----- Original Message ----- From: "John Geiger" aa5jg@fidmail.com To: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 8:58 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] HEO history question
Back in late 1997 or early 1998 I was using a Kenwood TR9130 on 2m SSB. One morning I was tuning from the FM to the SSB portion of the band, and heard a station just below 146mhz. I tuned them in, and it was a station from Wales! Obviously going thru a satellite as the 2 meter conditions weren't that good that morning. I am now wondering what satellite it probably was. Hearing it was enough to motivate me to eventually get into satellite operations-that took a few years though.
Anyways, what satellite was I probably hearing? I am guessing AO10 or AO13 but were they operational at that time?
73s John AA5JG
Hi John, AA5JG
OSCAR-10 was launched in 1983 and it started to get problems with the main computer in 1986
OSCAR-13 was launched in 1988 and reientered because of drag in 1996
Between 1997 or early 1998 OSCAR-10 was operating time to time with low level signals in Mode-B, 2 meters downlink while OSCAR-13 was died.
If you are sure about the time of your reception back in late 1997 or early 1998 I guess that probably you was hearing or OSCAR-10 or mostly RS-12 a powerful LEO satellite in Mode-KT with uplink in 15 meters and downlink in two bands at the same time i.e.10 meters in the Mode-K and 2 meters in Mode-T exactly from 145.907 to 145.953 MHz
BTW at that time 23 april 1996 OSCAR-10 was still well operational in Mode-B because I have the QSL card from i8KRO for a QSO made through two satellites OSCAR-10 and RS-12
The uplink on RS-12 for i8KRO was in 21 MHz and the uplink for me on OSCAR-10 was in 435 MHz while the downlink for both of us was in 145 MHz
Nice to remember !
73" de
i8CVS Domenico