SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.01 ECHO integration report AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.01 While ECHO is enroute to the launch site in Kazakhstan, here is a brief report on activities leading up to ECHO's departure on 09 June 2004. On 01 June, Chuck Green, N0ADI and Jim White, WD0E, teamed up to begin reviewing the test procedures that would be run and making a plan for the activities upcoming in the days ahead. During the next several days a few minor harness changes where made and several run-throughs of the launch site test procedure were accomplished. Final close out work on the modules began on 04 June 2004. This involved cleaning the inside of each module, putting RTV on every screw head and nut, and securing wiring with cord and RTV. Also, the fuse from the main computer board was removed and replaced it with a zero ohm resistor and the Watchdog Enable jumper was replaced with wire. Chuck added, "After dinner I worked on the solar panels. Each needs it's wiring added, it's connector installed, and a thermistor added and wired. I finished one of the six before it was midnight again." By 06 June, work on all six solar panels had been completed. 07 June after spending some time troubleshooting a balky laptop used for testing, the ground test software was moved to Lyle Johnson's, KK7P, computer. Using Lyle's computer, ECHO passed its tests very well. By the end of the day the last module was put on the stack and the wiring harness installed for the final time. Chuck said, "I secured all the screws and I replaced the coax in the chimney." The solar panels were packed for shipping along with the magnetic rod and corner reflectors. 08 June we solved the mystery of Chuck's serial port. The umbilical cable between the laptop computer and Echo was not wired correctly, and the ground pin was tied to pin 8 rather than pin 9. So, going to launch, we now have two independent laptops checked out with the umbilical. The final checks the day before packing ECHO for shipping were discussed in ANS-161 on 09 June. [ANS thanks Chuck, N0ADI for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.02 Eagle Team Meeting AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.02 The Eagle Team will be meeting in Orlando, FL on 16-18 July 2004 to review the status of the AMSAT OSCAR "Eagle" satellite design project and to perform a thorough review of Eagle's mission and all of the requirements to fulfill the objectives of the mission. The meeting will be held at the Airport Clarion, 3835 McCoy Road, Orlando, FL (www. airportclarion.com). Rick Hambly, W2GPS, AMSAT Executive VP says, "These meetings represent an opportunity to bring the Eagle Team together for a period of very intense, and focused hard work". Rick added, "The complexities and challenges of designing, building and launching a HEO spacecraft demand that we look to expand our pool of participants". Anyone wishing to attend the Eagle meeting should contact Rick Hambly at w2gps@amsat.org by 30 June 2004 to allow adequate time to plan meeting logistics. [ANS thanks Rick, W2GPS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.03 SO-50 Turn-on Procedure Released AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.03 Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, President of AMSAT-NA reports that, "I have been advised that I can now publish the tone to allow all users to open SO-50 as the power availability appears to be good." The order of operation is thus (allow for Doppler as necessary): 1) Transmit on 145.850 MHz with a tone of 74.4 Hz. This will arm the 10 minute timer on board the spacecraft. 2) Now transmit on 145.850 MHz (FM Voice) using 67.0 Hz to PTT the repeater on and off within the 10 minute window. 3) Sending the 74.4 Hz tone again within the 10 minute window will reset the 10 minute timer. Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, a member of SO-50's command team adds, "Please!!! All new users, be VERY SURE that your equipment is good enough to hear the satellite before attempting to enable it with the 74.4 Hz tone." He asks that, "If you have any doubts at all, let someone else turn it on." Drew noted that, "What will be disastrous is if some of the users that have marginal receive systems spend half the pass transmitting the 74.4 tone at 50 watts. 2 seconds is enough, and the receiver is VERY sensitive." The spacecraft repeater consists of a miniature VHF to UHF repeater with a receive sensitivity of -124 dbm, having an IF bandwidth of 15 kHz. The receive antenna is a 1/4 wave vertical mounted in the top corner of the spacecraft. The receive audio is filtered and conditioned then gated in the control electronics prior to feeding it to the 250 mW transmitter. The downlink antenna is a 1/4 wave mounted in the bottom corner of the spacecraft and is canted at 45 degrees inward. Also, for those trying this sat out for the first time, bear in mind that with a single 1/4 wave whip for the downlink transmitter on the satellite you will experience occasional severe fades caused by A) cross polarization if using a linear antenna or B) the spacecraft body blocking your view of the antenna. Blocking happens even with large AO-13 class stations with a preamp. Drew concluded saying "This week I've noticed the downlink is particularly good at the beginning of the ascending passes, and not so good near the end of the pass." [ANS thanks Robin, VE3FRH and Drew, KO4MA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.04 2004 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting - Call for papers AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.04 This is the third and final call for papers for the 2004 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 8-10 in Arlington, Virginia. This symposium will be held in conjunction with the ARISS International Meeting that is planned for October 10-13. