September 2013 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

FL11 active in SO-50 in the two morning passes
by Pavel Milanes Costa 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

Hi to all... from CO7WT I will try to be active in the two morning passes of SO-50, it will be mobile from a outside location as a part of my radio club activities... (I will be demonstrating satellite communications) No way of recording so far... I will have a secretary writing down callsigns that have not so much practice in english... So if some one can record the pass I will appreciate the mp3 file... As the time is passing I see more the second morning pass... because we have to setup a HF station, etc.. 73

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Re: Phase 3
by i8cvs 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

----- Original Message ----- From: "pabutusa(a)gmail.com" <rob(a)pabut.org> To: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2013 5:01 AM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Phase 3 Are you sure the kick motors on ao10/13 were solid ???? I was pretty sure the were liquid because the could be fired multiple times to tweak the orbit. I also remember seeing pictures of technicians I'm hazmat suits fueling the bird. --> Rob, ka2pbt Hi Rob,KA2PBT The solid propellant motor of OSCAR-10 was designed to fire only one time at the apogee and change the orbit inclination to around 67 degrees into a Molniya orbit but unfortunately the onboard 400 Newton kick motor did not function entirely correctly, due to collision with launch vehicle after separation - hence the not-quite-Molniya-orbit with only inclination of 27 degrees. OSCAR-13 uses a bi-propellant hydrazine and nitrous oxide 400 Newton motor system and behaved flawlessly during the two post launch burns. Oscar-13 was launched into a highly elliptical equatorial orbit, a "Geostationary Transfer Orbit", with a perigee height of 240 km. Over the next 7 days it was re-oriented to point the motor along-track such that apogee velocity could be increased by 150 m/s. This increased perigee height to 1100 km, and freed the satellite from buffeting and atmospheric drag. During the next 2 weeks it was oriented "upwards" so that a burn at apogee would increase inclination to 58°, and perigee height to 2500 km. Two weeks later, 1988 July 22 15:00 utc the mode-B transponder was switched on for general use. The pictures you have seen referes to charge the fluid bi-propellant hydrazine and nitrous oxide toxic fuel into OSCAR-13 and later on to charge the liquid propellant into AO40 made with UMDH and nitrogen tetroxide. 73" de i8CVS Domenico On Sep 21, 2013, at 22:15, "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Angus McLeod" <amcleod(a)caribsurf.com> > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2013 9:27 PM > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Phase 3 > > >> As far as I know, the kick-motors used on the Phase-3 birds were NOT >> cardboard tubes packed with homemade gunpowder. They were commercial >> grade motors obtained from the commercial aerospace industry. If I am >> wrong about this, and someone can jump in with facts, I'd be glad to >> hear. > > > Hi Angus, > > The kitch apogee motors for OSCAR-10,and OSCAR-13 were solid propellant > 400 Newton trust motors donated to AMSAT-DL by the Messerschmitt Aerospace > Company in Germany. > > The kick apogee motor for AO40 was a liquid propellant made with UMDH and > nitrogen tetroxide but it failed to work because unfortunately someone > before the flight forgot to remove the safety red cover over the exost > valve of the fuel system and this is why after many attemps to overcome > the problem the satellite got an explosion inside wich damaged most part > of transponders.BTW AO40 worked fantastic in Mode U/S ,Mode L/S > and Mode L/K for a long time until the main battery and the spare battery > system suddently failed in short circuit. > > 73" de i8CVS Domenico > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Re: Phase 3
by Daniel Schultz 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

>>I don't think we'll ever be in a position to "buy" a launch the most we >>will ever be able to do is hope to piggy-back with a paying customer and >>possibly contribute to "expenses." $8,000,000 is our expected contribution to the "expenses". The actual launch cost is in the hundreds of millions. >> Maybe having a payload "on the shelf ready" isn't such a bad plan .... That's what Cubesats offer... ability to launch "off the shelf" satellites whenever an opportunity comes along, without having to do detailed integration with the launch vehicle. If only they were not so damn small... >> there are possibilities however, SpaceX is going to do at least one full and one >> semi test flight on the heavy...the semi test flight is for the USAF and they >> are carrying ballast...and the final stage has to do a disposal burn. Even the SpaceX test flights are booked with paying customers. There are no free rides anymore. >> This is something I've often wondered about. "Oh hi, commercial rocket >> company, can we stick our homebrewed rocket into your billion dollar >> vehicle?" >> >> We're supposed to somehow convince someone to let us tack our >> semitested bomb onto their flight? I doubt they're going to go for >> it... ESA and Ariane did accept that offer, three times no less with AO-10, AO-13 and AO-40. Miracles are sometimes possible but they are quite rare. >>Could a 3U cubesat with deployable solar panels power a 1 watt, 100 kHz, mode U/V transponder? Yes, I believe that is possible, with deployable arrays we might even be able to do ten watts, but such a tiny satellite in such a high orbit will require big antennas on the ground just to hear it. I can already hear the cries on amsat-bb about the "elitists" who want to push the little guys out of the satellite game so they can keep the HEO satellite all to themselves. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Re: Phase 3
by Wayne Estes 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

