AMSAT OSCAR-E AO-51

AMSAT OSCAR E

AMSAT OSCAR-E wurde am 28.06.2004 erfolgreich mit einer Dnepr-1 Rakete vom Baikonour Kosmodrome in Kasachstan gestartet. Der erste Konakt fand um 1452UTC statt und es wurden erste wichtige Telemetriedaten gesendet. Die Batterien waren voll geladen und die Solarpaneele lieferten genügend Strom. In den nächsten Tagen wurde die Software geladen und die Telemetrie zeigte gute Werte an.

Der 25 cm große Würfel wiegt etwa 10kg. AO-51 besitzt 4 VHF Empfänger und 2 UHF-Sender, einen Multi-Mode Receiver und einen 2,4 GHz Sender. Er umkreist die Erde auf einem 850km hohen, sonnensyncronen Orbit. Die Inklination beträgt 98,2°.

Status

INACTIVE

Orbital Parameter

NORAD                   28375
COSPAR designator       2004-025-K  
Inclination             98.123
RA of A. Node           331.916
Eccentricity            0.0082823
Argument of Perigee     197.864
Revs per day            14.40878614
Period                  1h 39m 56s (99.93 min)
Semi-major axis         7 134 km
Perigee x Apogee        697 x 815 km
BStar (drag term)       0.000114550 1/ER
Mean anomaly            161.955

Downlink

435,225 MHz FM analog Voice
435.150 MHz FSK 9600 bps, AX.25 (TX A)
435.300 MHz FSK 9600 bps, AX.25 (TX B)
Uplink145.920 MHz FM + 67 Hz PL145.860 MHz FSK 9600 bps, AX.25CallBroadcast callsign PECHO-11BBS callsign PECHO-12AO-51 Uplink SSB/Downlink FM, 10.11.2005, 2112 UTC

End of Mission

It is with a heavy heart I report that AO-51 has ceased transmission and is not responding to commands. The last telemetry data indicated that the third of six batteries was approaching failure to short, and observations indicate the voltage from three cells is insufficient to power the UHF transmitters. The IHU may continue to be operative. Initial tests with the S band transmitter were also not positive, although more attempts are in order. We have tried leaving the satellite in an expected state where if voltages climb high enough, the 435.150 transmitter may possibly be heard.
The command team will regularly attempt communications with the satellite over the coming months (and years). There is always the possibility that a cell will open and we could once again talk to our friend while illuminated. Thanks to all who helped fund, design, build, launch, command, and operate AO-51. It’s 7 year mission has been extraordinary. Please support AMSAT’s Fox-1 project, and other AMSAT projects worldwide with your time and money.
It’s not so much a problem of not enough illumination, but more that we are running on 3 or 3.5 cells, and we need ~4 to make the transmitters work. There may be some points during the orbit when the V gets high enough for the transmitter to come on at low power, but that is conjecture only. We don’t know when or really even if that will happen.
If a cell opens up in the future, the IHU will immediately crash upon eclipse, and the battery voltage -may- rise to whatever the panels can provide. If this happens we may be able to restart the IHU and get a transmitter running, but it will only last until the next eclipse.
For the AO-51 Command Team,
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

> fm PACB-1 to AMSATN-1 ctl UI pid F0
>  12 Mar...New BBS call is PECHO...Change your setup to PECHO-11
>  and PECHO-12....BBS ON...FM Repeater ON...KE4AZN
> fm PACB-1 to LSTAT ctl UI pid F0
> I P:0x13A8 o:0 l:29696 f:29752, d:0 st:5 e:01
> 
> fm PACB-1 to TIME-1 ctl UI pid F0
> PHT: uptime is 008/22:04:57.  Time is Sun Mar 20 00:53:52 2005

