AMSAT-OSCAR Echo Satellite
Launched!
NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 29, 2004--A Russian Dnepr LV
rocket carrying the AMSAT-OSCAR Echo Amateur Radio satellite and several other
payloads launched on schedule today at 0630 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. AMSAT-NA says it received a telephone report from Chuck Green,
N0ADI, who was at the launch site, that the launch was successful and all
spacecraft had separated successfully. Ground controllers made their first
contact with Echo at 1452 UTC and collected some telemetry to analyze before
shutting down the digital downlink transmitter. The first downlink signals were
435.150 MHz FM at 9600 bps.
 AMSAT-OSCAR Echo Satellite
Launched! |
"This
achievement is due to many individuals around the world, who have helped in the
design, building, integration, testing and launching of this satellite," said
AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH. "Also the members of AMSATs in many
countries who have helped us by funding this 'electronic adventure.' Without
your financial support the satellite could not have been completed and would
never have been launched. Give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done."
Earth stations
should not attempt to transmit on the
satellite's uplink until checkout and commissioning are complete and AO-Echo
has been made available for general use. Jim White, WD0E, of the AO-Echo
project team says that won't happen for at least one week.
"There is just
no way to know how long [commissioning] takes until you see how the bird and
your ground station are performing," he said. "There may be a time during that
process when we pause in the checkout and open the bird to the users for a
couple of days, but that again depends on how things are going." Opening the
satellite for general amateur use could take up to a month or possibly longer.
AMSAT will release a bulletin when the satellite becomes available for use.
A telemetry
decoding program, TLMEcho, is
available for those who would like to view and report data from Echo. It may be
downloaded from the "Echo
Satellite User Software and Documentation page." AMSAT-NA
requests that anyone recording Echo telemetry to send the CSV files to Mike Kingery, KE4AZN. A telemetry database
has been established and will be tested over
the next few days. When testing is complete it will be made available to directly
upload telemetry files and query all data.
The call signs
for Echo's Pacsat Broadcast Protocol Digital system are PACB-11 (Broadcast) and
PACB-12 (BBS).
AO-Echo's sun-synchronous orbit is some 800 km (nearly 500 miles) above
Earth. Among other
capabilities, the 10-inch-square microsat--equipped with a transmitter capable
of up to 7 W output--will allow voice communication using handheld FM
transceivers. Echo will feature V/U, L/S and HF/U operational configurations,
with V/S, L/U and HF/S also possible. FM voice and various digital modes--including
PSK31 on a 10-meter SSB uplink--also will be available.
Assisting Green
in the SpaceQuest team's final integration and checkout at Baikonur were Dino
Lorenzini, KC4YMG, Mark Kanawati, N4TPY, and Lyle Johnson KK7P.
The AO-Echo satellite project is still some $12,500 shy of its $110,000
fund-raising goal. The names of those who donated to the project prior to
integration now are in orbit aboard the satellite. AMSAT--a 501(c)(3)
organization--welcomes
additional donations to bridge the funding gap.
Visit the
AMSAT AO-Echo Web page for
additional details.--Chuck Green, N0ADI,
and Jim White, WD0E, via AMSAT News Service
Page last modified: 09:42 AM, 01 Jul 2004 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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