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Amateur Satellites
by Terry Douds, WB8CKI (This article ran in Worldradio, July 1998) Hello everyone -hope your summer is going well. At the time of this writing, we are still anxiously awaiting news concerning a ride for the Phase 3D Satellite. Negotiations are still ongoing with the European Space Agency, and everyone hopes that good news will be heard soon. However, there is still a great deal of activity continuing with other satellites both in the air and yet to go up. I'll take this month to cover some of these activities. The Techsat team has just confirmed that the tentative launch date for
the TechSat-1b is currently set to launch 23-24 June. The launch will
take place in Kazakhstan. A telemetry decode program with more info will
follow shortly. For those who don't remember TechSat, it is a communication satellite
being constructed by an academic group of scientists and students at the
Technion University in Haifa, Israel, and it will feature a packet store-and-forward
mailbox operating at 9600 baud. Visit the TechSat web page at www.technion.ac.il/pub/projects/techsat.
TechSat-1a was destroyed during launch in 1997. TechSat-1b is a replacement
for it. Just as a reminder, the TechSat-1b will be very similar to the
TechSat-1a in the communications modes. It will use 9600 Baud FSK (like
UO-22/KO-23/KO-25) and have VHF/L-band uplinks, with the downlinks in
the UHF band. So if you have a 9600 baud setup operational, you should
have no problems working TechSat-1b. If you have been looking for an "Elmer" to help you with a
satellite project, or have questions about anything having to do with
satellite operation, get yourself a copy of the March/April 98 issue of
the AMSAT Journal. It gives a complete list of the AMSAT Area Coordinators
throughout the U.S. and Canada, and for four countries outside of North
America. The list gives names, calls, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail
addresses for all of these volunteers. If you need a hand, please consider
giving one of them a call. How do you get a copy of the Journal? Join AMSAT. Drop a note to Martha@amsat.org,
or call the office at 301/589-6062 (FAX 301/608-3410). She will give you
the information you might want concerning membership. If you have no Internet
access or a telephone, send her a letter at AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave., Silver
Spring, MD 20910-4703. John Melton, N6LYT/G&hibar;ORX, has announced the preliminary release
of his Java Satellite Ground Station Software at www.qsl.net/n6lyt.
This software implements a fully automated Digital Store and Forward Satellite
Ground Station. It includes: The software has been successfully run on Windows/95, Linux, and Solaris.
John has been successfully using the software over the last few months
with minimal problems, but he states that there is still work that needs
to be done. The documentation, for example, is not yet complete, but there
should be enough there to allow you to get started. Further documentation
for developers is under construction. John is interested in receiving email messages from anyone who decides
to download and run his software. John may be reached at: n6lyt@qsl.net.
He is also interested in hearing from individuals who would like to aid
in the development of his Java Satellite Ground Station Software.
For those of you with Internet access, a very interesting development
has occurred thanks to Bob Bruninga, WB4APR. Many of you are aware of
the fact that Bob is "Mr. APRS", and has been working tirelessly
on new applications for the APRS (Amateur Packet Reporting System). He
has worked with many different people to develop software which would
run on most PC Systems currently available. He has been working on establishing
a network of linked ground stations to show the activities on the digital
Amateur satellites The following is the progress on the MIR sites:
Maryland USA on line full time He is still trying to find links from Japan and many other areas.
To see the live combined TNC data stream, TELNET to 199.227.86.221 port
10001, DURING any pass over Maryland or Madrid. To see the daily captured
PASS files over Maryland BROWSE to: http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/mirex.html The South Texas Balloon Team is working on launching BLT-13 on 18 August
1998. It will include a packet digipeater with 70cm up and downlinks,
a Mode A transponder, and a 1.2 GHz TV transmitter with various sources
available for video telemetry readings. They hope to place the balloon
up approximately 100,000 feet, so those of you in the south will probably
be able to receive something from this experiment. For those of you considering applying for the W4AMI Achievement Award,
the address for submission has changed again. You should now send the
data to AMSAT at the address listed earlier in the article. If you have Internet access, don't forget that the Houston AMSAT
net is brought to you weekly via Real Audio now "live", as well
as being online as a file for two weeks following the net date. The file
is now downloadable as well, so that you can listen offline when you want
to Ñ in fact, I'm listening to last weeks net while I finish
typing this column! It's a wonderful way to keep up with the current
happenings in the satellite world, and it is brought to you by Andy MacAllister,
W5ACM, and Bruce Paige, KK5DO. Give it a listen - you'll get hooked!
The 13th AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be held at Surrey University, Guildford,
Surrey, United Kingdom, starting Friday, 31 July 1998, and ending on Sunday,
02 August. This year's event will include technical and operational matters as
well as an International Amateur Radio Union forum. If you have the opportunity to attend and would like more information,
please contact R. W. Limebear G3RWL, 60 Willow Road, Enfield EN1 3NQ,
United Kingdom, or contact him electronically via the following routes:
Internet e-mail - g3rwl@amsat.org
; Packet Radio - G3RWL@GB7HSN.#32.GBR.EU; Satellite AO16/19/22/23/25.
ICOM is currently touring around the country in a motorhome promoting
their new radio gear, which includes their satellite radios. They will
be at Dayton in the parking lot (where I will be next week at the time
of this writing), and are traveling around the U.S. to various stores
and hamfests. If you would like information concerning their schedule,
or are involved with a hamfest and would like them to stop by if possible,
contact Pat or Ronnie at ICOM at (425) 454-8155. My space is quickly running out for this month. Stay tuned to the AMSAT News Service bulletins on the AMSAT Web Site (www.amsat.org) for current information concerning any upcoming launches. Keep your fingers crossed for some good news concerning a flight for Phase 3D! Keep working the LEO's and AO-10 (when it's available), and I'll look forward to working you soon on the birds! |
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