THE PAST THE PAST 3 SPUTNIK l Sputnik – Oct 4, 1957. 1 st satellite. 20 MHz beacon. 47 years ago. l Oscar 1 – Dec 12, 1961. 1 st amateur satellite l.

THETHE PASTPAST

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SPUTNIK

Sputnik – Oct 4, 1957. 1st satellite. 20 MHz beacon. 47 years ago.

Oscar 1 – Dec 12, 1961. 1st amateur satellite

My satellite experience began in Nov 1988.

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To date 51 amateur satellites have been launched. Really amazing achievement. Overcome licensing,

frequency allocations (WARC 1979), technical challenges, environmental testing, funding, launch opportunities. International involvement.

Amateur satellites were 1st to make ground to satellite to satellite to ground communication. Validated concept for using satellites for search and rescue.

1st microsats. Validated topside GPS.

ACHIEVEMENTS

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MILESTONES

Oscar 1 – 1st amateur satellite. Dec. 12th. 1961.

2m beacon, battery powered • Oscar III – Mar. 1965. First transponder. 50 KHz BW

146 MHz up, 144 MHz down. 1st use of solar cells. Only lasted 2 weeks but 100 amateurs got on.

• Oscar 5 – Jan. 23 1970. Australian. Magnetic attitude stabilization. Controlled by uplink commands. 29 and 144 MHz beacons. Battery powered.

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• Oscar 6 – Oct 15, 1972. Long lifetime. Sophisticated command and telemetry. 29 MHz down, 146 MHz up. 100 KHz BW. Lifespan 4.5 years

Problem – Satellite control system subject internally generated noise.

Solution – Automated commands from ground stations around the world. Larry Kayser one of the first to tackle the problem.

MORE MILESTONES

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Oscar 7 – Nov 15, 1974. 1st time two satellites in orbit. Two transponders mode A & B. Outstanding performance. Proved with simple stations communication 200 to 4500 miles. 2m and 70cm beacons built in Canada? Died mid 1981 due shorted cell? Reborn June 22, 2002.

Oscar 8 – Mar. 5, 1978. Mode A and Japanese mode J transponders. Died 1983.

Oscar – 10. June 16, 1983. 1st Phase 3, high elliptical orbit. Very large footprint and window of many hours. Mode B and L transponders. IHU died end 1986. But worked intermittently into late 90’s.

Oscar 13 – June 15, 1988. Similar to AO-10 but also had 70 cm uplink and 2.4 GHz downlink. Burnt up in the atmosphere 23 Nov. 1996.

MORE MILESTONES

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MORE MILESTONES

AO-40. 3rd High Orbit Transponder Launched Nov. 16 2000. Problems occurred after

orbit transfer motor fired. Operational May 5, 2001 (I made 14 QSO’s on that

1st orbit on both U/S and L/S. I and KB8VAO made the first L/L/S QSO on AO-40).

2m, 70cm, 2x23cm and 13cm uplinks OK 13cm, 24GHz down OK Ceased operating Nov 24 2003

THE PRESENTTHE PRESENT

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AMATEUR SATELLITES

Number and Status Constantly Changing

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AMATEUR SATELLITES IN ORBIT

Amsat Weekly Satellite Report Currently Lists

5 Operational Analog

1 Semi Operational Analog

1 Operational Digital

3 Semi Operational Digital

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AMATEUR SATELLITE TYPES

Analogue FM Single Channel (cross band repeater)

Analog Transponder -SSB/CW/SSTV/DIGITAL

Digital

ISS – CB repeater - astronaut

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SATTELITE ORBITS

Low Earth Orbit - LEO

High Altitude Elliptical Orbit

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LEO ORBIT – 1000 Kilometers Nominal

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s

E

<-----------60 k ------------>

HIGH ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

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SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Operate Cross Band

Up on one band - Down on another

Analog operation FULL DUPLEX

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TRANSPONDER(Inverting)

