Date   : Sun, 12 Sep 2004 18:45:24 +0100
From   : "Charles Blackburn" <charlesb@...>
Subject: Re: More satellite stuff...

i'm just guessing here btw.

ok, the meter will probably be the signal meter for alignment with the 
satellite with 5 being the optikmal setting (ie in the middle of it's 
"band"/carrier.

H socket would probably be the ?rs232 data? into the beeb? dunno about the 
switches tho. prolly one's power and the other ones to start the decode 
process (not needed nowadays)

> Charles can you see if you can ask anyone of OSCAR-11's CCD is still
> running? Oh, and if NOAA / METEOSAT / FAX are still operational? (You
> never know, I might find a receiver for those one day!)

here's infrmation on UO-11 (OSCAR 11)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/status.php
      UoSat OSCAR 11   (UO-11)
      Telemetry 145.826 MHz FM 1200 bps AFSK
      Beacon 2401.500 MHz Carrier
      Launched 1 March 1984

Status:  Semi-operational
OSCAR-11 now operates in a default mode, controlled by the watch-dog timer. 
The satellite transmits continuous ASCII telemetry for about 10 days on 
145.826 MHz., followed by about 10 days of silence. This regular sequence 
might be interrupted by ground control, at any time.
The mode-S beacon is ON continuously, even when the VHF beacon is OFF, 
nominally transmitting an unmodulated carrier on 2401.5 MHz. There is 
however a VERY low level of AFSK modulation, (now a constant audio tone), 
which has been detected on strong signals. Telemetry indicates that the 
beacon has partially failed, and is delivering half power.

Data for UO-11
(UoSat 2 (Oscar 11))
Downlink: 145.826(FM)
Downlink: 435.025(FM)
Downlink: 2401.500
Notes: Digitalker and telemetry Launched March 1, 1984 by a Delta-Thor 
rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California - Status: Operational. - 
OSCAR-11 celebrated its sixteenth birthday in space on March 1, 2000.

Looks like it isnt, but uo-11 isnt the only one you could use (providing you 
can give it new keplerian details/sat location/freq information.

ok, meteosat/fax/noaa is still operational and I use a program called 
satscape as a tracker as it can control the clubs radio and rotator system 
for unattended operation (sort of).

for information on meteosat http://www.eumetsat.de/ try there and click on 
meteosat :D

on the note of the documentation, I would LOVE a copy of the floppies 
(somehow got a beeb B w/o floppy drive) also a copy of the docs would be 
great if you have a way to scan them in. i'll email them to wouter and get 
him to put them all on his 8-bit site that I host.

would be great if I could get schematics etc for it or mebbe a pcb trace for 
it as it would be fun to take to jamborees etc that our amateur club goto.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jules Richardson" <julesrichardsonuk@...>
To: <bbc-micro@...>
Cc: <charlesb@...>
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2004 11:12 AM
Subject: [BBC-Micro] More satellite stuff...


>
> Right-o,
>
> more satellite bits arrived yesterday from that school I mentioned.
>
> There's what looks to be a satellite decoder (actually the words
> "satellite decoder" written in felt pen on the case help to confirm
> that :-)
>
> It's in one of those two-tone grey/cream Maplin-like boxes, with a pair
> of 5 pin DIN sockets on the back (one with pins in a 'H' configuration,
> the other arranged in the usual circular way). On the front are a pair
> of unlabelled switches, mounted either side of a meter with a simple
> scale from 0-9, and 5 having a more prominent marking.
>
> Other than power, that's it.
>
> The PCB inside is of low-volume workshop quality, labelled as "UoSAT
> data demodulator"
>
> Presumably one socket connects to a UoSAT satellite receiver (like the
> astrid one I got the other day) and the other end goes to a BBC port.
> Sound familiar to anyone?
>
> I'm hoping that this box is for decoding the image data from Oscar's CCD
> (assuming that's even still operational!). Having satellite images
> displayed on a BBC at the museum would make a pretty cool display!
>
> In addition to that, I've got quite a few photocopied docs:
>
>  "UoSAT UO-11 OSCAR-11 Telemetry Decoding Software for BBC
> Microcomputers" - an article from May 1985's issue of Radio and
> Electronics World, including code listing.
>
>  "UoSAT-1 Documentation" - University of Surrey's original
> documentation about UoSAT-1, all about the building and operation of the
> satellite. Includes details on the antenna required. Anyone know what
> the differences between UoSAT-1 and 2 are?
>
>  Timestep "Weather Satellite Interface 3.0 Documentation". Includes
> schematics for the decoder needed to grab images from NOAA, METEOSAT,
> FAX(WEFAX) and UoSAT CCD. Of course this is just a decoder, not receiver
> - so I still only have the one receiver to pick up data from UoSAT-2
> (OSCAR-11)
>
> And some software:
>
>  ROM containing the BBC software for the Timestep decoder.
>
>  Floppy containing software for the Astrid receiver - not had a look
> yet to see what exactly's on there.
>
> Charles can you see if you can ask anyone of OSCAR-11's CCD is still
> running? Oh, and if NOAA / METEOSAT / FAX are still operational? (You
> never know, I might find a receiver for those one day!)
>
> cheers,
>
> Jules
>
>
>
>
>


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