[SMCARA] SuitSat Information and Tips

[A.J. Farmer (AJ3U)]

International Space Station ARISS SuitSat project status

By Miles Mann WF1F, MAREX-MG News   www.marexmg.org Manned Amateur
Radio Experiment

ARISS to activate a new hand launched educational satellite project
from the International Space station.  The new educational experiment
is called SuitSat.  The SuitSat project is onboard the International
space station and is being prepared for activation very soon.  The
SuitSat project has a tentative activation date of February 3, 2006. 
The SuitSat activation will take place during the ISS crew space walk.
SuitSat will be a hand launched by the ISS crew during the SpaceWalk.

ALL NOTE !!
Since we have just determined that the batteries in SuitSast may last
only a few days, suggest prepare now to receive the 1st transmissions
so as not to miss out on this Historical event !!!

What is SuitSat:
In short, the crew will toss an Old spacesuit out the airlock and let
fly away as its own satellite.  The Space Station crew have attached
an Amateur Radio beacon transmitter to the spacesuit. The SuitSat
project as it is called will broadcast telemetry and voice messages to
earth for as long as the batteries last.  Anyone with a simple FM
receiver or police scanner should be able to  hear the signals from
SuitSat as it orbits around the earth 15 times a day.

For more specific details on the SuitSat project, please review the
AMSAT and related links below.

Additional information on SuitSat at the AMSAT web pages.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/

ARISS SuitSat Details
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php

ARISS video on SuitSat September 2005
mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/SuitSat.wmv

http://www.rac.ca/ariss/Suitsat%20Rev%20D.pdf

SuitSat project Duration:
The Reason it is important for people to get ready to Monitor the
SuitSat project is because this is a short duration experiment.  This
is the first version of this type of project, and it will be running
on batteries only. The current expected life of the SuitSat project is
approximately 2 to 6 days.  If you delay in setting up your station
you may miss out on this educational Experiment.

Voice Telemetry:
The SuitSat project will be transmitting on 145.990 MHz FM  and will
consist of: Voice Telemetry, giving Mission Time, Suit Temperature and
Battery Voltage Voice Greeting messages in multiple languages One SSTV
image. The whole process will repeat every 9 minutes until the
batteries discharge. It is recommended that you have an audio recorder
handy to record the telemetry information.  The ARISS team may be
collecting some of the data from individuals to help monitor the
status of the project.

Schools and Science:
School systems with existing out side VHF antennas or the ability to
set up a temporary out side receive antenna are welcome to listen in
and collect telemetry data.  The students will enjoy listing to the
voice telemetry and tracking the position of the unique satellite. 
They may even hear one of the ISS crew talking to amateur radio
stations on 145.800 MHz FM.

SuitSat Transmitter:
The SuitSat transmitter is a small hand held radio, similar to a
WalkiTalki.  The Kenwood TH-K2 will transmit a 1 watt FM signal from
SuitSat. The current frequency for SuitSat is 145.990 FM Downlink only
(There is no uplink for this satellite).  With a simple out side
antenna and a simple VHF receiver or police scanner, you should be
able to hear SuitSat when the satellite passes over your state.

ARISS is also planning on using the Kenwood D700 Transceiver on ISS to
Rebroadcast the SuitSat signal on 437.800 MHz FM. This will allow you
to hear SuitSat while ISS is in range of your station.

If you have already have been successful in working the Packet station
or talked to the ISS crew on 2-meter voice, than you already have most
of what you need.

SSTV (Slow Scan TV ):
SSTV is a way Amateur Radio stations send JPG still images around the
world.  We use an audio format we call SSTV.  The SuitSat project will
transmit Telemetry, Pre-Recorded Voice messages and one SSTV image. 
The whole process will repeat approximately every 9 minutes. (Robot 36
format).

What's left is to connect your computer to the speaker of your radio
and some SSTV decoding software, such as ChromaPix
http://www.barberdsp.com or similar software. Here are just two of the
many Share-Ware SSTV applications on the market.  There may be many
more.

W95SSTV by Silicon Pixels
http://www.barberdsp.com/w95sstv/w95dload.htm

MMSSTV
http://mmhamsoft.ham-radio.ch/

There are also many High quality pay software applications that offer
many more features, such as multiple windows that allow you to
simultaneously receive an image while preparing your next image that
you want to transmit.

CPIX: http://www.barberdsp.com

What is Slow Scan TV?
On this web page you will find many links to help you learn more about
Slow Scan TV
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html

Tips on how to use ISS, SSTV, Packet and Voice
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html

Location of Hardware on ISS
This link will show you images of some of the amateur radio hardware
already installed on ISS
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html

Marexmg: http://www.marexmg.org

73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG

--
A.J. Farmer, AJ3U
http://www.aj3u.com