AO-40 on Limited Availability Soon

==>LIMITED AO-40 USE POSSIBLE IN NEAR FUTURE

AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, says plans are in place to make
AO-40 available for a limited period of general amateur use "possibly within
a week or two." Launched November 16, the next-generation Amateur Radio
satellite formerly known as Phase 3D remains for now in a geostationary
transfer orbit while initial housekeeping and checkout procedures are under
way. The satellite's final high elliptical orbit will not be established for
another nine months.

Just when and how the "limited operation" will occur is up to the ground
controllers, Haigton said. The provisional operation would involve "one or
two bands at a time," he said. Since the satellite's solar panels will not
be deployed until AO-40 is in its final orbit, full power will not be
available.

Details of the limited test period will be announced via AMSAT bulletins and
via the AO-40 telemetry beacon on 2 meters, which also is transmitting text
messages. (For more information on receiving AO-40 telemetry, visit the
AMSAT-NA "AO-40 Telemetry" page,
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/ao40/ao40-tlm.html.)

In a bulletin released Monday, AMSAT stressed that the Phase 3D/AO-40
controllers were closely monitoring the power budget and the satellite's
current orbital parameters. "These two areas will be among the most
important factors that determine what happens with P3D in the near future,"
the AMSAT bulletin said.

From all indications, most AO-40 systems are working properly at this point,
with the possible exception of the 70-cm transmitter. According to a status
report from Phase 3D Project Manager Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, "a problem with
the 70 cm transmitter" led controllers to shift the telemetry downlink from
70 cm to 2 meters (145.898 MHz). Meinzer said AO-40's two 2.4 GHz
transmitters were operated and are okay.

Haighton said the most likely configurations for the limited test period
would be Mode U/V (Mode B)--70 cm up and 2 meters down--and Mode L/S--1.2
GHz up and 2.4 GHz down, SSB and CW.

AMSAT says there's still a lot of work to do until AO-40 will be fully ready
for general Amateur Radio use. AO-40's geostationary transfer orbit puts it
some 500 km from Earth at its nearest point, and 35,000 km at the farthest.
AMSAT says that AO-40's attitude is being changed to prepare for the first
motor burn. Meinzer's report says the 400-Newton motor will be used to put
AO-40 into a 50,000 km apogee. The first orbital maneuver should be
completed in a few days. Other orbital adjustments will follow over the next
270 days.

AO-40's solar panels will not be deployed until the satellite is in its
final orbital configuration. Once that happens, the satellite should become
available for full Amateur Radio use.

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