[AReU] AO40 at the TARC/BARS picnic.

w4tas [email protected]
Sun, 2 Mar 2003 12:48:42 -0500


Here is the latest AO40 schedule for the transponder schedule for March,
2003.

From: Stacey E. Mills <[email protected]>
To: Amsat Bulletin Board <[email protected]>
Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-40 Update, 2003-03-02
Date: Sunday, March 02, 2003 12:16 PM


We are continuing to move ALON forward to keep the solar angle within
range.  The current ALON / ALAT = 15/0 (nominal), and we are slowly moving
to ALON =20, but this will take about 6 more orbits.  To compensate for the
change in squint the K-window has been moved.  Further passband shifts will
come when we reach ALON=20.


N  QST AMSAT AO-40          SCHEDULE                2003-03-02
      MA      010   050   180   182   190   230   244   010
      ---------7-----1-----3-----6-----4-----5-----0-----7
      S2/K-Tx  |  S  |  S  | S/K | S/K |  S  |  S  |  S  |
      MB       |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |
      RUDAK    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
      V/U-Rx   |  U  |  U  |  U  |  U  |  U  |  U  |  V  |
      Uplink   |     | UL  |     | UL  | UL  |     |     |


Here is a provisional schedule of things to come:

We will continue slowly moving ALON forward toward 45 degrees during the
month of March.  In early April we will begin raising ALAT toward 20 degs.
By mid-April we should be at ~ ALON/ALAT = 45/20.
Passband activities will be turned off at that time.  We will drift for
approximately one month, arriving at ALON/ALAT = 315/20 in mid-May.  We
will then lower ALAT to 0, restart passband activities (shifted to the
early part of the orbit), and begin moving back toward ALON = 0, chasing
the sun at the rate of about 1 deg/day.  We should return to ALON/ALAT =
0/0 about June 20th.  We can stay at ALON/ALAT = 0/0 until early October,
when the cycle starts over.  Thus, expect the passbands to be off from
about mid-April to mid-May, but active at varying phases of the orbit, the
rest of the time.  We should be in good position for field day, just
getting back to 0/0.

--W4SM for the AO-40 Command Team




--
  _______________________________________________________________________
  Stacey E. Mills, W4SM    WWW:    http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/ham1.html
   Charlottesville, VA     PGP key: http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/key
  _______________________________________________________________________

----
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PERSONAL COMMENTS FROM W4TAS

Just for giggles, I will estimate the numbers to be 30/15 for March 22,
2003.
This will produce tracking data as represented below for the picnic. If
anyone
comes up with anything different please let me know.