Historie

Am 30.07.204, 0215UTC wurde der FM-Repater für eine 3-wöchige Testphase eingeschaltet. Die Leistung beträgt etwa 1W.
Uplink: 145.92 MHz mit 67HZ PL, Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM (TX B)imgAO-51 während der Testphase, FM Repeater eingeschaltet, 30.07.2004, 1100 UTC

imgAO-51 während der Testphase, FM Repeater eingeschaltet, 31.07.2004, 2140 UTC

Wer sich diese kurzen Mitschnitte einmal anhört, wird schnell feststellen, dass es schon schwierig ist, ein komplettes QSO zustande zu bringen. Beim Arbeiten über FM Satelliten gibt es gewisse Grundregeln, an die sich aber leider nur wenige halten. Die Geräuschkulisse ist sehr vielseitig, vom einfachen „Mitdrücken“ bis zum „Ola, Ola“… Ein „Einpfeifen“ ist auf den FM-Sats nicht notwenig! Es kann nur EINER über den Transponder arbeiten – und viele Leistung hilft hier nicht viel – Mit zuviel Leistung wird der Transponder zugestopft und niemand hat eine Chance mehr.

Ich weiß auch nicht, warum gerade auf den FM-Sats so wenig Disziplin herrscht. Es macht keinen Spaß. Das Ganze hat mit UO-14 angefangen und geht nun weiter. Auf der einen Seite ist es sehr positiv, dass auch OM’s mit kleiner Ausrüstung in der Lage sind, über diesen Repeater zu arbeiten – das ist aber nur die Theorie…

Wichtig ist ZUHÖREN – Geduld üben. Wenn ein QSO läuft – abwarten. Dann kann man sich schon mal den Locator notieren und braucht dann vielleicht nicht noch einmal nachfragen!
Es gibt (es gab bei UO-14 besonders viele…) Durchgänge, wo ich nur zuhöre, den Daumen am Mikrofon – aber dann nur den Kopf schüttle und nicht zu einem einzigen Anruf komme. Dann hat es eben nicht geklappt und ich muss wieder 100 Minuten warten, aber dann warte ich eben. So hatte vielleicht doch die eine oder andere Station das QSO ohne große Störungen zu beenden.

Einige wichtige Grundregeln für den Betrieb über FM-Transponder

  • Leistung auf ein Minimum reduzieren – wenn der Transponder zugestopft wird, nützt das niemanden
  • erst hören, nicht in laufende QSO’s rufen sondern abwarten
  • Pfeifen, Klopfen, „Ola, Ola“ usw. ist überflüssig – auf einem FM Transponder braucht man sich nicht einpfeifen
  • kurz fassen und QSO’s auf das Wesentliche beschränken (RST, QTH-Loc und evtl. Name reichen)
  • Disziplin üben, sich auch mit einem QSO pro Durchgang zufrieden geben – in den kostbaren max. 14 Minuten will jeder ein QSO fahren

img… abschreckendes, aber leider reales Beispiel, 07.08.2004, 1310 UTC über Europa

