AO-27 är tyst men OSCAR-11 är tillbaka!
Michael, N3UC, one of AO-27’s controllers reported on October 17, "For the last 5 weeks ground controllers have been trying to contact AO-27. At this point we have not been able to turn it on. We still have a few tricks that we are planning on trying but these take time. We are hoping that we can re-establish communications. At this time, we don’t have an estimate for when AO-27 will be back on the air. The satellite is now in its 14th year on orbit. We will continue to try to recover AO-27 until we run out of ideas."
AO-27 was last heard in May 2006 prior to its entering its eclipse season. When the satellite’s solar cells were not receiving enough illumination it meanth the batteries are dropping below the watchdog values and turning off the controller schedule.
The latest AO-27 information can be found on-line at:
http://www.ao27.org.
[ANS thanks Michael, N3UC for the above information]
Clive, G3CWV reports that OSCAR-11 is back! He said, "It was first heard by Peter ZL3TC, October 18, and later by Paul KB5MU. It had been silent since August 26. Many thanks for those reports." OSCAR-11 requires illumination of its solar panels to work. Clive continued, "I heard very strong signals on October 19 07:28 UTC pass. If the watchdog cycle continues to operate normally, the 145.826 MHz. beacon should transmit until around 28 October."
More OSCAR-11 information can be found at Clive’s website:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/
[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV for the above information]