The AMSAT-OSCAR Echo Amateur Radio satellite and several other payloads launched on schedule June 29 at 0630 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ground controllers made their first contact with Echo at 1452 UTC and collected some telemetry to analyze before shutting down the 435.150 MHz digital downlink transmitter.
”This achievement is due to many individuals around the world, who have helped in the design, building, integration, testing and launching of this satellite,” said AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH.
Earth stations should not attempt to transmit on the satellite’s uplink until checkout and commissioning are complete and AO-Echo has been made available for general use. The satellite could be available in 10 days or so. AMSAT will release a bulletin when the satellite opens.
A telemetry decoding program, TLMEcho, is available for those who would like to view and report data from Echo. It may be downloaded at web.infoave.net/~mkmk518/echo.htm Send CSV telemetry files to Mike Kingery, KE4AZN, ke4aznamsat.org.
AO-Echo’s sun-synchronous orbit is some 800 km (nearly 500 miles) above Earth. Among other capabilities, the 10-inch-square microsat–equipped with a transmitter capable of up to 7 W output–will allow voice communication using handheld FM transceivers. Echo will feature V/U, L/S and HF/U operational configurations, with V/S, L/U and HF/S also possible. FM voice and various digital modes–including PSK31 on a 10-meter SSB uplink–also will be available.
Visit the AMSAT AO-Echo Web page, www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/