Informationen zum Betrieb über FM Satelliten


Telemetrie

Channel 0 - TX A Power:  UHF Transmitter A Output Power level.
Channel 1 - TX B Power:  UHF Transmitter B Output Power level.  
Channel 2 - Torque Rod Capacitor Voltage:  Voltage of the main capacitor in the torque
            rod subsystem. Note:  The battery voltages are for the group of 
            battery cells indicated.  Values can be subtracted to get the voltage of 
            an individual cell.
Channel 3 -  Battery Voltage:  Voltage of the entire string of 6 battery cells.
Channel 4 -  Cell 5 Voltage:  Voltage of the first 5 battery cells.
Channel 5 -  Cell 4 Voltage:  Voltage of the first 4 battery cells.
Channel 6 -  Cell 3 Voltage:  Voltage of the first 3 battery cells.
Channel 7 -  Cell 2 Voltage:  Voltage of the first 2 battery cells.
Channel 8 -  Cell 1 Voltage:  Voltage of the first battery cell.
Channel 9 -  4.6 Volt Experiment Current:  Current reading on the 4.6 volt buss.  
Channel 10 - 4.6 Volt Experiment Voltage:  Voltage reading on the 4.6 volt buss.  
Channel 11 - 3.3 Volt Buss Current:  Current reading on the 3.3 volt buss.  
Channel 12 - 3.3 Volt Buss Voltage:  Voltage reading on the 3.3 volt buss.  
Channel 13 - Solar Array Current:  Total current output of the Solar Panel array subsystem 
             used by the BCR.            
Channel 14 - Solar Array Voltage:  Total voltage output of the Solar Panel array subsystem.
Channel 15 - +X Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the +X Solar Panel.
Channel 16 - -X Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the -X Solar Panel.
Channel 17 - +Y Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the +Y Solar Panel.
Channel 18 - -Y Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the -Y Solar Panel.
Channel 19 - +Z Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the +Z Solar Panel.
Channel 20 - - Z Solar Panel Current:  Individual current reading from the -Z Solar Panel.
Channel 21 - +X Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the +X Solar Panel.
Channel 22 - -X Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the -X Solar Panel.
Channel 23 - +Y Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the +Y Solar Panel.
Channel 24 - -Y Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the -Y Solar Panel.
Channel 25 - +Z Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the +Z Solar Panel.
Channel 26 - -Z Solar Panel Voltage:  Individual voltage reading from the -Z Solar Panel.
Channel 27 - Low Voltage Current:  Current for the SQRX receiver.
Channel 28 - Battery Output Current:  Current output rate of the battery chain.
Channel 29 - Transmitter Current:  Current drawn for all Transmitters combined.
Channel 30 - Battery Sign:  Battery current position or negative sign.
Channel 31 - SQRX RSSI:  The SQRX receiver's received signal strength.
Channel 32 - SQRX Speaker:  Audio voltage of SQRX receiver.
Channel 33 - Torque 1.2 Volt Reference:  Control voltage in the torque rod subsystem.
Channel 34 - Torque Rod Magnetism Sense:  Amount of magnetism in the torque rod.
Channel 35 - Integrated Flight Computer CPU Temperature:  Temperature of the Integrated 
             Flight Computer CPU chip, 
             located in the Integrated Flight Computer module.
Channel 36 - S Band Temperature:  Temperature of the S Band Oscillator/Exciter module. 
Channel 37 - UHF Transmitter B Temperature:  Sensor located on the heatsink next to the
             amplifier transistor in the UHF B transmitter housing. Transmitter housing is 
             located in the Transmitter Module, top module of the satellite stack.
Channel 38 - Receiver Tray Temperature:
Channel 39 - S Band Driver Temperature:
Channel 40 - +Z Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 41 - -Z Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 42 - +Y Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 43 - -Y Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 44 - +X Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 45 - -X Solar Panel Temperature:
Channel 46 - Battery #1 Temperature:
Channel 47 - Battery #2 Temperature:
Channel 48 - Main Regulator Temperature:  Voltage regulator for the main power buss located 
             in the BCR module.
Channel 49 - TX Voltage Regulator Temperature:  Voltage regulator located on the BCR module for 
             power feed to Transmitters. Units are volts.
Channel 50 - +4V Buss, Voltage Point #1:  TBD
Channel 51 - +4V Buss, Voltage Point #2:  TBD
Channel 52 - PHT Time:  How often the Data broadcast messages are sent on the digital downlink. 
             Time in seconds.
Channel 53 - Digipeater Status:  1=Digipeater On, 0= Digipeater Off
Channel 54 - Transmit Broadcast Ratio:  How often the broadcast message is sent on the digital 
             downlink. This is an integer multiplier of the PHT time.  
             Therefore, if PHT time is set to 10, and Broadcast Ratio to 6, the text will be 
             broadcast every 60 seconds.
Channel 55 - Battery Management:  The channel will have a value from 0 to 3 to indicate the 
             state of the satellite's battery management software. At preset trip points of
             the battery voltage, various systems on the satellite will be shut down.  
             A value of 0 will indicate no trip point has been reached.  
             A 1 will indicate the first trip point has been reached and the S band PA and Excite
     will be powered down.  
             A 2 will indicate the 2nd trip point and UHF TXB will be powered down in addition 
                 to level 1.  
             A 3 will indicate the 3rd trip point and UHF TXA power level will be reduced at a 
                 minimum value.  
             At a voltage level below the last trip point the BCR will power cycle everything on 
             the satellite.
Channel 56 - WOD State:  Indicates the state of the WOD data collection system.  
             A value of 0 indicates that WOD is Off.  
             A 1 indicates that WOD is starting.  
             A 2 indicates that WOD is currently running and collecting data.  
             A 3 indicates that the WOD data collection is complete and stopped.
Channel 57 - EDAC Error:  Count of the number of EDAC errors in Main Memory.
Channel 58 - Reserved:  For future use.
Channel 59 - Reserved:  For future use.
Channel 60 - Reserved:  For future use.
Channel 61 - Reserved:  For future use.
Channel 62 - Reserved:  For future use.

