garym@crash.cts.com (Gary Morris) (11/29/90)
[I posted this on 11/16 and 11/26 but it apparantly never get outside
Houston. Sorry if you see this twice. --GaryM]
A new launch date has been set for STS-35, Sunday, December 2, 1990
at 0628 UTC. New keplerian elements have been generated and are
included below.
The shift timeline for the flight has been changed significantly. A
night landing has been approved. This allowed the work shifts to be
rescheduled for a 24 hour day instead of the previous 23 hour (approx)
day they were using. The 23 hour day was used so that the crew sleep
times were shifted away from the deorbit/landing time.
Below are summaries of various bulletins that have appeared about the
STS-35 SAREX flight. I've also included a timeline showing when the Ron
(WA4SIR) will be operating SAREX and when the SAREX packet robot will be
running.
--GaryM
STS-35 SAREX
Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment
Information Summary
Launch: December 2, 1990, 0628 UTC
Table of Contents
-----------------
o Keplerian Element Set
o Mission Audio Rebroadcast
o W5RRR Special Event Station
o W1AW Voice Bulletins
o AMSAT Net Operations
o JSC INFO BBS
o TNC Settings for SAREX
o NASA Select Video Broadcast
o SAREX Uplink/Downlink Frequencies
o SAREX Packet Operating Hints
o SAREX Operations Timeline
[Rev 901127. N5QWC]
============================================================
Keplerian Element Set
STS-35
1 00035U 90336.32152778 .00031000 00000-0 22174-3 0 66
2 00035 28.4690 359.2943 0005720 246.6067 119.6564 15.71792660 23
Satellite: STS-35
Epoch time: 90336.32152778
Element set: JSC-006
Inclination: 28.4690 deg Space Shuttle Flight STS-35
RA of node: 359.2943 deg Pre-launch flight profile
Eccentricity: .0005720 Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee: 246.6067 deg Launch: 2 DEC 90 06:28 UTC
Mean anomaly: 119.6564 deg
Mean motion: 15.71792660 rev/day W5RRR
Decay rate: 3.10E-04 rev/day^2 NASA Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev: 2
============================================================
Mission Audio Rebroadcast
The following stations will rebroadcast the mission audio from the
shuttle and ground controllers.
WA3NAN - Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland.
W5RRR - Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, Texas
W6VIO - Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California.
W6FXN - Los Angeles
K6MF - San Francisco
Station VHF 10m 15m 20m 40m 80m
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
WA3NAN 147.46 28.650 21.395 14.295 7.185 3.860
W5RRR 146.64
W6VIO 224.04 21.280 14.282 7.165 3.840
W6FXN 145.46
K6MF 145.58 7.165 3.840
============================================================
W5RRR Special Event Station
W5RRR - Johnson Space Center (JSC) ARC, Houston, TX. Special event
station with bulletins, updated element sets, and current flight
information will be making contacts and answering questions using SSB on
the HF bands. The frequencies are in the chart below. The special
event station will start operations on morning of the day after launch
(currently 1500 UCT 12/03/90) up thru the landing. W5RRR will also
rebroadcast the audio from the contacts between WA4SIR and schools.
Three of the 5 bands will be in use at any given time, with band
selection determined by propagation.
Station 10m 15m 20m 40m 80m
----- ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
W5RRR 28.400 21.350 14.280 7.227 3.850 (+/- QRM)
============================================================
W1AW Voice Bulletins
W1AW will be broadcasting daily bulletins with updated information on SAREX
during the flight. Voice bulletins are transmitted daily at 0130 UTC and
0430 UTC on the following frequencies:
Station 10m 15m 20m 40m 80m
----- ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
W1AW 28.590 21.390 14.290 7.290 3.990
============================================================
AMSAT Net Operations
Information will also be available from the AMSAT net, tune in for bulletins.
The net operates every week on:
Sunday 1800-2100 UCT (international) 14.282 Mhz USB
Tuesday 0130-0300 UCT (USA) 3.840 Mhz LSB
============================================================
JSC INFO BBS
The Public Affairs Office at the Johnson Space Center operates a BBS to
provide information to the public. Check this board for updates to the
keplerian element sets during the flight.
To access the BBS, call +1-713-483-2500 using 1200 baud, 8-N-1, at the
ENTER NUMBER: prompt, enter "62511" and you will be connected to the
BBS.
