess" settings using the satellite's telemetry for feedback on its performance.
AO-16 Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM
AO-16 Downlink: 437.0260 MHz DSB (LSB and USB).
After recovery of AO-16 on May 3, the current plans are to leave the satellite in the digital MBL mode for a few days so as to collect telemetry for review. You can hear the satellite "humming" in its 1200 BPSK mode.
Interested listeners of AO-16 can help by copying any telemetry captured via the Warbler sound card demodulator. This software is from the same folks that brought you the RASCAL software for Delfi-C3. A file called "warbler.kss" is produced when packets are decoded. These "warbler.kss" files can be sent to N8MH for analysis. Please include your QTH (gridsquare) and the time the telemetry was captured.
Telemetry from AO-16 in the MBL mode is random and infrequent. It's possible to hear no telemetry during an entire pass. Please do not transmit to AO-16 until further notice.
Users of AO-16 are encouraged to report any aberrant operations by either posting to the AMSAT-BB or by emailing the command team. "Aberrant operations" might include the following: complete loss of signal from the spacecraft or significant change in the transmitter frequency.Updated: 03 May, 08
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| NASA Image of the Day |
Transonic
Grady McCoy stands in the Langley Research Center's 16 foot transonic tunnel, as light reflects off the fan blades in this image from 1990 |
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