Satgen70   WHAT HAVE PACSATs GOT FOR YOU ?  by GM4IHJ 31st July 90
There are 7 amateur radio Packet satellites in orbit. They are intended to
have some of the following facilities when fully operational.

Facility 1.  Store and Forward message facilities. You send up a message
addressed to a JA. The sat receives, stores and acknowledges. Then next
time it passes JA, the addressee can ask for details of any traffic
addressed to him, and download it. Then if he wants he can put up an
answer to you .

Facility 2   Bulletins.  Individuals and organisations can upload data
bulletins, EG Sat orbit data. Anyone can access the sat read the bulletin
list and download what ever he wants.

Facility 3  Broadcast Bulletins. If everyone asks for personal download of
a popular bulletin , the system will block. So some sats offer Facilities
1 and 2 half the time and, continuously Broadcast selected bulletins the
rest of the time. This way Listening non transmitters get important data.

Facility 4  Pictures from the sats onboard cameras , or uploaded from
earth, are broadcast using binary picture data needing software
translation to NTSC TV colour.

Facility 5A  Telemetry readings of satellite experimental and
environmental parameters are broadcast in packet binary
Facility 5B  As 5A but ASCII not binary broadcast

INDIVIDUAL PACSAT CAPABILITIES
Facility    Available Now       Available Later             Remarks
1.S+F BBs   Osc 20 Jas1-B   Osc 14 Uo3, Osc 16 Pacsat     Not Osc17 or 18
                              Osc 19 Lusat
2. Bulls    Osc 20 JAS1-B     Osc14, Osc16 ,Osc19         Not Osc17 or 18
on request
3.Broadcast   none          Osc14, Osc16, Osc17, Osc19    Not Osc18 or 20
bulletins
4. Pictures Osc18 Webersat                                No others
5A.Binary   Osc14,Osc16,Osc19    no others
5B.ASCII    Osc20 Jas1-B       Osc17 Dove                 No others

If you have not used sats before,  take a look at RS and the Analog
transponder (CW SSB) on JAS1-B. Please do not try jumping straight to data
sats, and do not spend any money on data sat gear until you can track and
read the signals on JAS1-B analog (435.795 to 435.890 CW + SSB down).

DOVE is being checked out with new software. So with any luck you should
soon be able to read its full 145.825 MHz repertoire using ordinary
terrestrial packet gear. UOSAT3 is sending long explanatory files
describing its operating protocol. It will be the first of the new style
Pacsats to be operational. 73 de John GM4IHJ@GB7MAC .