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[jamsat-news:1799] ANS-159 AMSAT Weekly Bulletin
- Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 17:19:52 +0900
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-159
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America,
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a
worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in
designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital
Amateur Radio satellites.
In this edition:
* AO-40 Update
* PCSat2 Testing Continues
* Field Day Planning for AO-40
* FO-29 Data Requested
* This Week's News in Brief
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.01
AO-40 Update
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.01 From AMSAT HQ
Silver Spring, MD. June 8, 2003
To All Radio Amateurs
BID: $ANS-159.01
As of 2003 June 5, AO-40's attitude was ALON / ALAT = 342 / 0.
The passband schedule has been shifted slightly to correspond with the
changing attitude as shown in the table below.
N QST AMSAT AO-40 SCHEDULE 2003-06-01
MA 002 030 130 244 002
---------7-----1-----5-----0-----7
S2/K-Tx | S | S | S | S |
MB | * | * | * | * |
RUDAK | | | | |
V/U-Rx | U | U | U | V |
Uplink | | UL1 | | |
[ANS thanks Stacey, W4SM, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.02
PCSat2 Testing Continues
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.02 From AMSAT HQ
Silver Spring, MD. June 8, 2003
To All Radio Amateurs
BID: $ANS-159.02
PCsat <=> PCSAT2 constellation test success.
On 02 June 2003 PCSAT2 (fully configured flight prototype) was rolled out
onto the Plaza for the 1210z pass of PCsat for a dual-satellite
constellation test. Since PCSAT2 was in its normal flight configuration
(but
sitting on the ground), this would demonstrate the range over which the two
spacecraft could communicate on orbit between their whip antennas. The
results were excellent!
PCSAT2 was set to transmit a packet via PCsat once every 20 seconds.
Both birds on 145.825 MHz. These packets normally compete with other user
packets. Since the channel is contention based 100% throughput is never
expected. But a success means that the two spacecraft can communicate over
that range. There were 7 other spacecraft users at the time.
TIME AZ EL RANGE Comments
-------- --- -- ------- ------------------------------------
08:10:18 Finished commanding PCsat into proper mode for test
08:10:29 107 49 1024 km Success
08:10:49 095 48 1040 km not heard
08:11:05 087 46 1066 km Success
08:11:25 078 43 1112 km not heard
08:11:45 070 39 1173 km Success
08:12:05 064 36 1246 km not heard
08:12:25 059 32 1329 km Success
08:12:45 055 29 1420 km Success
08:13:05 051 26 1510 km not heard
08:13:24 049 23 1616 km not heard. Blocked by Rickover Building
Then it rained again. The PCSat2 team had been waiting to do this test for
almost 2 weeks. At this time it is not known if the ultimate range is about
1500 km or whether we could have heard more if the building had not
intervened. There was no success before the time shown, as that time was
spent commanding PCsat to the proper mode. It will be at least 2 weeks
before there is another opportunity for this type of testing.
Bob Bruinga, WB4APR, adds, "We hope others that are building small AX.25
packet satellites will consider including a TNC digipeater on 145.825 to add
to this Amateur Satellite constellation."
Bob also reports that PCSAT2's July launch has been delayed to January
pending resumption of Shuttle flights.
[ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.03
Field Day Planning for AO-40
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.03 From AMSAT HQ
Silver Spring, MD. June 8, 2003
To All Radio Amateurs
BID: $ANS-159.03
A-40 should return to ALON/ALAT = 0/0 about June 20th. We can stay at
ALON/ALAT = 0/0 until early October, when another cycle of attitude
changes will have to start. A typical passband schedule for
ALON/ALAT = 0/0 is MA 40 to 210. This has the passbands active when
the squint is approx. 30 degs. or less. Barring an unforeseen problem, plan
on a similar schedule for field day. AO-40 will be visible by all of North
America at the start of field day, Saturday June 28th This is all based on
making it back to 0/0 by June 20th. We should at least be close to that
value by then, though the perigee eclipses are making it slow going to
advance ALON.
[ANS thanks Stacey, W4SM, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.04
FO-29 Data Requested
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.04 From AMSAT HQ
Silver Spring, MD. June 8, 2003
To All Radio Amateurs
BID: $ANS-159.04
The JARL FO-29 command station is carefully considering options to turn on
FO-29's transmitter because it is not clear why FO-29 became silent. The
Command Team would like to receive reception reports. If you hear FO-29,
please report the time (UTC), location, signal strength etc. to Masa, JN1GKZ
at jn1gkz@qsl.net or to the AMSAT-BB. Masa will pass the reports on to the
command station.
Telemetry data recorded on 31 May and 1 Jun just before FO-20 became silent
would be very helpful as the Command Team's attempts to determine what
happened on FO-29.
[ANS thanks Masa, JN1GKZ, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.05
This Week's News in Brief
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.05 From AMSAT HQ
Silver Spring, MD. June 8, 2003
To All Radio Amateurs
BID: $ANS-159.05
** Five 5 MHz spot frequencies will become available to amateurs in the
United States effective at Midnight July 3. General and higher class
license holders will be permitted to operate on a secondary basis upper
sideband phone, with a maximum of 50 Watts effective radiated power.
--Newsline
** The Odyssey Launch Platform and the Sea Launch Commander departed Sea
Launch Home Port last week, for the launch of the Thuraya-2 satellite.
Liftoff is scheduled for June 10, in a 44-minute launch window that opens at
6:56 am PDT (13:56:00 GMT). --SpaceDaily
** Europe launched its first ever bid to explore Mars Monday, June 2,
successfully embarking on a half-year journey to unearth one of the oldest
mysteries; whether there is life on the Red Planet. --SpaceDaily
** Saturn, one of the windiest places in the Solar System, is undergoing a
dramatic weather change. Just over two decades ago, snapshots of the
distinctive clouds in Saturn's equatorial region showed a jetstream that
sped along at a bruising 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) per hour. Now the
winds have slowed to a relatively pedestrian 1,100 kph (690 mph), according
to astronomers. --SpaceDaily
/EX
Thanks and 73,
This weeks ANS Editor:
Lee McLamb, ku4os@amsat.org
----
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