Amateur Satellite Beginners Session Presented by Dave Johnson, G4DPZ AMSAT-UK / AMSAT-NA In association with Carlos Eavis, G0AKI RSGB Welcome We are going to cover: z OSCAR? z History z A bit of orbit theory z Satellite operation z Satellite modes z Ground station equipment z What's up! Oscar... z An OSCAR is an Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio z Built for non-commercial purposes z Originally built by Project OSCAR members in garages in Silicon Valley z Now built by and/or funded by members of AMSAT and AMSAT affiliates z Originally a “bleep sat” but now carry sophisticated repeaters or transponders z Are encouraged to carry sensors and other scientific experiments A bit of History z OSCAR-I , which had a battery powered 140mw transmitter operating in the 2 meter band. z Transmit it’s message of “HI” for three weeks and re- entered the atmosphere on January 31, 1962 after making 312 orbits. z The greeting “HI” is used in almost all beacons, including AO-40’s telemetry beacon, built and launched by the Amateur Satellite service. A bit of History z Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth- orbiting artificial satellite. Launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. How is a Satellite Designed FM v Linear Transponder Some important terms Threats to Satellites Orbital Comparison Satellite Orbit Tracks Inclined Orbit Molnya Satellite Coverage High Earth Orbit (HEO)‏ Low Earth Orbit (LEO)‏ CubeSats z Based on a 10cm cube but some can be a bit bigger z Operate in Amateur Satellite allocation z AX-25 protocol & others Student Satellites z PCSAT 1 z US Naval Academy Aerospace student project z APRS protocol z note the antennas! Operation a Satellite Ground Station Equipment z Antennas (rotators)‏ z Preamps z Radios z Peripherals z Tracking Software / Computers Antennas z Handheld antennas: z Good for portable ops (and SOTA)‏ z Commercial Arrow Antennas Delfi-C3 transponder enabled Antennas z Handheld antennas: z DIY out available materials z You will need a Mux Antennas z Extreme portable!: z Howard Long, G6LVB z Used on AO-40 very successfully Antennas Fixed Station: z Wimo X antenas z Yaesu G5500 rotator z Homebrew dish with modified LNB Antennas Fixed Station for Cubesat C&C: z M2 antenas z M2 Rotator z Part of the GENSO network Handheld Transceiver z The minimum you need to operate. z TH-D7e z Dual Band z Duplex z APRS z CTCSS Base Station z FT-847 z Excellent sat capabilities but no longer in production Base Station z TS-2000 z Really good all round radio with satellite facilities z Does have a birdie on SO-50 downlink! Base Station z IC-910 z VHF/UHF/L-Band z Designed for Satellite op's z Old ones were deaf z Mine's fine! Ideal Groundstation for LEO What's Up! z We have three types of satellite: z Operational z Semi-Operational z Deceased R.I.P. (not rust in piece, in space)‏ Operational Satellites z DO-64 Delfi-C3 Launch Date: April 28, 2008 z Primary telemetry downlink: 145.870 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25 400mW z Backup telemetry downlink: 145.930 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25 400mW z Linear transponder passband downlink: 145.880 - 145.920 MHz (inverting)‏ z 400mW z Linear transponder passband uplink: 435.570 - 435.530 MHz z Transponder mode beacon: 145.870 MHz CW (10dB below transponder PEP)‏ z Delfi-C3 web page: http://www.delfic3.nl/ Operational Satellites z VO-52 HAMSAT Launch Date: May 05,2005 z Frequencies:Indian Transponder: z Uplink: 435.220 to 435.280 MHz LSB/CW z Downlink: 145.930 to 145.870 MHz USB/CW z Dutch Transponder: z Uplink: 435.225 to 435.275 MHz LSB/CW z Downlink: 145.925 to 145.875 MHz USB/CW z Mode and Antenna Polarization: z V: LHCP U: RHCP Operational Satellites z AO-51 ECHO Launch date: June 29, 2004 z Analog voice downlink: 435.300 MHz FM / 435.150 MHz FM / 2401.200 Mhz FM z Analog voice uplink: 145.880 MHZ FM / 145.880 MHz USB / 145.920 MHz FM z 1268.700 MHz FM 67Hz PL tone z Digital Downlinks: 435.150 MHz FM 38k4 PBP, 1 watt output z 435.150 MHz FM 9k6 Pacsat Broadcast Protocol z 2401.200 MHz FM 38k4 bps, AX.25 z Digital Uplink: 145.860 MHz FM 9k6 Pacsat Broadcast Protocol z 1268.700 mhz FM 9k6 PBP Digital z Beacon: 435.150 MHz Operational Satellites z SO-50 SAUDISAT-1C Launch date: December 20, 2002 z Uplink: 145.850 MHz FM - 67.0 Hz PL tone z Downlink: 436.795 MHz z To switch the transmitter on, you need to send a CTCSS tone of 74.4 Hz. z The order of operation is thus: (allow for Doppler as necessary): z 1) Transmit on 145.850 MHz with a tone of 74.4 Hz to arm the 10 minute timer z on board the spacecraft. z 2) Now transmit on 145.850 MHz (FM Voice) using 67.0 Hz to PT the z repeater on and off within the 10 Minute window. z 3) Sending the 74.4 tone again within the 10 minute window will reset z the 10 minute timer. Operational Satellites z In addition, we have several satellites that have schedules under which they are operational due to current solar illumination conditions: z FO-29 JAS-2 z AO-27 AMRAD z AO-16 PACSAT z AO-7 AMSAT OSCAR 7 Details can be found on the www.amsat.org site. R.I.P. CP4 KO-25 KITSAT HO-59 HITSat KO-23 KITSAT NCUBE-2 UO-22 UOSAT XO-53 SSETI AO-21 AMSAT-OSCAR 21 UWE-1 FO-20 JAS-1b AO-49 AATiS OSCAR-49 (SAFIR-M)‏ LIBERTAD-1 MO-46 TIUNGSAT-1 LO-19 LUSAT NO-45 SAPPHIRE WO-18 WEBERSAT SO-42 SAUDISAT-1B DO-17 Dove SO-41 SAUDISAT-1A UO-14 UoSAT-3 AO-40 AMSAT OSCAR 40 FO-12 Fuji-OSCAR 12 OO-38 OPAL AO-10 OSCAR 10 UO-36 UoSAT-12 AO-8 AMSAT-OSCAR 8 SO-35 SUNSAT AO-6 AMSAT-OSCAR 6 PO-34 PANSAT AO-5 Australis-OSCAR 5 SO-33 SEDSAT-1 OSCAR III TO-31 TMSAT-1 RS-15 RADIO SPORT RS-15 PO-28 POSAT-1 RS-13 RADIO SPORT RS-13 IO-26 ITAMSAT RS-12 RADIO SPORT RS-12 Other Resources z You can find more details about Amateur Satellite Operations on the www here: z www.amsat.org z www.amsat.de z www.amsat-dl.org Not so subtle Advert z Membership of AMSAT-UK costs £15/year z ALL money goes to funding Satellite related projects, fund now stands at £73K plus a £40K legacy z All committee give their time for free z Many current projects!!!! What we covered, phew! z Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio z History z A bit of orbit theory z Satellite operation z Satellite modes z Ground station equipment z What's up! Thank You We'll be in GB4FUN for the next few hours to answer any more questions. Or outside waving antennas at satellites! --... ...--.