[HCARC] Geostationary Ham Satellite

[w4wj at aol.com]

Gary...

First off let me say that Harvey put up the correct information on the launch facility.  I was looking at the first satellite that Qatar launched.  ;-)
If you will go look at the URL again:
https://eshail.batc.org.uk/
If you look at the map, you will see that the footprint coversa huge area.  All of Africa, out past the edge of the mid-east,touches the most eastern part of south america, and a mostof Europe.
Please note the red and green lines.  The red line denotes themaximum area of access for the C-Band transponders. Teleports,(uplink antennas) are not allowed to access C-Band transponders if the transmit antenna must go below 5 degrees elevation toinput the satellite.  The 10 degree limit is for Ku-Band.
 
If you are outside the red line, you cannot legally access the satellite.
As far as receiving is concerned, below 5 degrees elevationon C-Band there will be problems.  Reception may be impaired
because the dish is so close to the ground and the side lobeswill pick up ground noise, which will degrade the performanceof the receiving system.  Ditto the 10 degrees on Ku-Band receive.
But as you can see... a teleport in Eastern South America couldaccess either C-Band or Ku-Band transponders legally!
The info available says that the commercial target of thesatellite is to provide DTH (DIRECT TELEVISION to HOME)service to the mid-East and North Africa.  No service toSub-Saharan Africa is shown on any of the footprint maps.

73DonW4WJ



In a message dated 2/18/2019 8:15:23 AM Central Standard Time, n5baa at hctc.net writes:

I assume then that the satellite can be hit by the British and Europe as well as Africa, or they have done the Africans a great service.  There is never too much information.  I passed this on because I know Hams have been anxiously awaiting geo-stationary sats for a long time.  I make little enough use of our earth bound repeater and have no equipment to hit a satellite although one that stays in place makes it far easier.
I also try to put information on the Reflector in order to stimulate its use.  That more club members (especially newer people) don’t use it is so sad.   They should trust me when I say that if you ask a question on the Reflector, you will likely end up with too much info vs too little being provided.   However you can always ask the Don’s, Dale’s and Kerry’s of the world to add a Gary J “simplified answer” at the end of the tech dissertation.  One of the main things getting my Extra Ticket taught me was how little I really know, but like my college degrees taught, is where to go to find the answer needed and enough knowledge to be able to ask a question.
73,
Gary JNA3VY
From: w4wj at aol.comSent: Sunday, February 17, 2019 7:17 PMTo: n5baa at hctc.net ; hcarc at mailman.qth.netSubject: Re: [HCARC] Geostationary Ham Satellite
Gary...
The URL referenced is a UK site, so I will assumethat this is a British built satellite.  Oh, I see thatAMSAT-DL (Germany_ provided the technical lead.So, many hands involved in getting this thing onthe road!
Let me correct that.  The Oscar 100 "satellite"is a "unit" that occupies space on a commercialbroadcast satellite.  It is a "passenger" in allrespects.  So, it is not a "satellite" per se...it is a "repeater" sharing space on a "tower"that is in a geostationary orbit.  ;-)
25.9 degrees East, puts the satellite in a stationary position approx 22,236 miles above the equator overthe North central part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  If you look at a map...  The city of Kisangani, is located about 0.5 degrees North of the equator and at 25.19 degrees East of the prime meridian.
If you looked at the referenced URL, the "bullseye"on the map is the orbital position of the satellite.By international regulations, that satellite mustbe kept "on station" within a box 50 miles on a side.This is to avoid any chance of a collision with anothersatellite.

So, a ham in Kisangani, would point his antenna, for thisgeostationary amateur satellite, STRAIGHT UP!!!
Because the earth is not a perfect sphere, all satellites"wander" and must be kept under control from theirground station.  The ground station not only monitorsthe "health" of all the on board systems, but also keepstrack of the satellite position...  allowing it to "drift"from the 25.9 degrees East Longitude and 0 degreesLatitude, but not beyond the assigned box limits.
Position adjustments are made by "thrusters"on the satellite.  The thrusters can emit ions to adjust satellite motion to bring it back to the nominal 25.9 by 0 homeplate.

The satellite was launched from Europe's Spaceportin French Guiana, South America. The 25.9 Eastorbital position had been pre-assigned.
I hope this is not TMI Gary!!!
73DonW4WJ








In a message dated 2/17/2019 4:59:29 PM Central Standard Time, n5baa at hctc.net writes:

Who launched it or did it goes astray??
73,
Gary JNA3VY
From: w4wj at aol.comSent: Sunday, February 17, 2019 2:00 PMTo: n5baa at hctc.net ; hcarc at mailman.qth.netSubject: Re: [HCARC] Geostationary Ham Satellite
Unfortunately not visible here.  Way below our horizon.

73DonW4WJ
In a message dated 2/17/2019 9:46:22 AM Central Standard Time, n5baa at hctc.net writes:

The first geostationary amateur radio transponder OSCAR-100 (P4-A) is on the air.



The OSCAR-100 Narrowband WebSDR  https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/   enables you to listen to the OSCAR-100 Narrow band transponder onboard the Es'hail-2 satellite.


The satellite is in geostationary orbit at 25.9° E.

73,
Gary JNA3VY

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