February 2009 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: NO-44
by Bob Bruninga 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

> just checking in website NO-44 use > KPC9612, it that any modification in > KPC9612 ? space requirment request ? > or just KPC9612 standart put in Satelite ? 8 years ago, it was special code, becuse we had to ask Kantronics to add the TELEMETRY command. The KPC-3+ has always had the telemetry command, so we asked them to add TELEMETRY to the 9612+. By now, maybe the KPC-9612+ standard models also have TELEMETRY command? The only other special request, was to have our DEFAULTS all burned into factory ROM. Such as CALLSIGN, TELEMETRY, DIGI OFF, etc... THey did this for only a few hundred dollars. We were very happy with the result. But Kantronics had reduced its engineering staff, and it might not be as easy to get custom features now. I can send you our default settings if they are not on our web page somewhere. Bob, Wb4APR >thanks >73 de YF0EEE > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Arianespace launch 12/Feb
by G0MRF＠aol.com 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Hi all. I see Arianespace is back in the auxilary payload launch business. 2 x 120kg mini sats for the "Spirale demonstration programme" are being launched as auxilary payloads with the 2 primary telecomms satellite. Launch can be viewed live at _http://www.videocorner.tv/_ (http://www.videocorner.tv/) Launch window is 10.09 to 11.04 UTC 12th Feb Regards David

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Dieter
by Dave Guimont 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Yes, indeed, Dieter Schliemann, KX4Y SK, will be missed. He was an inveterate convention goer in the early years, and I learned much from, and enjoyed, conversations with him. If anyone reading this has contact with his family, please express our condolences. Dave WB6LLO Leanore KA6UCD 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Re: Dieter Schliemann, KX4Y SK
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

# From: "Frank H. Bauer" <ka3hdo@xxxxxxxxxxx> # Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:15:35 -0500 > > A month ago, all of us thought he was on the road to recovery. > Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. Even tho I only met Dieter a few years ago, I feel a great loss, as do many many folks here - I'm sure. A great loss to the world. I am so glad tho, that he was able to come back home after his extended care, and enjoy his home & family & get back on his computer for his final whirl - rather than have faded away without that last hurrah ... RIP ol'buddy - we'll do our best to keep the inertia wheels turning..... Thanks & 73 /;^] -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net -> <- http://www.linkedin.com/in/alansieg * My 'Day Job' ->

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Slightly Off Topic...Iranian satellite Transmitting Continuously
by Armando Mercado 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

(Off topic content here so look away if offended...) Hello, Iran's first satellite is now reported to be transmitting a 20 second, 1 KHz tone every 100 seconds. Frequency is 464.9875 to 465.0125 MHz. Omid was previously obsevered transmitting only on passes passing over Iran. I have not heard it yet but will be listening. See the following for more: http://www.zarya.info/Tracking/Omid/OmidObservations2.php 73, Armando N8IGJ

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Off Topic... Omid Heard
by Armando Mercado 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

(Off topic content below...) Hi, Success. Heard Omid during the 1640 UTC pass over the Great Lakes, EN62. Signal had lots of flutter, but the tone was plainly heard. Was able to hear 3 cycles. 73, Armando, N8IGJ

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KAGAYAKI nothing heard
by Masahiro Arai 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

KAGAYAKI command station and related statainos are still looking for KAGAYAKI. KAGAYAKI was to transmit morse code on FM after separation form H-2A but nothing heard until now. The command station conjectures KAGAYAKI is tranmitting morse code on FM or 9600bps packet at 437.375MHz. The command station also conjectures the output power is very low because of not expanding antenna and solar panel. Command station is trying to watch KAGAYAKI using FFT spectrum analyzer. Object D is estimated as KAGAYAKI. Please watch KAGAYAKI and let me know if you heard her signal. I'll pass the info to command station. English web site is now available. http://www.sorun.co.jp/e_kagayaki/top.html Thank you for your help Masa JN1GKZ Tokyo Japan

