Hello All,
As expected, over the last few days AO-16 has started to again experience "shutdowns". Thanks to your updates at the very handy webpage at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ it seems that the first shutdown occurred between 28 Nov 2008 2030 UTC and 29 Nov 2008 0615 UTC.
So far I've restarted the bird three times, and each time it appears to stay up for a day or more. We can expect the situation to worsen, as the eclipse periods get longer and the satellite temperatures continue to go down. We've been warning you :) Get those AO-16 contacts in now!
I'll try to restart AO-16 as my schedule allows. Your reports to the OSCAR Satellite Status page by KD5QGR are very helpful; it helps me know when the bird is down so that I can do my best to restart it. Based on the times of the passes lately, it's difficult to be available when the bird is above the horizon.
If the birds is operational in voice mode, you should clearly hear the "not-so-repressed carrier" on the downlink. Special request--if you do not hear the carrier, please do not transmit to AO-16, as your transmissions make it difficult to command the satellite. And, if you hear the "hummmming" of the PSK transmitting, again please do not attempt to transmit to the bird; it's likely that I have restarted the bird and need to collect telemetry before configuring it into voice mode.
Thanks to all you faithful AO-16 operators!
Current operational mode for AO-16 (as available!):
Mode FM Voice Repeater ( Downlink is DSB) Uplink : 145.9200 MHz FM Downlink 437.0260 MHz SSB
73,
Hey Mark,
This AO-16 fan appreciates your efforts (more than I can find words to express) to keep her going as long as possible. She operates in a historic mode - one that never really was intended - that is really fun to operate. And she is such a wonderfully sensitive satellite. As many here know, I enjoy the challenge of operating "old school" using a fully portable setup that requires manual Doppler tuning and manual tracking of the satellite with my antenna(s).
I have been fortunate enough to complete and confirm a contact with AO-16 at 1.2 degrees elevation, and also have completed contacts running .05-watt rf out with my FM HT. And I'm sure some recall the threads here about my dual-band/dual-mode/dual-satellite contacts (4 in all) involving AO-16 and AO-51.
Just in the last week, I also made three AO-16 contacts transmitting through my 0-gain eFactor omni antenna while receiving on the end-fed longwire I put up a couple weeks ago to get back on the low bands! Those are great contacts to have in the log, too.
Thanks again for all your efforts to keep AO-16 going. I'll be listening for her every pass I can!
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 QRP-ARCI Member No. 5547 ARRL Member No. 7027180 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha
-------------- Original message from "Mark L. Hammond" n8mh@embarqmail.com: --------------
Hello All, As expected, over the last few days AO-16 has started to again experience "shutdowns". Thanks to your updates at the very handy webpage at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ it seems that the first shutdown occurred between 28 Nov 2008 2030 UTC and 29 Nov 2008 0615 UTC. So far I've restarted the bird three times, and each time it appears to stay up for a day or more. We can expect the situation to worsen, as the eclipse periods get longer and the satellite temperatures continue to go down. We've been warning you :) Get those AO-16 contacts in now! I'll try to restart AO-16 as my schedule allows. Your reports to the OSCAR Satellite Status page by KD5QGR are very helpful; it helps me know when the bird is down so that I can do my best to restart it. Based on the times of the passes lately, it's difficult to be available when the bird is above the horizon. If the birds is operational in voice mode, you should clearly hear the "not-so-repressed carrier" on the downlink. Special request--if you do not hear the carrier, please do not transmit to AO-16, as your transmissions make it difficult to command the satellite. And, if you hear the "hummmming" of the PSK transmitting, again please do not attempt to transmit to the bird; it's likely that I have restarted the bird and need to collect telemetry before configuring it into voice mode.
Thanks to all you faithful AO-16 operators!
Current operational mode for AO-16 (as available!):
Mode FM Voice Repeater ( Downlink is DSB) Uplink : 145.9200 MHz FM Downlink 437.0260 MHz SSB
73,
Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] AO-16 Command Station _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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
Mark, on the last pass of AO-16 (I would say approximately 21:30 UTC over EL95), the bird was nice and strong, and there weren't any signals on there, with the exception of some QRM south of the border. The bird was traveling north from the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico area.
I was calling CQ, but no one was coming back to me, until the footprint was over the USA. Then Rick, WA4NVM came back to me. I said hello and did the usual exchange. When he came back to me, all I heard was heavy distortion. I wasn't sure if it was him. I waited for a few seconds and didn't hear anything, so I transmitted and asked him if he had heard me - my downlink sounded fine. Again I heard the heavy distortion, and once again, I keyed up and said that if it was him, that he was very distorted. Once again, my downlink was clear, but then it started to get distorted, to the point where it was unintelligible.
Towards the end of the pass, the distortion went away, and I called him when I was down to about 3 degrees, and he said that yes it was him, and he couldn't figure out what was going on, that he had lowered and increased his power, but there was still distortion. I replied to him and all was well until LOS.
I have a sad feeling the end is near.
73 de W4AS Sebastian
On Dec 3, 2008, at 3:31 PM, Mark L. Hammond wrote:
Hello All,
As expected, over the last few days AO-16 has started to again experience "shutdowns". Thanks to your updates at the very handy webpage at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ it seems that the first shutdown occurred between 28 Nov 2008 2030 UTC and 29 Nov 2008 0615 UTC.
So far I've restarted the bird three times, and each time it appears to stay up for a day or more. We can expect the situation to worsen, as the eclipse periods get longer and the satellite temperatures continue to go down. We've been warning you :) Get those AO-16 contacts in now!
I'll try to restart AO-16 as my schedule allows. Your reports to the OSCAR Satellite Status page by KD5QGR are very helpful; it helps me know when the bird is down so that I can do my best to restart it. Based on the times of the passes lately, it's difficult to be available when the bird is above the horizon.
If the birds is operational in voice mode, you should clearly hear the "not-so-repressed carrier" on the downlink. Special request--if you do not hear the carrier, please do not transmit to AO-16, as your transmissions make it difficult to command the satellite. And, if you hear the "hummmming" of the PSK transmitting, again please do not attempt to transmit to the bird; it's likely that I have restarted the bird and need to collect telemetry before configuring it into voice mode.
Thanks to all you faithful AO-16 operators!
Current operational mode for AO-16 (as available!):
Mode FM Voice Repeater ( Downlink is DSB) Uplink : 145.9200 MHz FM Downlink 437.0260 MHz SSB
73,
Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] AO-16 Command Station
participants (3)
-
Mark L. Hammond -
n3tl＠bellsouth.net -
Sebastian