435.800 435.900435.850

146.000 145.900145.950

Down

RX

Up

TX

Zero Doppler

Beacon

435.795

+10

- 10

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ANALOG SATELLITES

TRANSPONDER - 2

FM REPEATER + ISS - 4

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LEO ANALOG TRANSPONDER SATELLITES

FO-29 up 145.900 – 146.000 down 435.800 – 435.900

AO-7 (semi operational) up 145.850 – 145.950 down 29.400 – 29.500 or up 432.125 – 432.175 down 145.975 – 145.925

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LEO ANALOG FM SATELITES

AO-27 up 145.850 down 436.795 SO-50 up 145.850 down 436.795

67.0 Hz & 74.4 Hz AO-51 up 145.920 down 435.300

67.0 Hz ISS up 437.800 down 145.800

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AO-51

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AO-51 RF SUBSYSTEMS

Receivers» Four miniature VHF FM receivers (<40 mW and <50 gm each).» Each receiver has 2-channel capability. » Sensitivity is -121dbm for 12db SINAD.

Transmitters» Two UHF FM transmitters that can be operated simultaneously. » 7-12 watts output each. » Frequency agile in 20 or 35 KHz steps, tunable over about 20 MHz.

Wideband Receiver» All-mode, “DC to Light”. Performance limited by broadband antenna.

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AO-51 RF SUBSYSTEMS

Antennas.» VHF 18” whip on top.» UHF Turnstile on bottom. Currently LHCP. » L + S band “open sleeve” antenna on the bottom.» Broadband HF/VHF/UHF 18” whip on bottom.

Link Budget» Tx’s adjustable from 1 to 12 Watts with max efficiency at 8 Watts. » Modulation is GMSK at any speed from 300 to 56K baud.» Antenna gains average about 0dbi. (-10dbi to +2dbi).» VHF antenna feeds a BPF with 1.5db loss, then an LNA with 1db

NF. Thus, overall Rx performance is -121 dbm for 12db SINAD.

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AO-51 TX POWER

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AO-51 FOOTPRINT

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AO-51 VISIBILITY

THETHE FUTUREFUTURE

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NEW AMATEUR SATELLITES

Unisat-3 (University of Rome)

Saudisat-2 (Saudi Arabia)

VUSAT (India)

PHASE 3-E (Germany)

AMSAT-NA EAGLE

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UNISAT-3 & SAUDISAT-2

Little info available – both scheduled to go up on same rocket as ECHO on June 29.

UNISAT-3 microsat v/u fm transponder

SAUDISAT-2 copy of successful AO-50 ?

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VUSAT -India

LEO orbit 63 cm x 63 cm x 55 cm Solar panels on 4 sides Control by single microprocessor 2 mode B transponders. Indian, Dutch 60 KHz BW Uplink- 10 watts into 12-18 dbi ant. Downlink - antenna gain 16 dbi. Missed launch, Oct 2003 due deviations in performance under

thermo vacuum tests. Last info: Launch this month.

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PHASE 3-E -Germany

Launch end 2004 to mid 2005 Work in full progress Highly elliptical orbit. Perigee 1000 km. Apogee

36000 km. Inclination 63 degrees RX- 70 cm, 23 cm. (2m, 13cm & 5.6 GHz) ? TX – 2m, 13cm. (70cm, 10.45GHz) ? Linear transponder 100 KHz BW Power 50 w PEP LEILA

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AMSAT OSCAR-Eagle

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“Eagle” is a new HEO satellite being developed by AMSAT-NA.

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AMSAT EAGLE

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EAGLE – AMSAT NA

Launch 2006? Highly elliptical geostationary orbit Weight 100 Kg. Power consumption 100w Communication: 2m,70cm,1.2, 2.4 and 5.4 GHz Cost: $600k + launch

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MORE FUTURE SATELLITES

IARU Satellite Frequency Coordinator lists over 20 microsats and cubsats for which frequencies have been assigned.

Launch dates this year and next. About half are US university projects. Rest are mostly

other country university projects. About half have transponders. U/V or V/U.

FM, Digital and Linear. Rest telemetry only. Lifetimes: Few weeks to 2 or 3 years.

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VE3NPC ANTENNA ARRAY