 Navy-OSCAR 44
(PCSat)
Spacecraft Summary
| OSCAR Designation: |
Navy-OSCAR 44 |
|
Oscar Number: |
NO-44 |
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| International Designator: |
2001-043C |
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Norad Number: |
26931 |
|
| Common Name: |
PCSat |
|
Satellite Type: |
Microsatellite |
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| Launch Date: |
30 September, 2001 |
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Launch Location: |
Kodiak WTR |
|
| Launch Vehicle: |
Athena I |
|
Apogee: |
799.00 |
|
| Perigee: |
789.00 |
|
Inclination: |
67.05 |
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| Period: |
100.74 |
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Weight: |
0.000 Kg |
|
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| Organization: | US Naval Academy |
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Frequency Information
| |
| Mode V APRS: Semi-Operational |
| Simplex: |
145.8270 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS |
| |
| Mode U/V (B) APRS: Non-Operational |
| Uplink: |
435.2500 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS |
| Downlink |
145.8270 MHz FM 1200 BPS |
| Callsign(s)| Digipeater: | ARISS | | Digipeater: | PCSAT-1 | | Digipeater: | W3ADO-1 | | Digipeater: | WIDE |
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Current Keplerian Elements
NO-44
1 26931U 01043C 10249.91765969 -.00000046 00000-0 14409-4 0 5536
2 26931 67.0534 353.3979 0005308 272.5282 87.5184 14.29609651466430
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Weekly Satellite Report
PCSAT-1 on PACKET!
This is good news, since PCSAT-1 should enter a FULL SUN
OPERATING PERIOD later this week (10Sep07). If so, then we may have a
period of a few weeks here when we will have THREE APRS
satellites flying in constellation. ISS, PCSAT-1, and ANDE.
This will assure over 18 passes per day. And since they all
respond to the same path "VIA ARISS" then which satellite is in
view is transparent to the user. Just communicate! Of course,
two-hop paths via ARISS,ARISS might also be possible.
----
NO44 operates in a negative power budget meaning it comes alive in mid-day sun on every orbit but fully runs down its batteries 45 minutes later in the next eclipse. It has to be in sun long enough to get enough charge to be able to provide the peak transmit power for the packet transmitter. If it tries to transmit with insufficient battery charge, the battery voltage drops and the TNC again resets. Users may use the transponder when they think it will respond. Twice a year during full sun, we are able to fully recover the satellite and then it will operate normally for a few weeks until the first reset which will put it back power negative again. For more information visit the PCsat Website.
NO-44 is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater designed for use by stations using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Downlinks feed a central web site at http://pcsat.aprs.org. |
Detailed Description
Launched September 30, 2001 from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska aboard Athena I.
Kodiak Star was the first planned orbital launch from the new Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska was a NASA collaborative mission with the Department of Defense (DoD). The payload consisted of four small satellites, Starshine 3, PICOsat, PCSat, and SAPPHIRE, were launched aboard a Lockheed Martin Athena I launch vehicle. (NASA News)
PCSat is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater designed for use by stations using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Downlinks feed a central web site http://pcsat.aprs.org. The APRS-equipped PCSat was built by midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy.
The second DoD spacecraft is a Prototype Communications Satellite (PCSat), operating in the amateur radio band, designed and manufactured by Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy. It will become part of the amateur radio community's Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) in low earth orbit receiving digitized identity and position data from amateur radio operators and transmitting it to one or more ground stations.
The Mission of PCsat is to serve as a worldwide position/status reporting and message communications satellite for remote travelers using only Handheld or Mobile radios with Omni-directional whip antennas. It uses the APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) protocols to permit hundreds of users per pass to access the satellite. To demonstrate this concept, PCsat augments the existing worldwide terrestrial Amateur Radio APRS tracking system by providing links from the 90% of the earths surface not covered by the terrestrial network. It is licensed as an Amateur Satellite in the Amateur Satellite Service.
NO44 operates in a negative power budget meaning it comes alive in mid-day sun on every orbit but fully runs down its batteries 45 minutes later in the next eclipse. It has to be in sun long enough to get enough charge to be able to provide the peak transmit power for the packet transmitter. If it tries to transmit with insufficient battery charge, the battery voltage drops and the TNC again resets. Users may use the transponder when they think it will respond. Twice a year during full sun, we are able to fully recover the satellite and then it will operate normally for a few weeks until the first reset which will put it back power negative again. For more information visit the PCsat Website.
NO-44 is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater designed for use by stations using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Downlinks feed a central web site at http://pcsat.aprs.org.
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Reference Documents:
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