[HCRA] ECHO IS LAUNCHED from QRZ

[Daniel Sullivan]

The AMSAT-OSCAR Echo Amateur Radio satellite and several other
payloads launched on schedule June 29 at 0630 UTC from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ground controllers made their first
contact with Echo at 1452 UTC and collected some telemetry to
analyze before shutting down the 435.150 MHz digital downlink
transmitter.

''This achievement is due to many individuals around the world, who
have helped in the design, building, integration, testing and
launching of this satellite,'' said AMSAT-NA President Robin
Haighton, VE3FRH.

Earth stations should not attempt to transmit on the satellite's
uplink until checkout and commissioning are complete and AO-Echo has
been made available for general use. The satellite could be
available in 10 days or so. AMSAT will release a bulletin when the
satellite opens.

A telemetry decoding program, TLMEcho, is available for those who
would like to view and report data from Echo. It may be downloaded
at web.infoave.net/~mkmk518/echo.htm. Send CSV telemetry files
to Mike Kingery, KE4AZN, ke4aznamsat.org.

AO-Echo's sun-synchronous orbit is some 800 km (nearly 500 miles)
above Earth. Among other capabilities, the 10-inch-square
microsat--equipped with a transmitter capable of up to 7 W
output--will allow voice communication using handheld FM
transceivers. Echo will feature V/U, L/S and HF/U operational
configurations, with V/S, L/U and HF/S also possible. FM voice and
various digital modes--including PSK31 on a 10-meter SSB
uplink--also will be available.

Visit the AMSAT AO-Echo Web page, www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/,
for additional details.


Jim Jarvis, n2ea
Amsat Marketing Manager
410 439 1073 office
443 618 5560 cell
jimjarvis at ieee.org

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