[amsat-bb] Re: AO-16 update 3 December 2008

[n3tl@bellsouth.net]

Hey Mark,

This AO-16 fan appreciates your efforts (more than I can find words to express) to keep her going as long as possible. She operates in a historic mode - one that never really was intended - that is really fun to operate. And she is such a wonderfully sensitive satellite. As many here know, I enjoy the challenge of operating "old school" using a fully portable setup that requires manual Doppler tuning and manual tracking of the satellite with my antenna(s). 

I have been fortunate enough to complete and confirm a contact with AO-16 at 1.2 degrees elevation, and also have completed contacts running .05-watt rf out with my FM HT. And I'm sure some recall the threads here about my dual-band/dual-mode/dual-satellite contacts (4 in all) involving AO-16 and AO-51. 

Just in the last week, I also made three AO-16 contacts transmitting through my 0-gain eFactor omni antenna while receiving on the end-fed longwire I put up a couple weeks ago to get back on the low bands! Those are great contacts to have in the log, too. 

Thanks again for all your efforts to keep AO-16 going. I'll be listening for her every pass I can!

73 to all,

Tim - N3TL
AMSAT Member No. 36820
QRP-ARCI Member No. 5547
ARRL Member No. 7027180
Athens, Ga. - EM84ha

-------------- Original message from "Mark L. Hammond" <n8mh at embarqmail.com>: -------------- 


> Hello All, 
> As expected, over the last few days AO-16 has started to again experience "shutdowns". Thanks to your updates at the very handy webpage at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ it seems that the first shutdown occurred between 28 
> Nov 2008 2030 UTC and 29 Nov 2008 0615 UTC. 
> So far I've restarted the bird three times, and each time it appears to stay up for a day or more. We can expect the situation to worsen, as the eclipse periods get longer and the satellite temperatures continue to go down. We've 
> been warning you :) Get those AO-16 contacts in now! 
> I'll try to restart AO-16 as my schedule allows. Your reports to the OSCAR Satellite Status page by KD5QGR are very helpful; it helps me know when the bird is down so that I can do my best to restart it. Based on the times of the passes lately, it's difficult to be available when the bird is above the 
> horizon. 
> If the birds is operational in voice mode, you should clearly hear the 
> "not-so-repressed carrier" on the downlink. Special request--if you do not hear 
> the carrier, please do not transmit to AO-16, as your transmissions make it 
> difficult to command the satellite. And, if you hear the "hummmming" of the 
> PSK transmitting, again please do not attempt to transmit to the bird; it's 
> likely that I have restarted the bird and need to collect telemetry before 
> configuring it into voice mode. 
> 
> Thanks to all you faithful AO-16 operators! 
> 
> Current operational mode for AO-16 (as available!): 
> 
> Mode FM Voice Repeater ( Downlink is DSB) 
> Uplink : 145.9200 MHz FM 
> Downlink 437.0260 MHz SSB 
> 
> 
> 73, 
> -- 
> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] 
> AO-16 Command Station 
> _______________________________________________ 
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