[K3PZN-List] Fwd: SimSat: Launch Slip to N.E.T. 9/29/04

Mon Sep 20 10:03:28 EDT 2004

JOIN THE SimSat mail list in order to NOT MISS
future bulletins regarding Amateur Radio on local
high-altitude balloons.  Send your request to me
at Patrick.L.Kilroy at nasa.gov and include your
callsign or educational affiliation if you have
either. "73" from Pat N8PK.

Students!  To help your favorite educator find a
local ham radio mentor, you can first find all the
ham radio clubs in your community (by ZIP Code) at:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml

For info about real Amateur Radio *satellites* visit
AMSAT at http://www.amsat.org/ (explore all here), and
http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ (for Washington DC area)
and http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/ac.php
(to contact nearby AMSAT Area Coordinator helpers).

>Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:34:53 -0400
>To: simsat at listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov
>From: Pat Kilroy <Patrick.L.Kilroy at nasa.gov>
>Subject: SimSat: Launch Slip to 9/29/04
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>The Simulated Satellite (SimSat) project is an education & outreach program
>at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.  Phone 301-286-1984 or visit our
>web site at [temporarily down] for further news and information.
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>ATTENTION ALL EDUCATORS (and students and Amateur
>                                      Radio mentors)
>
>GREENBELT, Md. -- September 17
>
>The launch of the maiden voyage of the first SimSat
>engineering test flight has been delayed to no earlier
>than Wednesday, September 29, 9 a.m. EDT.  We are
>waiting for the Project Manager and range safety
>approval for the new date.
>
>More news will be forthcoming as we get closer to
>launch.
>
>Amateur Radio operators, school groups and students
>are invited to participate as a remote ground station.
>
>If you wish to make yourself a known participant you
>can "RSVP" to the SimSat mail list so that we know you
>are trying.  You may ask questions to the list too.
>During this busy time of launch preparation I will try
>to hold experimenters "close to my heart" for the sake
>of an education and community outreach attempt, but I
>believe that others on the list can answer general
>questions in my place.
>
>THE EXPERIMENT
>
>You can participate from home or school or in any
>Amateur Radio ham shack.  The equipment you need for
>your ground station for the experiment (or "quiz")
>is not too complicated, especially if you find
>some help.
>
>The telemetry will be simple.  An audio tone on a
>radio frequency will broadcast or "beacon" from the
>balloon payload while it flies through the atmosphere
>not far from you.  The job of the ground station is
>to measure the audio frequency of the tone and note
>down the exact time of day with each measurement.
>
>To measure the frequency, there are some freeware
>software packages that you can use after you tap a
>sample of your radio speaker output into your PC
>sound card line input.  Use any web search engine
>to find at least one of these programs:
>
>   Spectrum Lab
>   SpecTran
>   DigiPan
>   or equivalent
>
>(The "degree of difficulty" varies depending which
>program you use.  The performance and capabilities
>vary among them.)
>
>You will find that the audio frequency of tone will
>slowwwwly change over the 2-hour balloon flight.
>The payload is measuring the outside air temperature
>all along the balloon ride.  We will supply a "look
>up table" for you to find out which temperature is
>represented by the tone you hear and measure.
>
>That's not all.  If discovering the temperature of
>the layers of the atmosphere is not interesting
>enough on it's own, you will learn how you can, in
>turn, find out the corresponding *altitude* of the
>balloon.  We hope to get close to 100,000 feet.
>That's high!  In fact, that's beyond 99% of the
>earth's atmosphere!
>
>A QUIZ
>
>So we have the SimSat balloon supply a secret tone
>throughout its flight.  You must figure out the
>audio frequency of the tone, which can be converted
>into a temperature.  With a little more work, the
>temperature can reveal the balloon's altitude if
>you have the exact time of day recorded for when
>you took each measurement.
>
>We will release the "answers" after the flight and
>you can "grade your own papers."
>
>THERE'S MORE
>
>If copying a radio beacon with one tone on it is
>fun, then why not transmit *two* tones on it
>instead?
>
>Is this getting complicated?  I hope not.  But just
>in case, we'll make it even more interesting.  We
>will broadcast THREE tones throughout the mission.
>The "quiz" will involve two audio tones that you
>must measure for frequency, but for the third tone,
>we will keep it steady, and give you its frequency
>(namely, the answer) in advance.  Scientists and
>engineers call this type of tone a "reference" (or