NASA JSC's Electronic Space Information BBS is intended to provide
24-hour access to biographies of NASA officials and astronauts, news
releases, space flight mission presskits and television schedules, space
shuttle systems information, flight manifests and schedules, and other
information about the space program.
============================================================
TNC Settings for SAREX
The packet call sign on board the shuttle is WA4SIR (SSID=0). Your TNC should
be in half-duplex mode (FULLDUP OFF) with CD active just like you do for
normal VHF packet operations. Your FRACK should be at least 3 seconds. If
everybody runs the same DWAIT then everybody will be transmitting at the same
time. When uplink QRM is heavy pick a DWAIT that nobody else is using. The
FUDtimer on the ROBOT is set for 3 seconds.
[condensed from ANS-230.05/06, originally compiled by W3IWI]
============================================================
NASA Select Video Broadcast
STS-35/ASTRO-1 Space Shuttle mission television programming will be
transmitted daily via the following satellite to accommodate the Alaska and
Hawaii audiences:
SPACENET 1
Transponder 17
120 degrees West Long
4040 MHz (Video)
6.8 MHz (Audio)
The continental United States will continue to receive NASA Select
television, 24 hours a day throughout the mission, via:
SATCOM F2R (C Band)
Transponder 13
72 degrees West Long
3960 MHz (Video)
6.8 MHZ (Audio)
[condensed from ANS-244.03 by N5QWC]
============================================================
SAREX Uplink/Downlink Frequencies
Downlink/Uplink Frequencies for Voice QSOs to be used on Upcoming Mission
Get out your HTs and HT programming manuals. You will want to program your 2
meter FM transceivers with the following information.
Shuttle Shuttle
TX Freq RX Freq
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
North/South 145.55 MHz 144.95 MHz *** Primary ***
American " 144.91 MHz
Frequencies " 144.97 MHz
Remainder 145.55 MHz 144.95 MHz *** Primary ***
of the World " 144.70 MHz
Frequencies " 144.75 MHz
" 144.80 MHz
" 144.85 MHz
These are the frequencies Ron Parise WA4SIR will use on both voice and
packet. Please note that the frequencies Ron will be listening for stations
ARE DIFFERENT than the one he will transmit on. This is a very important
fact to understand. Ron will transmit to earth (downlink) on a single
frequency: 145.55 MHz. He will listen for stations transmitting to him
(uplink) on the other frequencies listed. This "split" operation is used
quite successfully by DXers when operating in an environment where large pile
ups are expected.
The first pair of frequencies (noted as primary) is a standard -600 KHz split
used by repeaters. This was done so that communicating with SAREX could be
accomplished by Hams using standard FM transceivers. If Ron finds that the
receive QRM becomes unmanageable, he may listen on the alternate frequencies
listed. In North America, the lower section of the FM repeater bandplan
extends as high as 144.90. This is why the uplink frequencies only extend
down to 144.91 MHz.
There will be no simplex operation with SAREX on either voice or packet.
Although packeteers are not accustomed to operation with a TX/RX offset, in
this case, it is the only way to connect to SAREX. If you transmit on 145.55
MHz the only people who will hear you are those other Hams in your area
trying to contact SAREX (You will most likely become an instant celebrity,
but not necessarily in the positive sense of the word!).
There should be about 3 KHz of Doppler shift due to the orbital velocity of
the Columbia spacecraft. By limiting the deviation of your transmitter to 3
KHz, Ron's receiver should have little trouble capturing your signal.
[This information was extracted from an article written by W3IWI, WA4SIR, and
W3XO and published in the March 1990 issue of The AMSAT Journal]
============================================================
SAREX Packet Operating Hints
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 230.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 230.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 18, 1990
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
You learn very quickly when venturing into the world of Packet Radio that
unless you use the correct call sign when attempting to connect to another
packet station, you won't get too far. Such is the case with the packet
operation on SAREX. A number of publications reported earlier this year that
the SSID for the SAREX packet ROBOT would be = 1 (ie: WA4SIR-1). Tom Clark,
W3IWI, reports that both the HK21 ROBOT TNC and the operational software for
the GRID laptop computer have the calls defaulted to WA4SIR (SSID = 0) and
that call should be used unless, for some unanticipated reason, the defaults
are overridden. Tom continues, the best advice is for you to MONITOR the
downlink signals from STS-35 and use whatever call you see on the downlink.