                               51. AO-40
EST Date  Time Azim/Elev  Range    Lat  Long Doppler Phs/M  Offp
22Mar2003 0915  107/  12  53691     5S   16W   -8418  69    43.0
22Mar2003 0926  108/  14  54342     5S   18W   -7896  72    42.3
22Mar2003 0937  109/  15  54951     5S   20W   -7393  74    41.7
22Mar2003 0948  110/  17  55520     5S   22W   -6907  77    41.0
22Mar2003 0959  111/  19  56053     5S   24W   -6474  79    40.4
22Mar2003 1010  112/  21  56547     5S   26W   -5984  81    39.8
22Mar2003 1021  113/  23  57003     5S   28W   -5545  84    39.2
22Mar2003 1032  114/  24  57425     5S   30W   -5119  86    38.6
22Mar2003 1043  116/  26  57813     5S   32W   -4707  89    38.1
22Mar2003 1054  117/  28  58168     5S   34W   -4306  91    37.6
22Mar2003 1105  118/  30  58490     5S   36W   -3916  94    37.0
22Mar2003 1116  120/  31  58782     4S   38W   -3537  96    36.5
22Mar2003 1127  122/  33  59043     4S   40W   -3167  99    36.0
22Mar2003 1138  123/  35  59274     4S   42W   -2807 101    35.5
22Mar2003 1149  125/  37  59476     4S   44W   -2455 104    35.1
22Mar2003 1200  127/  38  59650     4S   46W   -2110 106    34.6
22Mar2003 1211  129/  40  59796     4S   48W   -1773 108    34.1
22Mar2003 1222  131/  42  59915     4S   50W   -1443 111    33.7
22Mar2003 1233  133/  43  60007     4S   53W   -1118 113    33.2
22Mar2003 1244  136/  45  60073     4S   55W    -799 116    32.8
22Mar2003 1255  138/  46  60113     4S   57W    -485 118    32.4
22Mar2003 1306  141/  47  60127     4S   59W    -174 121    31.9
                               51. AO-40
EST Date  Time Azim/Elev  Range    Lat  Long Doppler Phs/M  Offp
22Mar2003 1317  143/  49  60117     4S   61W    +132 123    31.5
22Mar2003 1328  146/  50  60081     3S   63W    +436 126    31.1
22Mar2003 1339  149/  51  60020     3S   65W    +737 128    30.7
22Mar2003 1350  153/  52  59935     3S   67W   +1036 131    30.3
22Mar2003 1401  156/  53  59825     3S   69W   +1334 133    29.9
22Mar2003 1412  160/  54  59690     3S   72W   +1632 135    29.5
22Mar2003 1423  163/  55  59531     3S   74W   +1929 138    29.1
22Mar2003 1434  167/  55  59348     3S   76W   +2227 140    28.6
22Mar2003 1445  171/  56  59139     3S   78W   +2527 143    28.2
22Mar2003 1456  175/  56  58906     3S   80W   +2828 145    27.8
22Mar2003 1507  179/  56  58648     3S   82W   +3132 148    27.4
22Mar2003 1518  184/  56  58365     3S   84W   +3438 150    27.0
22Mar2003 1529  188/  56  58056     2S   86W   +3749 153    26.6
22Mar2003 1540  192/  56  57721     2S   88W   +4065 155    26.2
22Mar2003 1551  196/  56  57359     2S   90W   +4400 158    25.8
22Mar2003 1602  199/  55  56970     2S   92W   +4714 160    25.3
22Mar2003 1613  203/  54  56554     2S   94W   +5048 163    24.9
22Mar2003 1624  207/  54  56110     2S   96W   +5389 165    24.5
22Mar2003 1635  210/  53  55637     2S   98W   +5739 167    24.0
22Mar2003 1646  213/  52  55135     2S  100W   +6098 170    23.6
22Mar2003 1657  217/  51  54602     2S  102W   +6468 172    23.1
22Mar2003 1708  219/  50  54038     2S  104W   +6849 175    22.6

                               51. AO-40
EST Date  Time Azim/Elev  Range    Lat  Long Doppler Phs/M  Offp
22Mar2003 1719  222/  48  53441     1S  106W   +7242 177    22.2
22Mar2003 1730  225/  47  52811     1S  108W   +7649 180    21.7
22Mar2003 1741  227/  46  52146     1S  110W   +8070 182    21.2
22Mar2003 1752  230/  45  51445     1S  112W   +8507 185    20.7
22Mar2003 1803  232/  43  50706     1S  114W   +8962 187    20.1
22Mar2003 1814  234/  42  49929     1S  116W   +9435 190    19.6
22Mar2003 1825  236/  40  49111     1S  118W   +9929 192    19.0
22Mar2003 1836  238/  39  48250     1S  119W  +10445 194    18.5
22Mar2003 1847  240/  38  47345     0S  121W  +10985 197    17.9
22Mar2003 1858  241/  36  46393     0S  123W  +11552 199    17.3
22Mar2003 1909  243/  35  45392     0S  125W  +12148 202    16.7
22Mar2003 1920  244/  33  44339     0N  126W  +12776 204    16.0
22Mar2003 1931  246/  32  43232     0N  128W  +13440 207    15.4
22Mar2003 1942  247/  30  42067     0N  129W  +14142 209    14.8
22Mar2003 1953  248/  29  40840     1N  131W  +14889 212    14.1
22Mar2003 2004  249/  28  39547     1N  132W  +15684 214    13.5
22Mar2003 2015  250/  27  38185     1N  133W  +16535 217    12.8
22Mar2003 2026  251/  25  36747     1N  134W  +17448 219    12.3
22Mar2003 2037  252/  24  35229     2N  135W  +18433 221    11.7
22Mar2003 2048  253/  23  33622     2N  136W  +19502 224    11.3
22Mar2003 2059  254/  22  31919     2N  137W  +20667 226    11.1
22Mar2003 2110  254/  22  30110     2N  137W  +21948 229    11.0

As you can see, the squint numbers are not as good as originally
thought. The passband activity is not known but will likely be when
squints are favorable. The squint will be aroung 31 degrees at
apogee if these Alon/Alat numbers stand up to the test. If the
transponders are active at squints less that 35 degrees then they
will be turned on just before noon. That will be great and will give us
plenty of time to set up the stations and check them out.

If there are any comments or suggestions (or any hint of a huge
mistake) please let me know.

73

Tony
W4TAS