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HAMSATS
Number 10 on your Feedback
Amateur Radio Via Satellite
Andy MacAllisler WA5ZIB
14714 Knigh/sway Drive
Houslan TX 77083
SAREX Activity on 5T5-45
The stome Amateur Radio Experi·
ment (5AREX) activity on 515·45
lived up to its billing as a more informal
operation with time for unscheduled
2 meter contacts with hams on
earth. Most of the activity during the
early days of the mission was dominated
by school contacts, but alter
successfully completing many screeuled
osoe. the las\ days provided
many with a chance for an inlormal
quick contact.
The shuttle AI/antis was used lor
the ATLAS-1 (Atmospheric Laboratory
and Applied Sciences) mission. Four
of the seven astronauts of 818·45
were hams. The most heard cal lsign
was that of mission specialist Dave
leestma N5WOC. Kathy Sullivan
N5YVV was quite active with ham ectivity
toward the end 01 the f1ighl using
Dave's call on a downlink of 145.55
MHz. Pilot Brian Duffy N5WOW and
payload specia list Dirk Frimout
ON1AFD were also monitored on 2
meters. When making private or
school contacts on unpublished downlink
frequencies, the astronaut-hams
used their own calls , but primarily employed
Dave's on 145.55 MHz. Future
missions will use me call W5RRR/S to
avoid callsign usage questions.
csts lor STS-45 receplion reports
or contacts shouk! be sent to the sterling
Park Amateur Radio cruo. P. O.
Box 599, Sterling VA 22170. incicoe a
business-size envelope (or larger) with
your OSlo Be sure to note the date,
lime and signal report on the card.
Write on the ootsoe 01 you r envelope
"STS-45 OSL z-way lor OSC cconrmalion
or "STS-45 SWL" lor signal report
conrsmaron.
The Poor Man's Satellite
Amateur television activity via balloon
has been featured several times
in the "ATV" column and other articles
in 73. Although balloons are a great
way 10 gel television signals out to
more observers , they also provide an
opportunity to try telemetry systems
and communication experiments.
OSCAR-1 wen t into emu over 30
years ago. It sent the message "HI" in
Morse code at a speed related 10 the
temperature of the on-board electronics
using a 140 mW 145 MHz transmitter
and a non-rechargeable battery.
It lasted for a lew weeks until its reen-
" Using the idea 01 OSCAR·1 as a
gukle and inspiration, the South Texas
Balloon Launch Team sent a ham radio
package to over 100,000 feet in
late 1990, The FM trensrnttter was
crystal controlled, wilh 100 mW output
on 2 meters. A
simple CW message
generator
with an analog
signal mutiplexer
sent tones representing
the out- >,
side temperature
and atmospheric
pressure along
with an identifying
call sign. The
speed of the
code could be
measured to determine
the inside
tempera"
tore. After an exciting
chase,
BLT- 1 was retrieved
Texasstyle
by shooting
it out 01 a tre e
northwest of
Ho us to n. lis
components
were carefully
checked and
saved for future
WB5HLZ-6">BLT-6:
Pressure» +07.2 11 in.Hg Inside Temp.= +070 F Outside 'terre. ·030 F
WB5HLZ-6'>BLT·6:
1183.2 1711.6 2572.5 6676.8
N5SHL>WB5HLZ-6'>WA5ZIB·lIC]
WA5ZIB-1'>WB5HLZ-6>N5SHL (UA)
N5SHl>WB5HLZ-6'>CO:
Henry at Austin, TX on 04·Apr·92 11:42 CST
WD5GAZ'>WBSHLZ-6>WALTER:
hi from walter in houston..
WBSHLZ-6'>BLT'6:
Pressure» +06.685 in.Hg Inside Temp.e +067 F Outside Temp. -037 F
WBSHLZ-6'>BLT-6:
1165.7 1727.7 2611.1 6699.2
WB5HLZ-6">8LT-6:
To The Edge ot Space.
KG50A>WB5HLZ-6">N5SHL:
This is Doug From Fort Worth
N5DDN>WB5HLZ-6">BUDDY
Tasting, Tasting, 1,2,3..."Buddy·...Shreveport, LA
Figure. Sample of the April 4, 1992 BLT·6 packet outpul as receivea by Tom
K5SAF in West Houston.
Photo A. The South Texas Balloon Launch Team (BL1) prepares to simultaneously
launch two separate balioon payloads, BLT-S and BLT-6. Photo by NSLCO.
Photo B. Mike Scarcella WA5TWT
ooids BLT-6 just pror to takeoff. BLT-6
contained a packet digipeater and
tetemetry system operating on
144.290 MHz. Also carried aloft were
a series of CW beacons on 188.05
kHz, 28.437 MHz and 10.485 GHz.
missions.
Since that first balloon launch the
group has focused on ATV from the
edge of space. Telemetry became a
secondary issue until April 4, 1992,
when BLT-6 went up.
The group of the Houston-area oarloon
team grew in both size and ideas.
After more launches involving video
and packel digipeater efforts in 1991 ,
it was apparent that there were more
interesting experiments than room and
weight constraints would allow for future
endeavors. The team decided to
build two separate packages for a slmultaneous
two-bancon launch. One
payload would be focused on video etforts
while the oth er wou ld include
beacons, telemetry and commenceuore.
BLT-5 carried a color vidicon tube
connected to a 1.5-watt PC Electronics
ATV transrmtter on 439.25 MHz.
The antenna was a small helix aimed
down. An automatic video sw itcher
and 10 screen from Elktronics were
added along with a digital voice storage
system and raco-coreoneo camera
aiming system. Payload master for
BLT-5 was Tony Summerville N5RPQ.
BLT-6 carried an array of ceeccos. a
telemetry system, a 35mm camera. a
Photo C. Mike WA5TWT makes a final
adjustmenl fa the BLT-5 payload. This
system carried a color vidicon TV camera,
a video identifier along with a digilal
voice ID on the TV subcarrier and a
28.322 CW beacon. The camera view
could be changed via a RIC pointing
mechanism. A 2·/um helix (soown below
the main package) was used for
Ihe 70cm ATV downlink.
46 73 Amafeur Radio Today· June, 1992