Updated: 1996 Aug 18 [Sun] 1058utc by G3RUH This document contains information about the amateur radio satellite Oscar-13, including: - Attitude Schedule - Mode Schedule - Provisional Schedule - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions - Active command stations. ______________________________________________________________________________ AO-13 Schedules 1996 ==================== Attitude Schedule ----------------- The planned attitude schedule for Oscar 13 during 1996 is: Date [Mon] Alon/Alat Weeks -------------------------------- 1996 Jun 27 220/0 11 1996 Sep 02 180/0 13 ?? 1996 Dec 02 200/0 2 ?? -------------------------------- Re-entry is expected around 1996 Dec 05-19, so that by mid November the spacecraft may well have expired due to overheating, or be non-manoeuvrable due to buffeting at perigee (under 100 km). This will be an interesting time, and the command team welcomes suggestions which we could implement to make use of this unique opportunity to observe an amateur spacecraft at re-entry. Mode Schedule ------------- N QST ** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1996 Jul 28 - Sep 02 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 140 | Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 210 | Alon/Alat 230/0 (nominal) S-Beacon: MA 210 to MA 212 | Mode-BS : MA 212 to MA 240 | Eng. Beacon (145.985 MHz) Mode-B : MA 240 to MA 256 | is on for MA 140-60 Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Please note that the higher powered engineering beacon 145.985 MHz is currently ON from MA 140 through perigee to MA 60. Eventually, this beacon will be turned on full time for the duration of AO-13's functional existence. The drag effects at perigee are causing the ALAT to rise slightly each orbit. The initial orientation for this period will more accurately be ALON/ALAT 230/-10 with ALAT progressively rising during this time period. At the end of this two month session, perigee height will be 170 km and re-entry (drag) effects will be even more noticeable. For a limited time after Sep 02, it MAY BE POSSIBLE to move AO-13 back to the 180/0 orientation. However, maintaining this orientation will become increasingly difficult. If this move takes place, the following schedule will be placed in effect. Provisional Schedule -------------------- ** AO-13 PROVISIONAL TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE ** 1996 Sep 02 - ??? Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 70 | Mode-BS : MA 70 to MA 120 | Mode-S : MA 120 to MA 122 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 122 to MA 140 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 180 | Alon/Alat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Omnis : MA 230 to MA 25 | By October but perhaps earlier, it will become necessary to move AO-13 to ALON/ALAT 90/0 to provide limited protection of the omni antenna from perigee heating and to reduce the drag associated deflection of the ALAT. From this point until the demise of the electronics AO-13 will be Mode-B only, full-time omni antenna, much as with AO-10. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions ------------------------------------- * The Oscar-13 schedule is available from: 1. AO-13 PSK Beacon 145.812 or 145.985 or 2400.664 MHz 2. AO-13 RTTY Beacon 15 & 45 minutes past the hour 3. AO-13 CW Beacon 0 & 30 minutes past the hour 4. Satellite BBS AO-16, KO-23 etc 5. Packet Radio Bulletins 6. Amsat News Service packet radio bulletins. 7. Amsat Radio Nets, HF and VHF 8. Amsat Journals (at least 12 of them) 9. Oscar News 10. Oscar Satellite Report 11. Space News 12. Internet: amsat-bb bulletins 13. Internet: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/schedule.txt * A 400 bps PSK decoder is available from G3RUH and several DSP products. * Display software P3TLM, WINSAT, P3C.EXE (MS-DOS); !TLM13 (RiscOS) etc from Amsat groups. * Internet users wanting the latest AO-13 information should always check the many files at: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/ http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ * Daily telemetry is archived at: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/telemetry/ * Details of re-entry can be found in: - Proceedings of the 12th annual Amsat Space Symposium, Orlando, Florida, USA, 1994. 4 pages. - Oscar News (UK) 1994 Oct No. 109 p 16-20 - Jamsat Newsletter (JA) No. 166, 1995 March 25. p1-4 - Amsat-DL Journal (D), Jg. 22, No. 1, Mar/May 1995. - Amsat OZ Journal (OZ) No. 37, 1995 May - The Amsat Journal (USA) Vol 18 No.3, May/June 1995. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/articles/g3ruh/114.html (Article) and: "From Hardware to Vapourware": - Oscar News (UK) 1996 Jun No. 119 p 36-41 - Amsat-VK Newsletter 1996/Jul/Aug - The Amsat Journal (USA) Vol 19 No.4, Jul/Aug 1996. - Amsat-DL Journal (D) (in preparation) ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip (Re-entry keps) * The active command stations are listed below, and constructive feedback about operations is always welcome. Peter DB2OS Graham VK5AGR Ian ZL1AOX James G3RUH Stacey WB4QKT They may also be reached via Internet (callsign(at)amsat.org) and KO-23. Please remember to state clearly a return address. Notes prepared on behalf of, and in cooperation with the above by: James Miller G3RUH Revised: 2005 Oct 28 [Fri] 1801 utc [URLs]