>calibration) signal.
>
>Our electronic circuit that is producing the tones
>is similar in design to that of the "CricketSat"
>as developed by students and a teacher at Stanford
>University in California.  Two NASA student interns
>from WPI University this fall developed the
>CricketSat upgrades.  For now, if you wish, you may
>search the web for Stanford's CricketSat
>construction details.  You'll get several hits.
>
>FORMAT
>
>Our telemetry signals will have a distinct format.
>The reference tone (of around 5500 Hz) will beacon
>for ten seconds followed by a ten-second period of
>silence.  Next, a tone representing the outside air
>temp or "OAT" (slowly varying between about 5000 Hz
>and 800 Hz) will sound for 10 seconds followed by
>10 seconds of silence.  As the temperature drops,
>the frequency of the tone will drop too.  At least
>for the OAT reading.  Remember, the reference tone
>is supposed to remain at a constant frequency
>regardless of any change of temperature.  A third
>tone will sound for 10 seconds that represents the
>temperature inside the insulated payload capsule,
>"IAT", followed by a 10-second period of silence.
>Finally, we broadcast a 10-second commercial or
>"station identification" or station ID.  Then the
>cycle repeats.  Over and over during the entire
>mission.
>
>AND MORE
>
>We plan to fly two balloons, back to back.  Within
>a few hours of launching the first one, we plan to
>launch a second one that does almost the same thing.
>Worst case, if we have some delays on the ground,
>we must launch the second one within 24 hours of the
>first, otherwise it will be scrubbed.  We hope to
>do both in the same day.
>
>The designation of the first flight is SimSat-1A.
>The designation of the second flight is SimSat-1B.
>The callsign to be used on each one is N8PK, for
>yours truly, "NASA 8 Pat Kilroy."
>
>EQUIPMENT YOU NEED
>
>The radio frequency is to be determined, but we
>are considering a frequency on either of two bands.
>We'll pick either a frequency on the Amateur Radio
>440 MHz band (perhaps near 443.800 MHz) or somewhere
>on the 2-meter band (for example, 147.450 MHz FM).
>
>Your radio receiver should have an external
>antenna jack, an external speaker (or headphones)
>jack, and be able to tune in steps as small as
>5 kHz.  You will definitely need an outside antenna.
>Your likely choice will be either an omni antenna or
>a directional antenna.  Working with a directional
>antenna might be a bit more of a challenge than
>with an omni (because you have to *point* the
>antenna in the correct direction of the balloon
>from your location) but it will give you a
>stronger signal.
>
>ADDITIONAL INFO
>
>Additional info will be sent out on the SimSat
>e-mail list.  A new web page will be announced
>soon too.  On flight day we will hold a "High-
>Altitude Balloon Experimenter's Net on 40-meter
>SSB (perhaps 7203 kHz) if we get enough Amateur
>Radio operators to volunteer to participate in
>making it so.  (You don't need an FCC license to
>merely *listen* to them exchange information
>during the mission if you can borrow a shortwave
>receiver.)
>
>We expect that all within about a 300-mile radius
>of Greenbelt, Maryland ought to be able to hear
>our balloon beacon.  Maybe more.  We'll check on
>this.
>
>HELP
>
>You are welcome to use the SimSat e-mail reflector
>to list questions, although since I will be away
>from the computer during mission prep, I hope
>someone else will volunteer an answer or offer
>advice.
>
>If you (a student or a school) can invite a licensed
>Amateur Radio mentor to help then that would be a
>very wise approach!  If you (a ham) can invite a high
>school student (your grandchild, son or daughter, or
>neighborhood kid) to your ham shack "ground station"
>then that's worth hearing about!  Post that fact on
>the SimSat mail list if or when you post your
>experiences.
>
>FOLLOW UP
>
>You don't have to stick around for an entire two-hour
>balloon flight.  If you post of few of your "data
>points" to the SimSat list then please make sure
>each data entry (tone frequency measurement) carries
>a time stamp (with units noted, such as UTC or EDT).
>Listen closely.  Don't mix up your reference tone,
>the OAT and the IAT tone frequency figures.  You
>might discover the beauty of an Excel spreadsheet.
>
>More later.
>
>Take care for now.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>"NASA Pat"
>Pat Kilroy
>SimSat Principal Investigator

====================================================================
Patrick L. Kilroy                                                WK
Integration & Test (I&T) Manager        301-286-1984 voice
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center        301-286-1673 fax
Building 5, Mail Code 568               Patrick.L.Kilroy at nasa.gov
Greenbelt, Maryland  20771              http://simsat.gsfc.nasa.gov
====================================================================

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