[amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 troubles

[Zachary Beougher]

With the recent bad news about AO51, possibly for the long term, I know 
several are wondering about HO68's status.  Does anyone have any sort of 
update on when/if it will be back in service?  I understand it may have long 
term issues like AO51 may have, but it would be nice to at least know where 
it stands - even if there is no hope of it coming back anytime soon.  I have 
seen this question posted many times here on the -bb, but I have never seen 
an answer, unless I overlooked it.

73,

Zack
KD8KSN

-----Original Message----- 
From: Andrew Glasbrenner
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 8:31 AM
To: amsat-bb
Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-51 troubles

All,

We are having a difficult time trying to restore AO-51 to operation. 
Currently, the satellite will not retain the upload of the flight software 
across eclipse. The batteries are in very poor condition. We have a few more 
things to try, but with eclipses peaking around July at ~27 minutes, the 
long term situation is grim. There is a brief period around November where 
eclipses are as short as 16 minutes, but past that it is a long climb to 30 
minutes or longer eclipses for many years. We have no expected "return to 
service" date. If you have 9k6 digital capability, you can listen in on our 
attempts at recovery on 435.150 on many passes over the US.

Please support AMSAT-NA and the other AMSAT groups around the world, and 
help us get new satellites into orbit. Projects like Fox, FunCube, P3E, and 
Kiwisat need your financial support to keep our amateur satellite fleet 
flying.

73, Drew KO4MA
AMSAT-NA VP Operations


_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb