G[mloulnal - Quarter Century Wireless Association

y Keith Pugh, W5!U/VK6BRB, Vice president, Operations, AMSAT-NA,
3525 Winifred Dr., Ft. Worth, TX 761J3
Phase 3D/AO-40 Launch and lnitial Operations plus
Amateur Radio on the lnternational Space Station
INTRODUCTION .
Since the last issue of this column appeared in print, phase
3D has been placed in orbit and re-named AMSAIbSCAR 40
(AO-40). It has suffered a "rocky" start but is now on the road
to becoming a useful "Bird." Also, the International Space Station
has now seen its first long term crew, Expedition 1, come
and go. The Expedition 2 crew is now in place and activiry is
picking up. With these milestones accomplished, the Amaieur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project is
underway.
AMSAT OSCAR 40 -
Launch - After the completion of a long launch campaign,
Phase 3D was launched by an Ariane 5 launcher, along *ith
three other payloads, on November 16,2000. The launch was
a "textbook perfect" launch, on schedule, with the primary payload
separated first, two other secondary payloads rr.rt, "nj finally,
Phase 3D became AO-40 as it left the launch vehicle.
Live launch coverage was provided by Arianespace from Kourou,
French Guiana, via a TVRO satellite and via the Internet. The
Kourou Radio Club also provided launch coverage via their club
station on 20 meters. Vithin North Americar coverage was
provided via the AMSAT Launch Information Net Service
(ALINS). This author had the pleasure of coordinating the
ALINS for this launch. A brief description of this activiryis in
order.
The basis of the ALINS activity was a Teleconference Bridge
provided by Nick Pugh, K5QXJ, in Lafayette. LA. Without
Nick's generous donation of the Bridge, none of the following
would have been possible. First, Harold Reasoner, K5SXK,
provided the down link from the TVRO satellite in his living
room along with a connection into the Teleconference Bridge
and a feed to a wide area 2 meter repeater in Fort Worth, TX. I
provided the real rime commentary from the TVRO feed into
the Bridge from Harold's house. Other commenrarors on rhe
Bridge were: Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, President of AMSAI-
NA; Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSALNA Chairman of the Board;
Stacey Mills, W4SM, North American Command Station Operator;
Chuck Green, N0ADI, Second-in-Command of the
Launch Gam; Jim White, \7D0E, RUDAK Coordinator; and
Andy Mac Allister, W5ACM, AMSAI Board Member.
Outlets from the Bridge were: Goddard Space Flight Center
ARC,'WA3NAN, coverage on 3.860, 7.185, 14.295,21.350
MHz, and 2 merer coverage in the .Washington, D.C., area; Jet
Propulsion LaboratoryARC, \f6\,IO, .orr.i"ge on 7.188 MHz
10 QCWA fournal - Summer 2001
and 2 meter coverage in the Los Angeles area; Houston AMSAI
Net, W5ACM/KK5DO, ryRO feed to participating individuals
and repearers throughout North Ameiica and Houston, TX,
area coverage on 2 merers; Lanny Priddy, K5LB 3.840 MHz
transmission from Fort tVorth, TX; Art Serrano, KB5OAG,
14.282 MHz transmission from Corpus Chrisd, TX; and Dick
Raitt, WA5VKS, 7.179 MHz transmission from plano, TX.
ALINS coverage started about fifteen minutes before iaunch
and lasted until all payloads were safely separated and some of
the post launch celebration in Kouror., *", o,r.r. Total time was
about 1.5 hours. These ourlers provided coverage of most of
North America. There were a few isolated "holes'i in the coverage,
but overall it went very well.
Post Launch Activity - After the successful launch, all ears
were tuned to the 70 cm Middle Beacon frequency for first
reception reporrs. The beacon was scheduled to be activated
automatically about three hours after launch. Based on orbital
predictions, the Command Stations in Australia and New
Zealand would have "first shot" at hearing the signals. \W{hen
these stations did not hear the signals on ichedule, a new program
was uploaded ro acrivate the 2 meter Beacon. This command
worked and the anxious world was able to hear the familiar
400 baud PSK telemetry at last. This failure of the 70 cm
beacon was the first indication of any trouble on board AO-40.
The Command Stations immediately set about assessing
the "health and weifare" of our new "Bird." These first dap
saw an explosion in activity listening to and decoding rhe new
telemetry. New 400 baud PSK demodulators based on Sound
Card tchnology were invented and live telemetry was made
available via the Internet. The satellite's spin rate and attitude
were adjusted in preparation for the first "burn" of the 400
Newton kick motor. During this time, everything appeared to
be "Rosy." By 11 December, everything was ready foi the first
"burn."
The first indication of difficulties was failure to pressurize
the system with Helium on the firsr command. Subsequent
commands finally succeeded and the "burn" was accompliihed;
however, the motor failed to shut down ar the proper time. An
additional three minutes of "burn" produced an Apogee of
60,000 kilometers instead of the planned 50,000. Two days
later, 13 December, while investigating the "1ong burn," the 2
meter beacon went dead. This produced real concern about the
health of the new satellite. Initiaily, it was a waiting game while
pre-programmed timers and resers did their intended work.
Nothing happened and the concern grew The first positive
action occurred a few days before Chrisrmas when NORAD
succeeded in locating AO-40 with RADAR after being given