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite program. An emphasis for this year is AMSAT's educational outreach activities, including our educational outreach efforts with universities and the International Space Station. In particular, papers on the following topics are solicited: Students & Education, ARISS, Echo, Eagle and other satellite-related topics. We request a one-page abstract by June 15, 2004. Camera ready copy on paper or in electronic form will be due by August 1, 2004 for inclusion in the printed symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to: Daniel Schultz N8FGV 14612 Dowling Drive Burtonsville, MD 20866 or by e-mail to: n8fgv@amsat.org [ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.05 ARISS Status 07 June 2004 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.05 1. Walton High School Contact Successful Walton Central High School in Walton, New York experienced a successful contact with the ISS on Wednesday, June 2 at 1757 UTC. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered 16 questions posed by eight physics students. The contact was performed via the telebridge station, NN1SS, at GSFC, while Mark Steiner, K3MS, sat at the controls. ARRL's web story covering the contact, "No Pets, Voting Booths in Space, Astronaut Tells High Schoolers" can be found at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/04/100/?nc=1 and provides a link to the audio from the ARISS event. 2. Expedition 8 Crew Debriefing The ARISS-U.S. Team debriefed Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, on Friday, June 4. The discussion covered operations, school contacts, hardware, and computer availability on board the ISS. Mike had a favorable impression of the ARISS program, and provided suggestions for further improving the project. 3. Field Day 2004 The ARRL will hold its annual Field Day event the fourth full weekend in June. This year, Field Day will run from Saturday, June 26 at 1800 UTC (2 pm ET) to Sunday, June 27 at 2100 UTC (5 pm ET). Both Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, have been invited to participate in the event. The ARISS team should learn in the next couple of weeks as to whether they will be participating in Field Day. 4. ISS Ham Technical Team Meeting The ISS Ham Technical Team held a teleconference on Tuesday, June 1. Discussions included a new third party agreement, which came out of the World Radio Conference, and how these changes might help the ARISS program. Also discussed were the steps to be taken for future EVAs - shutting down the radio equipment prior to an EVA, and bringing the systems up again, afterwards. 5. ARRL to Update School Applications ARRL has made plans to go through the older ARISS school applications in September (when school starts up again). Teachers will be contacted and asked to update their information and to provide schedules of vacations for the school year. [ANS thanks Carol for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.06 This Week's News in Brief AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 13, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-165.06 ** International Launch Services (ILS) has received authorization from the U.S. Air Force to begin integration of the Space Test Program-1 (STP-1) mission on the Atlas V rocket, scheduled to launch in September 2006. This multi-payload mission will launch seven separate satellites and perform a series of on-orbit maneuvers to deliver these satellites to their respective orbital locations. --SpaceDaily ** The FCC's Media Security and Reliability Council has published a new booklet titled the "Readiness Guide for Local Media on How to Prepare for Emergencies." This colorful pamphlet is good for a quick overview of what the media should do in times of emergencies. The PDF version is at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC- 244522A1.pdf. --Newsline ** On June 11, the Cassini orbiter will fly within about 1,200 miles of Saturn's moon Phoebe. Data and images will be returned on June 12. Phoebe's surface color appears almost black when observed by powerful telescopes, scientists say. The moon, which is about 130 miles in diameter, reflects only 6 percent of the sunlight it receives. Because of its dark color, and because Phoebe's orbit is irregular (elliptical, outside the plane of Saturn's equator and retrograde), scientists think the moon is probably a captured object, possibly a comet, asteroid or Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). --SpaceDaily /EX