Category: Ham Satellite news

Beacon frn RS-12/13 rapporterats har tystnat. Det finns ingen information om varfr detta skett.

Klla: ANS 1/9

Jag har ftt diskkrasch och kan drfr inte gra strre uppdateringar p AMSAT-SMs hemsida fr tillfllet.

Databasen, e-INFO och Oscar-40 nyheterna kan jag dock uppdatera via webgrnssnitt.

Hoppas komma igng under september!
73
Lars SM0TGU

Klla:

AMSAT-DL har nu krt igng tv nya satellitprojekt, P3-E och P5-A. Ls mer nedan:
—

AMSAT-DL announces formal go-ahead
for space missions
Phase 3-E and Phase 5-A

In July 2002 the AMSAT-DL (Germany) board of directors gave its official green light to develop and build the two spacecrafts AMSAT-Phase 3-E (P3E) and AMSAT-Phase 5-A (P5A). The high acceptance of the mission goals of these two projects expressed in the recent AMSAT-DL member s survey was the final element to arrive at this decision. Both satellites will be created in a common development process by an international team under the leadership of AMSAT-DL. The P3E satellite is to be launched as communication and scientific platform into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth. The second project with the working name AMSAT- Phase 5-A is destined to enter an orbit around the planet Mars. This spacecraft will then transmit scientific data to Earth – data from experiments on-board P5A as well as – via its repeater function – from experiments on the Martian surface or the planet s atmosphere.

So far three successful Phase 3 satellites were launched under the leadership of AMSAT-DL. The latest satellite of this series, P3D (now operational as AMSAT-OSCAR 40), was launched in 2000 and demonstrated sufficient bus and propulsion capabilities for a flight to Mars. So AMSAT-DL started a closer investigation into the possibility of such a mission. Based on the existing experience base and the overwhelming interest during the AMSAT-DL International Satellite-Workshop last year, the P5A spacecraft will not only carry scientific experiments, but also subpayloads to be released in direction to the Martian surface. Suitable launch windows to Mars exist in the years 2007 and 2009.

Two or three years earlier P3-E to be launched in an orbit around Earth is expected to continue the successful series of AMSAT- Phase 3 satellites. The main task of P3E is to serve as communication platform for the nearly 2 million radio amateurs worldwide. They constitute a network for further exploration of the so called uncoordinated multiple access , to provide simultaneous and freely available service to a large number of groundstations. Using existing technology and implementing the results of the member s survey, several transponders on frequencies between 145 MHz and 10 GHz are planned for P3E. Details will be fixed in a
design and payload meeting in the second half of 2002. Additionally the P3-E spacecraft will be an important test bed for some technology needed for the Mars mission. Work on the P3-bus has been started and a number of modules are already under construction.

So far all AMSAT-DL satellite missions in 1980, 83, 88 and 2000 were launched with ARIANE-launchers from French Guyana into geostationary transfer orbits. The excellent co-operation between Arianespace (with its current ARIANE-5-launch-system) and AMSAT-DL resulted in the development of various arrangements for the launch of secondary payloads on-board of ARIANE-launches. Thus Arianespace will be the first obvious choice for the launches of P3E and P5A.

Peter Glzow, DB2OS, President AMSAT-DL
Frank Sperber, DL6DBN, Vice President AMSAT-DL
Prof. Dr. Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, Projectleader

First background information about both missions can be found at:

http://www.amsat-dl.org/p3e/towards-p3e.pdf
http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/p5a-to-mars.pdf

—

Klla: AMSAT-DL

Det pgr nu tester att frska kontrollera AO-7, ls mer nedan:
—-
I guess it s time for me to step forward out of the shadows. The behavior you re observing is being caused by me, N1JEZ. I m the so called Covert AO-7 Command Operator .

Before everyone gets all crazy, please let me try and explain a few things.

First, I asked to remain covert for a period of time because I did not want to have to deal with the inevitable flood of email that will result from my identity being known. At the time, I was in a critical phase of trying to command the bird and needed to concentrate on that task. There were a number of technical hurdles to overcome, not the least of which is dealing with 30 year old stuff.

I know I m going to get a lot of email, so I ve put together the following FAQ. Please read through it. Hopefully it will answer some of your questions and avoid you sending them to me.

=====
AO-7 FAQ

Q: Tell me how the commands work.
A: Sorry, I _will not_ discuss any of the command details. Don t even ask.

Q: Tell me how the hardware works.
A: Sorry, I _will not_ discuss any of the command details. Don t even ask.

Q: What are the plans for AO-7.
A: I haven t foggiest! My job is to investigate what commands work and what commands don t after 21 years. It s really exciting, but tedious work. Imagine the thrill of seeing this antique accept your first command after all these years! For me, this is similar to the experience I had not long ago hearing the AO-40 24 GHz K Band beacon the first time. I ve gone from techno to retro in a short period of time.

Q: I m doing a satellite demo next Monday night. Can you make sure AO-7 is in Mode B?
A: Sorry, as I stated above, my only job is to test various commands.

Q: When it comes to AO-7. I m mad as hell and I m not going to take it anymore! Just leave it alone!
A: OK, take one of your little yellow pills and then send off a note to your favorite AMSAT official. Honestly, if you have concerns, voice them to Robin, VE3FRH or one of the Board of Directors. Everyone here is trying to do the right thing.

Q: How can I help?
A: Of most interest to me is how AO-7 wakes up as it enters sunlight. Also, any observations of simultaneous multiple modes would be most valuable. Yoshi Imaishi, JF6BCC is compiling an excellent list of observations. Please send him whatever you have. jf6bcc@jarl.com
You can view the list at:
http://plaza16.mbn.or.jp/~palau/temp/AO7-mode-report.xls

Q: Can you tell us _anything_ about this satellite?
A: I can tell you that command attempts are successful. I ve only tested a very limited number of functions, but it s very encouraging. I hope to be able to do a write up on all the fun I ve been having. Maybe it will be in the AMSAT Journal or perhaps a presentation at the AMSAT Symposium later this year. (get your tickets now )
=====
I still have a ton of work to do. So please try and keep the email to a minimum. I ll try and answer what I can.

[ANS thanks Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, for the above information.]

Klla: ANS 202