SuitSat-1 Apparently SK; Nothing Heard for Several Days

NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 22, 2006--The novel SuitSat-1 (AO-54) satellite--a Russian spacesuit carrying an Amateur Radio transmit-only payload put into orbit February 3--has gone silent, apparently for good. Among the latest reports was one from Bob King, VE6BLD, who reported "nothing heard" during a 67-degree pass over his Alberta location February 18. Subsequent reports to the SuitSat Web site appear to back up his unofficial pronouncement that the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) satellite experiment had stopped transmitting. ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, says a significant voltage drop Richard Crow, N2SPI, noted in his final telemetry report apparently was the death knell for SuitSat-1.

"The ARISS team overcame a lot of issues in development and still was able to prove it could be done," said Ransom. "They learned a lot in the process and learned even more from the experiment once it was deployed."

A message on the SuitSat Web site declares, "It has been days since a solid report of reception has come in; it is certain SuitSat's batteries have died. Thanks to all who participated in this experiment!"

AJ Farmer, AJ3U, who collected and posted SuitSat-1 audio and SSTV recordings on his Web site expressed his appreciation to all who had contributed. "This has made SuitSat very enjoyable for those of us that were never able to hear SuitSat for ourselves (me included)," he said. "Even though SuitSat did not transmit as intended, it still has had a very positive impact. Over the past two weeks, I have received e-mails from at least a dozen people who have become interested in Amateur Radio because of SuitSat."

Farmer says he's now looking forward to SuitSat-2.

From the outset, hearing the spacesuit-satellite's telemetry and voice messages was difficult even for the best-equipped stations. With his impressive antenna system, King had been copying SuitSat-1 better than most stations around the globe and posted several reports to the SuitSat and AJ3U Web sites.

As the end appeared near February 17, ARISS issued an urgent call for appropriately equipped Earth stations to make every effort to copy SuitSat-1's voice telemetry reports. ARISS US Hardware Manager Lou McFadin, W5DID, who was directly involved in the construction of the SuitSat-1 package, says he and others on his team followed the voltage reports with great interest.

"Your efforts to gather the telemetry data are very much appreciated and will contribute to further success should we get the opportunity to build a second SuitSat," McFadin said. Deployed from the International Space Station on February 3, SuitSat-1 outlasted its initially predicted one-week active life by at least one week. McFadin said once the battery voltage dropped below 9 V, all transmissions would cease, although the suit's onboard computer would continue to operate down to the 3 V level.

"We really appreciate the dedication and true amateur spirit of all those who have helped us monitor this unique and interesting experiment," McFadin said.

Extremely low transmitter output power has been one explanation for SuitSat-1's faint signal. AMSAT-NA calculations earlier this month suggested that SuitSat-1's transmitter likely was putting out between 1 and 10 mW instead of the 500 mW it was supposed to produce.

More information on the SuitSat-1 project, including QSL information, is available on the AMSAT Web site and on the SuitSat Web site.

Previous: Regulation-by-Bandwidth Petition "a Reasonable Middle Ground," League Says

Next: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending February 16, 2006