AMSAT Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA Ninth Space Symposium, AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop and AMSAT Annual Meeting

272 Pages·1991·22.2 MB·English

$12.00
_
AMSAT
RADIO AMATEUR SATELLITE
CORPORATION
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
AMSAT-NA
Ninth Space Symposium,
AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop
and AMSAT Annual Meeting
November 8-10
1991
Los Angeles, California
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
Amateur Radio Digital Communications, Grant 151
https://archive.org/details/amsatradioamateu0Ounse_1
Proceedings of the
AMSAT-NA Ninth Space Symposium,
AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop
and AMSAT Annual Meeting
November 8-10, 1991
Los Angeles, California
Published by the Papers courtesy —
American Radio Relay League AMSAT fa sm
225 Main Street PO Box 27 Letom
Newington, CT 06111 Washington, DC 20044
Copyright © 1991 by
The American Radio Relay league, Inc.
International Copyright secured
This work is Publication No. 148 of the Radio
Amateur’s Library, published by the League. All
rights reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced in any form except by written permission
of the publisher. All rights of translation are
reserved.
Printed in USA
Quedan reservados todos los derechos
$12.00 in USA
ISBN: 0-87259-317- 1
First Edition
Foreword
These papers, prepared for the 1991 AMSAT Technical
Symposium and joint AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop, represent
the state of the art in Amateur Radio space experimentation. Many
readers will recognize the names of authors who have long been
associated with AMSAT’s and ARRL’s efforts to further the amateur
space program. Others are less well known, but bring an equally
farsighted vision to these Proceedings.
The ARRL is pleased to have the opportunity to publish these
Proceedings. We trust that it will serve to stimulate even greater interest
in the amateur space program. If you’re among those whose interest
has, thus far, been latent, why not contact AMSAT and see where your
talents and abilities might fit in? You could soon find yourself contributing
to a deep-space probe or a mission to Mars!
David Sumner, K1ZZ
Executive Vice President, ARRL
November 1991
Table of Contents
AMSAT-NA Ninth Space Symposium
Motion and Color Video Via the Phase 3D Satellite:
Replacing ATV with ADV - A Status Report
By John Champa, K8OCL, and Todd Maxwell ............... 1
Comments on Proposed AMSAT MARS - An Experiment
By Martin. Davidoff, PhD,, K2UBG ap nein ao Ail doping Sunt ee - 6
A Simulator for PACSAT-1 Downlink Traffic
By. Robert. Diersing, NSARM coogo ee)e erer ee e e 1A
An Amateur Space Exploration Ground Station
By Peter D. Goldman and Brent Helleckson................ 23
What’s Up With WEBERSAT
By Stephen Jackson and Jeffrey Raetzke ................. 29
The Shape of Things to Come
By Dick Jansson, WD4FAB®. 22). 2 23 yee ae ee 44
Gateways to the 21 Century
By Joe KasseriW3/G32Z6Z! saly extu..a...e 02x-2.s 2. e ee 53
Telemetry: Past, Present and Future
By.doe: Kasser W3/G3202 6). i a See ee 69
Orbit Selection Considerations for Fourth Generation AMSAT Spacecraft
By Jan A. King, W3GEY, and Stephan Eckart, DL2EMDL ....... gg
"S Band": Principles and Practice
By Edward Krome, KASENV 2.0000 fo. gine See 120
VITA Opertions Using UoSAT-3
By Eric Rosenberg, WD3Q, and Gary Garriott, WASFMQ ...... 125
A Radio Astronomy Experiment for Phase III-D and the Solar Sail
By Daniel Schuliz, NGFGV ...W.2 228 222 2 ee 137
Demonstrating Celestial Mechanics Through Measured Doppler Shift
By H. Paul Shuch, NGEX 2.0.02 ee 140
Solar Sail Expedition to the Moon and Mars
By Robert L. Staehle, John M. Graham
and John Champa, KEOCE = ..20. i. 3 a... eats ae cena 151
ADSAT - The Astronaut Deployable Satellite
By Robert Summers, N7DGC, William Clapp, KB7KCM,
clare bW ACIReTE) ImE VARSe]a 2 5 2,4 OS el ue re a nee 159
SUNSAT - A Joint University of Stellenbosch - SA AMSAT Satellite Project
Due for Launch in 1994
By Hans Van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV................... 169
Image-Enabling Your Satellite Station
By von vallach, PADFNOIPUSE Melee? ee ees 73
SEDSAT 1 - 1991 Status Report
By Dennis R. Wingo, KD4ETA, Chery! D. Bankston,
e)a teh ells] ala Gua e leaefle k ose 106) keep detting Madar bell Rae an ee eae 186
AMSAT/ARRL Educational Workshop
Uses of Amateur Satellites in Engineering Courses
By Walter K. Daniel and Robert E. Bruninga, WB4APR ........ 193
SAREX - A Post Flight Report from Two School Sessions
BVeLOM Danis aN SO Atia.. bau eee afte on cae ee ro) me eee 196
Uses of Amateur Radio Satellites in Education
By Freddy de Guchteneire, ONGUG ......:.............. 204
A Space Shuttle Experiment with Radio Waves at Audio Frequencies
BY Rie HOGONMIIGOL Kiet ee ie ee cick eo sk fod ee cone woe 209
Bringing Space into the Classroom
ByooikKassemaw3/GSZCz2e. wick one ieee. chk caries. oe OR he 216
Chaminade MicroSat Project
BYVsDAVeBMECVOsmNmOR Cll re gle, Fic ntl Mod ee es 234
Using Amateur Satellite and Weather Fax Systems in Secondary
and University Classes
By Robert J. Twiggs and Dr. K.R. Reister, N7MXF ........... 244
The Use of Satellites in Furthering Tertiary Electrical
Engineering Education
By JHN Van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV ................... 249
Space Education and the SEDSAT 1 Project
By Dennis R. Wingo, KD4ETA, and Cheryl D. Bankston ....... 254
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MOTION AND COLOR VIDEO VIA THE PHASE 3D
SATELLITE: REPLACING ATV WITH ADV
A STATUS REPORT
John Champa, K8OCL
AMSAT-NA Detroit Spacecraft Lab
7800 Hartwell Street
Dearborn, MI 48126-1122
[phone]
Todd Maxwell
Compression Labs, Inc.
