 Weber-OSCAR 18
(WeberSat)
Spacecraft Summary
| OSCAR Designation: |
Weber-OSCAR 18 |
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Oscar Number: |
WO-18 |
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| International Designator: |
1990-005F |
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Norad Number: |
20441 |
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| Common Name: |
WeberSat |
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Satellite Type: |
Microsatellite |
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| Launch Date: |
22 January, 1990 |
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Launch Location: |
French Guiana |
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| Launch Vehicle: |
Ariane 4 |
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Apogee: |
794.00 |
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| Perigee: |
777.00 |
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Inclination: |
98.20 |
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| Period: |
100.57 |
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Dimensions: |
22.6 x 22.6 x 22.3 cm |
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| Weight: |
16.030 Kg |
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| | | | Organization: | Weber State University |
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Frequency Information
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| Mode U Imaging: Non-Operational |
| Downlink |
437.0750 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS |
| Downlink |
437.1020 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS |
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Current Keplerian Elements
WO-18
1 20441U 90005F 09324.94341492 -.00000015 00000-0 98033-5 0 9781
2 20441 98.2835 289.4719 0012542 64.7218 295.5265 14.31907742 35651
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Detailed Description
Sporting a full-color CCD camera, WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 digitized Earth images and downlinked them as a AX.25 serial data stream. WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 also carried packet radio mailbox facilities, such as those on AO-16, however those capabilities was not be implemented until the primary mission of recording Earth images is fully exhausted.
WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 was a product of the efforts of The Center for Aerospace Technology (CAST) at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. WO-18's CCD camera had a resolution of 700 pixels by 400 lines, and could be viewed with Weberware software running on a personal computer having adequate graphics display capability. Digitized NTSC video from the camera was assembled into packets that were sent as unnumbered information UI frames. Ground stations had to receive this data over several passes to capture a complete image. Each image contained about 200 kilobytes of data.
An on-board 1265 MHz ATV uplink receiver allowed ground stations to load WEBERSAT's memory using a groundbased video camera for later transmission by the spacecraft. WO-18 could also transmit CCD images on 70-cm using an analog "turbo" mode that was much faster than using the AX.25 packet downlink. However, no interference protection was afforded by the analog transmission mode since information received in this form did not contain a checksum.
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Reference Documents:
- D. Conners, "The PACSAT Project," ARRL Amateur Radio Second Computer Networking Conference, pp. 1-3, March 19, 1983.
- T. Clark, "AMSAT's Microsat/Pacsat Program," Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA Sixth Space Symposium, Atlanta, GA, pp. 41-47, Nov 1988, ARRL.
- L. Johnson and C. Green, "Microsat Project - Flight CPU Hardware," Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA Sixth Space Symposium, Atlanta, GA, pp. 104-106, Nov 1988, ARRL.
- H. Price and R. McGwier, "PACSAT Software," Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA Sixth Space Symposium, Atlanta, GA, pp. 145-149, Nov 1988, ARRL.
- T. Clark, C. Duncan, J. King, B. McGwier, "The First Flock of Microsats," The AMSAT Journal, May 1989, pp 3-10.
- D. Loughmiller and B. McGwier, "Microsat: The Next Generation of OSCAR Satellites," Part 1, QST, May 1989, pp 37-40; Part 2, QST, Jun 1989, pp 53-54.
- S. Sjol, "Webersat," The AMSAT Journal, Nov 1989, p 30.
- Doug Loughmiller, "Successful OSCAR Launch Ushers in the 90's," QST, Apr 1990, p. 52.
- Six for the Price of One - Part I," The AMSAT Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, Mar 1990, p. 1; Part II: The AMSAT Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2, May 1990, p. 1.
- John A. Magliacane, "Spotlight On: The Microsats," The AMSAT Journal, Vol. 15, No. 4, Sep/Oct 1992
- Martin Davidoff, The Satellite Experimenter's Handbook, 2nd edition, The American Radio Relay League, Newington, CT., 1990.
- Mike Crisler, PACSAT Beginner's Guide, AMSAT.
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