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www.southgatearc.org
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AO-51 updateAMSAT-NA VP Operations Drew KO4MA provides an update on the Amateur Radio satellite AO-51. On the AMSAT bulletin board he writes: AO-51 has now reentered a period of eclipses that will reach almost 20 minutes by July. Since we've been in an extended period of continuous illumination and very warm spacecraft temperatures, the next few weeks will be spent determining what the batteries capacities are now. Currently we are running 1.01 watt on 435.300 only, with the new PL mode on. For this summer eclipse season, we are fortunate that the eclipsed periods are while AO-51 is over mostly unoccupied Antarctica and surrounding areas. This means when the batteries alone are supporting the transmitter, there are not likely to be any users. We have a downlink power management routine that we'll be implementing over the next week or so. Downlink power may range from 2 watts in illumination, to maybe as low as 300 milliwatts in eclipse. Using this, combined with the PL, should mean we can protect the batteries from over-discharge, while still providing the strongest possible downlink. I'd like to encourage everyone to use the excellent reporting resource at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ . I check this page at least 4 times a day to check the status of AO-51. If the eclipse periods get too long faster than we can adjust, the repeater may shut off due to a low battery voltage watchdog. If this happens, please email me directly at ko4ma<at>amsat.org, or for those that have my cell phone number already, please feel free to text me a warning that the satellite repeater is off. Additionally, the AO51-modes group would like your input on the desired Field Day mode. We will likely be limited to one transmitter operation. With AO-27, SO-50, and possibly SO-67 and HO-68 on V/U FM, S band or L/U operation is looking very promising to provide some variety.
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations
AO-51 page with real time tracking Satellite Pass Predictions AMSAT Bulletin Board AMSAT-BB Getting started on Amateur Radio Satellites PDF
AMSAT-UK publish a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, that is full of Amateur Satellite information.
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