What is realistically achievable with a 3U cubesat with an ion engine? Cost of the satellite? Cost of the launch? Time/cost to develop ion engine? How many month/years would it take for an ion engine to boost a 3U cubesat from 600 km to 2000 km? What is the altitude limit for an ion engine? Impractical to slowly cross the radiation belt? Could a 3U cubesat with deployable solar panels power a 1 watt, 100 kHz, mode U/V transponder? I would contribute $1000 to a fund raising campaign for a financially and technically viable plan to (for example) launch in 3 years and deploy a transponder in "high" orbit 2 years later. I probably would not contribute to a fund raising campaign for a whizbang 3U cubesat destined for a 600 km orbit. Wayne Estes Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Cygnus Scheduled To Dock With ISS Tomorrow
by B J 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/09/21/cygnus-flies-smoothly-iss-rendezvous… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Mighty Eagle Test Flight
by B J 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

http://moonandback.com/2013/09/21/mighty-eagle-improves-autonomous-landing-… http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/09/21/eagle-tests-mon-express-flight-sorft… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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UT1FG worked AO-7
by Andrew Glasbrenner 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

After a few misfires, I worked Yuri today on AO-7 Mode B. He is anchored pretty close to the GF24/GF25 line, offshore from Montevideo, Uruguay. He reported GF24, so using GF24ex as his location, the Tiny Locator program says 7585 km, or 4737 miles to my QTH. I tried a few times last week, but was gone from home for much of the workweek, activating grids in NFL/GA/AL between jobs. You guys sitting around waiting for a HEO ought to get out and operate a bit...it's still fun. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: Italian Middle School ARISS Contact
by johnag9d＠gmail.com 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

Well had a done my time conversion correctly my alarm would have gone off an hour earlier and there would have been working echolink and web audio. I'm an army of one. We will try it again on the one later in the week. John AG9D Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint! ----- Reply message ----- From: "Clint Bradford" <clintbrad4d(a)earthlink.net> Date: Sat, Sep 21, 2013 5:25 am Subject: [amsat-bb] Italian Middle School ARISS Contact To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Astronaut Luca was just heard wonderfully here in Southern California, answering inquiries. Couldn't hear a peep on Echolink. And the live audio feed page cited was not loading at all. BUT it sounded great on the downlonk! Clint K6LCS _______________________________________________ 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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ISS Ham Video launch campaign
by M5AKA 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

Call for participation in the Ham Video launch campaign http://amsat-uk.org/2013/09/21/ham-video-launch-campaign/ ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Phase 3
by Rob 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

Wait .... wasn't AMSAT-DL always the lead when it came to Phase-3 satellites ??? Also, AMSAT-DL has a platform already constructed awaiting launch opportunity. http://amsat-uk.org/2013/02/25/the-next-amsat-phase-3-satellite/ Issues with ITAR aside, why can't we just support our international partners ... somehow ... ??? Getting an amateur radio satellite into orbit costs real green dollars (Euros, GBP, whatever) we would do better pooling resources for the good of all. There are all kinds of players in the launch market these days .... US, ESA, Russia, China, Japan, India .... and a lot of up and coming private launch vendors .... call me naive but I think conditions are BETTER now (ITAR aside) than they were in the days of AO-10 .... Why can't we focus on the possibilities .... ???? de KA2PBT On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 2:30 AM, John Stephensen <kd6ozh(a)comcast.net> wrote: > AMSAT-NA abandoned the Eagle project years ago. Only AMSAT-DL has an > "active" HEO project. with P3E. > > 73, > > John > KD6OZH >

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