International Space Station ARISS SuitSat
project status
By Miles Mann WF1F
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment
ARISS to activate a new hand launched educational satellite project from
the International Space station. The new educational experiment is called
SuitSat.
The SuitSat project is onboard theInternational Space Station and is
being prepared for activation very soon. The SuitSat project has a tentative
activation date of February 2, 2006. The SuitSat activation will take
place during the ISS crew space walk. SuitSat will be a hand launched
by the ISS crew during the SpaceWalk.
ALL NOTE !!
Since we have just determined that the batteries in SuitSast may last
only a few days, suggest prepare now to receive the 1st transmissions
so as not to miss out on this Historical event !!!
What is SuitSat:
In short, the crew will toss an old spacesuit out the airlock and let
fly away as its own satellite. The Space Station crew have attached an
Amateur Radio beacon transmitter to the spacesuit. The SuitSat project
as it is called will broadcast telemetry and voice messages to earth for
as long as the batteries last. Anyone with a simple FM receiver or police
scanner should be able to hear the signals from SuitSat as it orbits around
the earth 15 times a day.
For more specific details on the SuitSat project, please review the AMSAT
and related links below.
Additional information on SuitSat at the AMSAT web pages.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/
ARISS SuitSat Details
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php
ARISS video on SuitSat September 2005
mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/SuitSat.wmv
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/Suitsat%20Rev%20D.pdf
SuitSat project Duration:
The Reason it is important for people to get ready to Monitor the SuitSat
project is because this is a short duration experiment. This is the first
version of this type of project, and it will be running on Batteries only.
The current expected life of the SuitSat project is approximately 2 to
6 days. If you delay in setting up your station you may miss out on this
educational Experiment.
Voice Telemetry:
The SuitSat project will be transmitting on 145.990 MHz FM and will consist
of:
Voice Telemetry, giving Mission Time, Suit Temperature and Battery Voltage
Voice Greeting messages in multiple languages
One SSTV image
The whole process will repeat every 9 minutes until the batteries discharge.
It is recommended that you have an audio recorder handy to record the
telemetry information. The ARISS team may be collecting some of the data
from individuals to help monitor the status of the project.
Schools and Science:
School systems with existing out side VHF antennas or the ability to set
up a temporary out side receive antenna are welcome to listen in and collect
telemetry data. The students will enjoy listening to the voice telemetry
and tracking the position of the unique satellite. They may even hear
one of the ISS crew talking to amateur radio stations on 145.800 MHz FM.
SuitSat Transmitter:
The SuitSat transmitter is a small hand held radio, similar to a WalkiTalki.
The Kenwood TH-K2 will transmit a 1 watt FM signal from SuitSat. The current
frequency for SuitSat is 145.990 FM Downlink only (There is no uplink
for this satellite). With a simple outside antenna and a simple VHF receiver
or police scanner, you should be able to hear SuitSat when the satellite
passes over your state.
ARISS is also planning on using the Kenwood D700 Transceiver on ISS to
Rebroadcast the SuitSat signal on 437.800 MHz FM. This will allow you
to hear SuitSat while ISS is in range of your station.
If you have already have been successful in working the Packet station
or talked to the ISS crew on 2-meter voice, than you already have most
of what you need.
SSTV (Slow Scan TV):
SSTV is a way Amateur Radio stations send JPG still images around the
world. We use an audio format we call SSTV. The SuitSat project will transmit
Telemetry, Pre-Recorded Voice messages and one SSTV image. The whole process
will repeat approximately every 9 minutes. (Robot 36 format).
What's left is to connect your computer to the speaker of your radio
and some SSTV decoding software, such as ChromaPix http://www.barberdsp.com/
or similar software.
Here are just two of the many Share-Ware SSTV applications on the market.
There may be many more.
W95SSTV by Silicon Pixels
http://www.barberdsp.com/w95sstv/w95dload.htm
MMSSTV
http://mmhamsoft.ham-radio.ch/
There are also many High quality pay software applications that offer
many more features, such as multiple windows that allow you to simultaneously
receive an image while preparing your next image that you want to transmit.
CPIX
http://www.barberdsp.com/
What is Slow Scan TV?
On this web page you will find many links to help you learn more about
Slow Scan TV
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
Tips on how to use ISS, SSTV, Packet and Voice
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
Location of Hardware on ISS
This link will show you images of some of the amateur radio hardware already
installed on ISS
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html
Marexmg Web page
http://www.marexmg.org
73 Miles WF1F
MAREX-MG
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