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I: Re: Was HEO naivete; now GEO rideshare frequency choice, etc.
by Francesco Grappi 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Hi Peter DB2OS, Thank you very much for your precise step by step satellites history explanation.....hoping that the human community can learn from these mistakes and never repeat these more.... ..waiting for P3-E and P5-A and ...."fingers crossed"... 73' Frank IW4DVZ -----Messaggio originale----- Da: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Per conto di Peter Guelzow Inviato: lunedì 9 febbraio 2009 23.49 A: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Oggetto: [amsat-bb] Re: Was HEO naivete; now GEO rideshare frequency choice, etc. P3-B Someone forgot that P3-B (OSCAR-10) was hit by the last rocket stage of the launcher, when they neutralized that stage by venting the remaining fuel. Unfortunatly in the wrong direction... OSCAR-10 was hit, Antennas were damaged, the S/C spin was reverse (!) and the sun was shining on top of the spacecraft instead of illuminating the solar panels !!! The S/C was completely out of control, loosing rapidly it's battery capacity, getting into harsh temperatures due to totally wrong sun angles and thermal control... The S/C would have been dead and lost, if Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC would have not started his amazing rescue operation by completely re-programming the IHU on-the-fly. First he switched Off all modules and systems which were not urgently needed... he also programmed the beacon off and only sends some telemetry after a few hours... this way he was able to slowly re-charge the battery. Finally there was enough electrical energy to start magnetorqueing and bringing the S/C into the right attitude. But due to the fact that the S/C was spinning "backwards", he had to write and upload new navigation code into the IHU.... After several weeks of emergency, finally AO-10 was in a favorable orbit to continue commissioning and bringing the S/C into the right attitude for raising the perigee.. if we would have waited too long, perigee would get too close and the bird would have had other problems.. During the above emergency, the fuel tanks and helium bottle had some thermal cycles which were out of the designed specification limits.... Everyone will agree, that this was not the fault of the designer of P3-A.... any other spacecraft would have been lost... The "small deviation" mentioned below was not a design error... to my knowledge two bit's in the SEU's programmable register to set the burn-time counter were exchanged (wrongly wired in the module to the connector to the IHU) and the test pattern which was used for testing did not showed this... Due to the longer than planned burn-time, the Helium bottle temperature went shortly below the lower specified limit. Again, this was not a design flaw or any other mistake... One can argue if the burn-counter-problem or the emergency caused by the collision with the last rocket stage after seperation caused the leakage in the high pressure helium system... but that's history anway.. P3-C (OSCAR-13) The propulsion system worked perfectly and the planned orbit was reached exactly. Several experts (including from NASA) were involved in the planning of OSCAR-10's orbit, which was supposed to be safe / stable for a long long time...... Only several years later, OE1VKW Viktor Kudielka was so first one who predicted a premature re-entry of OSCAR-13... Kudielka V., /Long term Predictions for Highly Elliptic Satellite Orbits/, Amsat-DL Journal, Jun 1990. pps 5-7. (In German). Nobody can be blamed... but a lot was learned after this discovery, even in the professionally world.. P3-D (OSCAR-40) The catastrophic failure of the propuslion system was not a design error, it was 100% human failure... The 400N engine was the same which was used before on AO-10 and AO-13. Unfortunately "almost".. the engine which was donated to us, was used for some qualification tests, but 100% functional and 100% OK.. But it had a small modification used for the qualification.. a venting hole, which was secured with an additional screw or cap.. normally it's just a hole.. only very few people knew about it and unfortunately nobody asked what it was, although it was "red".... during the final and launch integration this was hidden and nobody noticed it. During some early testing in the integration lab in Florida, this valve was never used at it was recommended to not use it too often during "dry test" for reliability issues.. Later during our intense failure analysis we found a picture from the earlier integration phase, which showed the engine valve with this red cap in place.... arghhh... After the first sign of a malfunction of the engine, it would have been better to take more time to analyze the behavior... but there was some kind off pressure and afterwards everybody knows it better anyway.. I can only tell, that the the process which resulted in the catastrophic engine failure was completely understood in the aftermath... And still... we had almost 4 years to work with this wonderful spacecraft on S-band... even with very small antennas... most of the technology we wanted to test were successfully tested and proofed, including the Arcjet which was used to raise the perigee, the momentum wheels, etc... the discovery of an additional (temorary?) radiation belt was also due to AO-40's CEDEX... and so on... However, if you ever want another HEO, than there is no way around a propulsion.... As with P3-D some well known companies which design propulsion systems will be involved in the design and qualification of P3-E and P5-A's propulsion system.... 73s Peter DB2OS Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF wrote: > Paul Williamson wrote: > >> "The first burn went relatively well -- there was a small deviation from the expected burn duration, which placed the spacecraft perigee somewhat higher >> > than planned. The second burn could not be accomplished because a slow leak in the high-pressure helium system during > the week the spacecraft was being > reoriented prevented the opening of valves feeding fuel to the thrust assembly." > >> The "small deviation" is known to be due to a design error in the simple digital logic circuit that controlled the burn duration. >> > > OK. The helium leak was a propulsion system fault. The design error in the logic was human error and is known so can be > designed out. > > > >> On AO-13, the kick motor worked exactly as planned, and the spacecraft achieved the intended orbit. But that orbit could have been chosen better, >> > as it turned out. The early re-entry after only 8.5 years was not anticipated, and probably could have been avoided if > we had been smart enough, > soon enough. > > Another "human error" Hindsight is wonderful. > I don't think we should reject an option that requires propulsion because of past errors that are now well understood. > > > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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SATPC32 and Rigexpert
by joe 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Hi All, I downloaded SATPC32 and installed. I cannot get it to see my 706mkiig or at least it does snot seems to want to control it. I am using a Rigexpert plus for an interface. It works great with all other programs and radios using the CAT control features. I have tried a few different baud rates and settings but no joy. Would it be possible anyone is using this type of interface with this type rig? This looks like it is the only program that will control this half duplex radio on both VFOs at once. Thanks Joe KI4TZ

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PE1RAH's transponder
by Bruce Robertson 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Somewhere in all this discussion about the future of AMSAT we need to recognize the work that William did on the 10cm^2 U/V transponder that was featured in the most recent Journal. Here we have a young person -- by the reckoning of most of us -- taking the very component-based approach to satellite building that has been seriously suggested as a way forward. He has made something that will fit the most narrow and most cheap form in launches today, the cubesat, and the result would fulfill our interests in analogue communications satellites. I suppose I see this as something of a challenge for our forward thinking. As a group, how do we respond to this? I would like to see his work tested on ground, perhaps in more than one locale, perhaps in an urban environment where it would get lots of traffic. Perhaps his design could go through some sort of audit so that some of our technical team could ensure that the most performance is being derived from the least power. 73, Bruce VE9QRP

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