Author: SM0TGU

Mike Kingery, KE4AZN provided the following information on the initial commissioning for ECHO following launch. Currently, the launch is planned for 29 June 2004 at approximately 0630 UTC.

The transmitter will not turn on until commanded from the ground. The plan is that ECHO will be allowed to stabilize and outgas for approximately 10 hours. The first communication attempt will take place during the evening of 29 June, during the first pass over the Eastern US if launched as scheduled. TX0, on 435.155 MHz, will be commanded on and will be running 9k6 baud Pacsat Protocol. After some initial health and status checks, the transmitter will be commanded off before the end of
the pass.

The latest prelaunch element set for ECHO is:

ECHO
1 99999U 99999B 04015.44385708 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00013
2 99999 098.2700 042.0000 0072000 180.0000 226.0000 14.40910000000006

AMSAT News Service will be providing regular updates on the commissioning of ECHO to include Special Bulletins when warranted.

——————-
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.03 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. June 27, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-179.03

AMSAT now has available the new book, Echo – Operation, Development and Specifications written by G. Gould Smith, WA4SXM. The donation price is $15 for US, $17 for Canada and $19 elsewhere. Please remember that payment must be in US dollars. Ordering can be done by:

+ Email (martha@amsat.org) with Visa or MasterCard. Please include name, address, card number and expiration date

+ Telephone (1-888-322-6728 or 301-589-6062) with Visa or MasterCard

+ Fax (301-608-3410) Include the same information as email

+ Postal Mail – AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave, #600, Silver Spring MD 20910. You can pay by charge card, check or money order. Include your name and mailing address.

Klla: ANS 179

TlmEcho v1.02 r ett program som anvnds fr att ta emot telemetri frn Echo.

Wisp anvnds fr att ta emot Pacsat Broadcast Protocol (PBP) som anvnds av Echo.
Du lser om bda programmen hr:

Echo uses the Pacsat Broadcast Protocol (PBP) and is compatible with other digital satellites, such as UO22 and KO25. WiSP is the tool of choice, and what the command team has been using to test Echo s store and forward file system. There are many Wisp users in the Amsat community, so getting help, and answers to questions, regarding setting up and operating Wisp should be as simple as a quick post to the Amsat-BB. Wisp can be download from the Amsat website,
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftpsoft.html#win-wisp , and registered with Martha at the Amsat office.

Echo will initially run in 9k6 downlink and 9k6 uplink mode, just like UO22. Echo is capable of many other bps rates, and will be tested and operated in 38k4 downlink and 9k6 uplink mode during commissioning. These digital configurations will be tested on the U band and the S Band Transmitters. Echo is capable of 76k8 downlink as well, and will eventually be tested in that mode.

The first signals heard from Echo will be 9k6 PBP. Plans call for Echo, in the standard mode, to operate one of its U band transmitters in PBP digital mode continuously.

[ANS thanks Mike, KE4AZN for the above information]

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-179.06
TlmEcho v1.02 Now Available for Download

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.06 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. June 27, 2004
To ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-179.06

Windows based software to receive and monitor telemetry from the Amsat-NA Echo Satellite is ready for download. Please check the Amsat website or the following URL for links to download the program and support files. An updated Telemetry Specification, v1.2, is also available from the website.

http://web.infoave.net/~mkmk518/echo.htm

The program is designed for screen resolutions of 1024×768 or greater. It will run on an 800×600 display with some difficulty viewing the various telemetry screens. The software accepts Pacsat Broadcast Protocol KISS packets from your TNC, and will display those packets in a text window. For a test, you can copy the downlink from UO22 and view it in the programs main window.

Check the brief readme file for basic instructions on getting TlmEcho setup for your station. Configure the CPBINI.TXT file for your station and PC/TNC configuration, put the necessary files in your working directory, and run the program. The program will create CSV files of your received telemetry and place them in the CSV subdirectory. The command team requests that you sent these files to the requested email address, just like we have done for AO-40. This address will be published in the new few days via ANS.

[ANS thanks Mike, KE4AZN for the above information]

ElmEcho hemsida

Klla:

AMSAT-NA har gjort om sin hemsida och den gr nu i beta-test . Kolla sjlv p lnken nedan.

AMSAT-NAs nya hemsida

Klla: SM0TGU Lars

– Newsletter AMSAT-SM Journal 1-2004 released.
– SM0AIG Ingemar now runs the HF-net on Sundays, 3740 KHz.

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-161.01
ECHO satellite enroute to launch site

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 161.01 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. June 9, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-161.01

Chuck Green, N0ADI, reporting in from SpaceQuest s facility says, ECHO is in it s shipping container and on its way to the launch sight.

As a final check ECHO was placed in the vacuum chamber for an hour and pushed hard with both 70 cm transmitters running full power. Everything that could be tested in this configuration worked well.

Chuck said, We also checked the sensitivity of all the 2M
receivers and the SQRX (wideband tunable receiver) and they were all very good. Continuing, he added, We also characterized the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and measured the power out of the 70 cm transmitters at various power settings

Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, added, Congratulations on a job well done! A lot of hard work has gone into getting ECHO to this point and we re looking forward to following ECHO s progress through launch .

More news and information about the final integration activities will be in this week s regular AMSAT News Service bulletin.

[ANS thanks Robin and Chuck for the above information]

Klla: ANS

Det gr framt med den nya satelliten Echo enligt nedanstende AMSAT-notis:

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.02 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. June 6, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-158.02

Echo is making excellent progress and is expected to be ready to ship to the launch site during the second week of June. Testing of all the functions of Echo after installation of the flight harness has been completed and the S-band transmitter power output has been verified as 2.45 Watts. Downlinks at data rates up to 38k4 on both 70cm and S-band have been confirmed to work fine. The wideband receiver (SQRX) which can tune from HF through L-band has also been tested.

The programmable magnetic torque rod has been preset so that the proper end of the satellite will stabilize down after launch. It can be changed once on orbit if needed. Takes about a minute to fully re-polarize the rod by command from the ground. The development team reports that all the hardware has been quite solid.

Due to the delay we ve had the chance to put quite a bit more time on all of it without any problems. Currently the planned launch period is four weeks beginning June 28, 2004. Once in orbit the command and Ops teams will be working together to assure everything is working ok and get it into it s initial normal modes as quickly as possible given the necessary caution. After that it will be open to the Users.

[ANS thanks Jim, WD0E for the above information]

Klla: ANS 158