The ROBOT TNC code uses only one SSID at a time.
Because the WA4SIR SAREX ROBOT will be bombarded with signals from tens or
hundreds of ground-based users when STS-35 is flying over populated areas, it
is not possible for the ROBOT TNC and radio to use normal half-duplex packet
procedures -- the CD (carrier detect) signal will simply never drop! The
ROBOT will be running in a modified full-duplex mode. When the ROBOT copies a
valid packet frame (or when it is time to send a beacon), the data to be sent
is put into a buffer and a timer (which is called the FUDtimer) is started.
The ROBOT firmware then queues all other outgoing transmissions in the buffer
until FUDtimer expires (3 seconds later), and all downlink frames in the queue
are sent in one long transmission. You may discover that the response time
while running in this mode is sluggish when compared to normal packet
operation.
Since the SAREX handheld radio cannot receive when it is transmitting, users
should insure that they remain silent and listen when the shuttle is
transmitting. In other words, DO NOT RUN FULL DUPLEX ON THE GROUND! Leave
your TNC in half-duplex mode (FULLDUP OFF) with CD active just like you do for
normal VHF packet operations.
You should be careful with the setting of two of your TNC's timers: DWAIT and
FRACK. DWAIT is the time interval after your Carrier Detect light goes out
and before your transmitter turns on. You want to make sure your connects
requests and ACKs are contained in the 3 second FUDtimer window. If everybody
runs the same DWAIT (like the typical 0.1 - 0.5 second values used for
terrestrial packet), then everybody will be transmitting at the same time.
Part of the key to your success when uplink QRM is heavy is to pick a DWAIT
that nobody else is using! (sort of like picking a lottery number!)
FRACK sets the time interval between your transmissions. After you send a
frame, your TNC waits for the FRACK time, and then waits for the Carrier
Detect signal to drop, then waits DWAIT, and then tries again. You should
make sure your FRACK is at least 3 seconds so that you are not transmitting
when the ROBOT's FUDtimer decides it is time for it to transmit -- if you are
transmitting at the same time, you will miss any packets the shuttle is
addressing to you and you won't have a successful QSO.
Note that your DWAIT (how soon do I transmit?) and FRACK (then how long do I
wait?) parameters and the need to stop transmitting so you can hear a reply
are just like you encounter when working a DXpedition pileup on HF. If the DX
station has a pattern of listening for a few seconds (=FUDtimer) before
transmitting, you may have better luck being the LAST station they hear, after
the din dies down. The differences are that (1) the ROBOT is a computer and
is very predictable and (2) the ROBOT can be working several stations at one
time.
[ANS thanks W3IWI for compiling the information for this bulletin]
============================================================
SAREX Operations Timeline
Summarized from flight timeline data file dated 11/26/90 10:54
MET
D Hr Mh Event
- -- -- --------------------------
0 20 00 Start SAREX
0 20 30 Activate robot
1 09 30 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
1 11 00 SAREX off
1 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
1 20 30 Activate robot
2 08 55 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
2 11 00 SAREX off
2 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
2 20 30 Activate robot
3 08 45 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
3 11 00 SAREX off
3 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
3 20 30 Activate robot
4 09 00 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
4 11 00 SAREX off
4 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
4 20 30 Activate robot
5 08 45 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
5 11 00 SAREX off
5 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
5 20 30 Activate robot
6 08 55 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
6 11 00 SAREX off
6 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
6 20 30 Activate robot
7 08 45 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
7 11 00 SAREX off
7 19 00 Start SAREX crew tended
7 20 29 Activate robot
8 08 15 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
8 10 00 Power down SAREX, stow
Extended duration option
8 18 30 Start SAREX crew tended
8 20 00 Activate robot
9 07 45 Deactivate robot, start crew tended
9 08 30 SAREX off
9 09 00 Power down SAREX, stow
============================================================
--
Gary A. Morris Internet: lobster!lescsse!gmorris@menudo.uh.edu
Lockheed (LESC), A22 UUCP: limbic!lobster!avocado!garym (home)
Houston, Texas SPAN: 24810::"gmorris@nasamail"
SSE System Project NASAMail: gmorris/jsc/nasa
Space Station Freedom Internet: gmorris@nasamail.nasa.gov
N5QWC/W5RRR - PP/ASEL Phone: +1-713-283-5195 (daytime)