26911 Northwestern Highway, Suite 300
Southfield, MI 48048
As part of the developmental planning
to construct the AMSAT Phase 3D Satellite, an VIDEO COMPRESSION
advanced communications OSCAR in high 5
earth orbit, there has been discussion regard- CC
ing provisioning ofa hard limiting wide band- ral \N SN
width digital transponder, generally with the nd KX.WWN
capability of handling traffic in the range of VS
56 Kbps -
56-64 Kbps, or even higher speeds. 1.5 Mbps
Digital
In this paper we'll discuss the possibilities
of using an Amateur digital video (ADV)
communications system based on a coder/
decoder (codec) device installed in a high
speed 80386 PC. Such a configuration could Fig. 1
be used to digitize the motion video output
from a standard baseband video (NTSC) source, such as a home video camera or VCR fora digital
transmission uplink to the Phase 3D Satellite. This PC based codec could also take an incoming
digital video motion signal froma downlinkreceiver and convert it to an analog video motion si gnal
for display on an appropriate monitor.
Using data compression techniques such as vector quantization, the digitized motion video can
be taken from it’s uncompressed digital form of approximately 92 Mbps down to 56 Kbps or less
for more efficient transmission (see Fig. 1) between ground stations and the satellite. Current
techniques, even at this tremendous compression ratio, provide acceptable color contrast and
image resolution, with moderate motion compensation capability.
Technological developments in digital video compression over the past few years have resulted
inasteady decline in digital bandwidth requirements and equipment cost, while the motion image
quality level has improved dramatically (see Fig. 2). We are now quickly approaching the
development stage where a PC based codec system for digital video transmission and reception will
start to come within range of the more advanced Amateur television and satellite operators within
the next several years, and certainly long before the launch of the Phase 3D Satellite, now tentatively
scheduled for 1995.
This type of highly compressed digital video } :
motion signal has sufficient quality for Amateur | Video Compression Technology
digital video (ADV) contacts, and it is far more
The evolution of video compression
suitable for relay through an Amateur satellite
transponder than conventional analog Ama- 90 Mbps
teur Television (ATV) signals. ADV would |
provide an acceptable signal to noise ratio and poe
link margins for Amateur ground stations with- Le
out the need for excessive power levels as re- 6 Mbps VTS
cently indicated for even low earth orbit activi- 1.544 Nites Grae
ties during the SAREX space shuttle video re- br se poet sido
ceptiontests. Thisisanimportant consideration 056 CTX Videophone
when planning such future Amateur activities oi a oe
from the space station. ADV could also provide 1975 1982" 1985 “1987, 1990 1991
a type of terrestrial video communications which
Fig. 2
is considerably more spectrum efficient than
ASV:
THE EFFICIENCY OF FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATIONS
Meeting face-to-face generally provides the most effective means of interpersonal communica-
tions for many purposes. The apparent reason for this, as researchers have observed, isthat asmuch
as 807% of the communications which takes place in such meetings is non-verbal in nature. This
important observation is one of the driving forces behind the explosive growth in the use of digital
video teleconferencing by business. Developments in the area of very large scale integration (VLSI)
and digital video compression technology are approaching the stage where radical changes in the
economics of the situation are about to take place. The day of the video telephone for interpersonal
communications, envisioned long ago, is no longer that far off.
So, why doesn’t everyone own a video telephone now? The answer is cost effectiveness. The
technology exists. The trick is making it reasonably affordable. Even businesses with far larger
telecommunications equipment budgets than the average Ham, are seeing a rapid growth in voice
only or audio teleconferencing for conducting meetings. The reason for this situation is that
although video teleconferencing is the obvious choice, audio teleconferencing is less expensive and
“good enough” for the moment. As we mentioned before, developments inthe fields of VLSI and
digital video compression are about to radically change the economics of the situation.
WHY DIGITAL VIDEO?
You have been watching a wide bandwidth form of digital video for years and may not have
realized it! To digitize an analog video signal takes about 92 Mbps. The national TV broadcast
networks take this digitized video signal, compress it 2:1, and broadcast it to their affiliated stations.
The digitalization and compression oft elevision broadcasts allows networks to send their program-
ing over special terrestrial circuits that handle the resulting 45 Mbps digital video signal. Digital
video compression at this level, when converted back to analog, retains all of the characteristics of
the original NTSC video.
You're about to see a lot more digital video! The high definition television (HDTV) currently
under industry development and FCC review for the consumer entertainment television broadcast-
ing field is essentially a form of high bandwidth digital video. Commercial direct digital video
satellite broadcasting of movies and other forms of video entertainment was proposed to start this
past summer, but has been delayed. There is also serious consideration being given to replacing
conventional private analog business television (BTV) broadcasts, generally via commercial Ku-
Band satellites, for university educational seminars, product announcements, training programs,