empfangene Telemetrie

PACB-1>TIME-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:29 2004
PHT: uptime is 000/03:00:10.  Time is Tue Jun 29 22:10:56 2004
PACB-1>TIME-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:39 2004
PHT: uptime is 000/03:00:20.  Time is Tue Jun 29 22:11:06 2004
PACB-1>TLMI-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:40 2004
PACB-1>TLMS-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:40 2004
C0:05 C1:44 C2:76 C3:27 C4:04
PACB-1>BCR-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:40 2004
BCR: batv=1368 bati=146 batsense=48 battop=1368 batlow=0 batt1=593
batt2=1175 sav=974 sai=570
PACB-1>LSTAT-0 Wed Jun 30 06:12:40 2004
A: 0x13A8, P:0x3000, o:0 l:40714 f:40714 d:0 st:2 e:00 rx0:416 rx2:0
PACB-1>TIME-1 Wed Jun 30 06:12:49 2004
PHT: uptime is 000/03:00:30.  Time is Tue Jun 29 22:11:16 2004
PACB-1>TLMI-1 Wed Jun 30 06:13:00 2004
PACB-1>TLMS-1 Wed Jun 30 06:13:00 2004
C0:05 C1:44 C2:76 C3:27 C4:04
PACB-1>BCR-1 Wed Jun 30 06:13:00 2004
BCR: batv=1351 bati=144 batsense=48 battop=1351 batlow=0 batt1=584
batt2=1162 sav=974 sai=498
PACB-1>LSTAT-0 Wed Jun 30 06:13:00
 2004
A: 0x13A8, P:0x3000, o:0 l:40714 f:40714 d:0 st:2 e:00 rx0:416 rx2:0
PACB-1>LSTAT-0 Wed Jun 30 06:13:10 2004
A: 0x13A8, P:0x3000, o:0 l:40714 f:40714 d:0 st:2 e:00 rx0:416 rx2:0
PACB-1>BCR-1 Wed Jun 30 06:13:20 2004
BCR: batv=1363 bati=85 batsense=48 battop=1363 batlow=0 batt1=589 batt2=1169
sav=973 sai=453

BCR Telemetry Format

The BCR telemetry frame contains information about the battery system. These are the same raw values as in the TLMI frame for the specific channel. The satellite will send these frames even when TLMI frames are turned off. Therefore, the critical battery information may be monitored at all times. The frame is sent with the callsign ‚BCR-1‘ and has the following format.

BCR-1:  :BCR: batv=aaa bati=bbb batsense=ccc battop=ddd batlow=eee batt1=fff 
              batt2=ggg sav=hhh sai=iii
batv:     Channel 3
bati:     Channel 28
batsense: Channel 30
battop:   Highest battery voltage observed since the Satellite software was loaded.  
          Description and decoding same as Channel 3.
batlow:   Lowest battery voltage observed since the Satellite software was loaded.  
          Description and decoding same as Channel 3.
batt1:    Channel 46
batt2:    Channel 47
sav:      Channel 14
sai:      Channel 13

The values shown by the letters a thru i, will represent the raw telemetry channel value. The correct engineering coefficients will have to be applied to get a calibrated value. The labels represent the following telemetry channels, except for battop and batlow, which are special values calculated by the Echo control software onboard the satellite. Please see the Telemetry Channel Descriptions for details on each channel.

fm PACB-1 to BCR-1 ctl UI pid F0
BCR: batv=1250 bati=149 batsense=53 battop=1250 batlow=1250 batt1=541 batt2=1077 sav=1241 sai=547
.
fm PACB-1 to AMSATN-1 ctl UI pid F0
July 7, 2004.    PLEASE DO NOT TRANSMIT TO ECHO...Echo is not yet open for general use...
                 Echo is now AO-51..WD0E & KE4AZN
fm PACB-1 to LSTAT ctl UI pid F0
I P:0x4CA0 o:0 l:26135 f:29544, d:0 st:0 e:01
fm PACB-1 to TIME-1 ctl UI pid F0
PHT: uptime is 004/17:22:42.  Time is Wed Jul 07 20:52:06 2004
 
fm PACB-1 to TLMS-1 ctl UI pid F0
C0:0D C1:44 C2:76 C3:27 C4:04
fm PACBLS-1 to PACBLS-8 ctl I70! pid 50
ACBLS S Meter = 55
fm PACB-11 to PBLIST ctl UI pid F0
PB: Empty.

empfangene Daten vom 07.07.2004, 2050 UTC

ctrl: 3 {UI}  PID: F0 {No L3}  Total Frame Bytes: 194
from PACB-1 to TLMI-1 :  
   1 > 16 63 EC 40 00 72 02 01 00 00 02 FF 0F 03 E5 04 04 F3 04 05 
  21 > F3 04 06 F5 04 07 37 04 08 1C 02 09 E6 03 0D 0A 5D 07 0B 2A 
  41 > 00 0C 58 05 0D E2 01 0E D9 04 0F 09 00 10 46 02 48 00 12 52 
  61 > 00 D1 00 14 2C 02 15 CA 01 16 E9 04 17 E9 04 18 C3 04 19 BE 
  81 > 03 1A E8 04 1B 6E 00 1C 55 00 1D E8 00 1E 34 00 1F 19 01 20 
 101 > 6F 00 21 FF 0F 22 00 00 23 FA 07 24 12 06 25 FF 07 26 FF 07 
 121 > 27 20 06 28 C4 06 29 FF 07 2A 52 06 2B FB 05 2C 20 06 2D 3B 
 141 > 06 2E C1 05 2F 1A 06 30 45 05 31 BF 05 32 75 06 33 73 06 34 
 161 > 0D 0A 00 35 00 00 36 01 00 37 00 00 38 00 00 39 7A 00 

dekodierter Telemetrieframe (HexWerte der Channels)

ECHO Experimenter’s Day Operation

Mittwochs 0000 UTC – 2359 UTC

11.05.2005 : Uplink 145.800 MHz USB -> Downlink 435.300 MHz FM

img 7 Minuten Downlink (FM) am 11.05.2005, 1925 UTC über Europa

Bei diesem (etwas ungewöhnlichem) Mode werden alle Signale aus dem Uplink in den FM-Kanal umgesetzt. Wenn eine Station in der Uplink-Frequenz daneben liegt, merkt man dies an der Tonhöhe. Der Uplink muss somit nachgeregelt und korrigiert werden. Es ist ein nettes Experiment, aber für den europäischen Bereich sicher nicht praktikabeler als ein FM-FM Transponder. Den oben angesprochenene Punkt zur Disziplin über FM Transponder will ich hier nicht noch einmal wiederholen.

Other experimental modes
  • FM voice Mode V/U, L/S and HF/U
  • Mode V/S, L/U, HF/S are also possible
  • Digital Store and Forward using 9.6 kbps, 38.4 kbps, 57.6 kbps or 76.8 kbps
  • PSK 31 Uplink on 10M SSB and downlink UHF FM
  • SQRX receiver retransmissions on UHF
  • Multi-band, multi-mode (10 MHz -1.3 GHz)
  • APRS transmissions – ground systems can receive 20 characters status messages
  • Experimental Torquer Rod

Homepage und weitere Info’s

http://web.infoave.net/~mkmk518/echo.htmhttp://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/echo/