1. Satellite Basics & AMSAT Update
John Kludt, K4SQC
AMSAT Ambassador
Cherokee Capital Amateur Radio Society
September 17, 2018

2. Great Time to Work With Sats
Good working base already in orbit
More launches every week
Presentation out of date before it is done
AMSAT News Service on [amsat-bb]
AMSAT Bulletin Board
AMSAT Journal
AMSAT-UK
AMSAT Status Page

3. Satellite Status

4. Working the Satellites

5. Satellite Options Just listen! Telemetry monitoring and reporting
HT -FM
Multimode rig – FM, SSB/CW
Antenna you already have
Telemetry monitoring and reporting
AO-85, AO-91, AO-92, AO-73
FM Transponders
SO-50, AO-85, AO-91, AO-92
Linear Transponders
AO-7, FO-29, AO-73, XW series

6. Telemetry Opportunities
Another way to “work the satellites”
Transponder plus data satellites
AO-85/91/92
(DUV) (Fox 1 Telemetry Analysis Tool)
AO-73 (Funcube Dashboard)
Numerous “Data Only” satellites
Decode and Upload
Contributes to the science

8. Transponder Types FM Transponders Analog Transponders FM Only
Single Channel
Capture Effect
Fox Series
AO-85
AO-91
AO-92
Fox-1B
SO-50
SSB CW
Bandpass of 20 to 100 KHz
Many signals at once
Examples
AO-7
FO-29
AO-73
XW series

9. Operational Modes AO-7* AO-73 AO-85 AO-91 AO-92 XW series FO-29 SO-50
U/v (435 MHz up/144 Mhz down)
V/u (144 MHz up/435 MHz down)
AO-7*
(Sometimes V/a up/29.5 down)
AO-73
AO-85
AO-91
AO-92
(Sometimes L/v 1.2 GHz up/145 MHz down)
XW series
FO-29
SO-50

10. AO-85/91/92 Equipment Requirements
HT or Transceiver +/- SDR with 2m & 70 cm capabilities
5 watts adequate, a little more is better (1-2 watts 1268 MHz)
Capable of at least 2.5 KHz steps
Full duplex absolutely required
Antenna
Arrow +/- preamp (Tx polarization “twist” may be needed)
Alaskan Arrow
10 element Yagi for 1268 MHz (L band)(AO-92)
Elk
Home Brew (VE2ZAZ design)
Clock
A compass
A recording device

11. AO-85 Frequencies (example)
Uplink (Pl 67.0)
MHz (AOS)
MHz
MHz (Max E)
MHZ
MHz (LOS)
Downlink
MHz
Don’t forget to turn on your PL – no PL = no contacts
No “easy way out” on U/v

12. Pass Prediction Sites/Software
SatPC32 (Windows)
Macdoppler Pro (Mac)
Predict (Linux)
Gpredict (Linux)
Numerous Smartphone Apps

13. Sample Pass Predictions K4WOC

14. Pass Reminders It is going to seem to be very busy Compass
Visual AOS reminder
Visual Max Elevation reminder
Visual LOS reminder
An elevation reminder
An easy to read clock
Tape recorder
Open your squelch all the way on FM birds

15. I Didn’t Hear Myself or Anything!
Pass predictions correct?
Location
Keps
Time
True North?
Was the satellite on?
What mode was it in? (AO-7, AO-92)
FM – did you have your PL (67.0 Hz ) turned on?
Rig/antenna issues?

16. Maybe of Special Interest
ISS Packet Operational
UISS ( )
Uplink and downlink MHz (V/v)
Standard AX-25 Unproto packets

17. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
Program to allow students to talk with an astronaut
Over 1,000 contacts with about 20/yr with US groups
Using 144MHz FM uplink and downlink
Direct
Telebridge
ISS 250 miles up traveling at 17,500 MPH = 10 minute pass
Two project application windows each year

18. ARISS Equipment
Caveat: the crew cannot do Doppler correction so the ground station must do it all, uplink and downlink
Recent years Ericcson
Voice
APRS Packet add-on – replacement manifested upcoming Progress resupply mission- seems to be alive again! MHz
Little used for voice – weaker signal with low audio
Now Kenwood D-710 in Service module
Long hike for astronauts
In the Russian segment and sometimes conflicts with their experiments (SSTV)

19. Current Replacement Project
Kenwood has donated several D-710 GA’s specifically modified for ARISS and the ISS
25 watts output
Return of the APRS digipeater
Co-located in Columbus module with HamTV
Power supply is the issue
Interoperable Multi-Voltage Power Supply
Works with both the US and Russian standard
Provides needed power for Kenwood radios
Plugs for “other things”

20. IMVPS Presently in NASA Safety Review This is a $125,000 project
Change in heat handling system required
Need full flight certification just like everything else on the ISS
This is a $125,000 project
Flight certification is expensive
Space rated parts are expensive
Need more than one unit
Please donate

21. New Satellites
BIRDS-2
JAXA project, launched for ISS August 1o, 2018
BHUTAN-1, MAYA-1, UiMSAT-1
CW beacon MHz
APRS digipeater MHz
SiriusSat-1/SiriusSat-2 launched from ISS August 15, 2018
Roscom project
RS13S MHz telemetry
RS14S MHz telemetry
Telemetry decoders

22. SSO-A Mission Spaceflight using a Falcon 9 rocket
First dedicated rideshare mission
70 spacecraft from 35 countries
15 microsats
56 Cubesats including Fox-1Cliff and 1 from Georgia Tech
Fox -1Cliff
1u cube, U/v – L/v
/ MHz Up, MHz Down
PL 67.0 Hz

23. Fox-1E Also known as RadFXSat-2 Same bus as Fox series
Linear transponder
V/u 144MHz up, 432 MHz down
30 KHz bandwidth linear transponder bps BPSK telemetry for Vanderbilt experimental data
Launched later this year/early 2019
Last Fox launch

24. Project GOLF “Greater Orbit Larger Footprint Higher is better
More coverage
Easier tracking ……..but
Environment is colder
More power is needed (batteries, solar panels)
Higher gain antennas
Attitude Determination and Control (ADAC)
More radiation
Propulsion (25 year deorbit capability)

25. Amateur Radio LEO Satellite Altitudes (voice)
AO-7 ≈ 1400 km.
FO-29 ≈ 1200 km.
SO-50 ≈ 650 km.
AO-73 ≈ 650 km.
AO-85 ≈ 650 km.
XW-2F ≈ 520 km.
ISS ≈ 400 km.

26. GOLF-TEE (Technology Exploration Environment) Target: 4Q 2019 delivery
km polar orbit
Fox-1E type V/u linear transponder
SDR with X band data downlink
V/x transponder option
Attitude determination and control
Deployable solar panels
Radiation tolerant IHU (Integrated Housekeeping Unit)
Vanderbilt University radiation experiment

27. GOLF-1 Target: 4Q 2020 delivery
1300 km orbit
SDX (Software Defined radio Transponder)
C/x (“Five and Dime”) linear transponder
V/u linear transponder
Other bands/modes possible
Albuquerque Public Schools / Virginia Tech weather observation camera experiment
Vanderbilt University radiation experiment
De-orbit capability

28. AMSAT Membership
Great way to explore new opportunities in a time of decreasing HF propagation
Satellites expensive to build
Good parts (don’t just drive up to the site to fix!)
Huge amounts of engineering
Rigorous NASA flight testing
As much as $100,000 per launch
Basic membership $44 per year
AMSAT Online Store

29. Questions?