Navy-OSCAR 44 (PCSat)
Launched September 30, 2001 from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska aboard Athena I. Kodiak Star was the first planned orbital launch from the new Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska was a NASA collaborative mission with the Department of Defense (DoD). The payload consisted of four small satellites, Starshine 3, PICOsat, PCSat, and SAPPHIRE, were launched aboard a Lockheed Martin Athena I launch vehicle. PCSat is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater designed for use by stations using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Downlinks feed a central web site http://pcsat.aprs.org. The APRS-equipped PCSat was built by midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Orbital Parameters
Name NO-44 NORAD 26931 COSPAR designation 2001-043-C Inclination (degree) 67.051 RAAN 222.994 Eccentricity 0.0004982 ARGP 275.487 Orbit per day 14.29468105 Period 1h 40m 44s (100.73 Min) Semi-major axis 7172 km Perigee x apogee 790 x 797 km Drag factor 0.000100350 1/ER Mean anomaly 84.567
Downlink
145.825 MHz (FM,FSK, AX.25 1k2 and 9k6)
Uplink
145.825 MHz (FM,FSK, AX.25 1k2 and 9k6)
Antenna polarisation
unknown
Callsigns
PCSAT-1,PCSAT-11, PCSAT-12, PCSAT-2, W3ADO-1
Digipeater: ARISS
Digipeater: PCSAT-1
Digipeater: W3ADO-1
Digipeater: WIDE
Status
NO44 operates in a negative power budget meaning it comes alive in mid-day sun on every orbit but fully runs down its batteries 45 minutes later in the next eclipse. It has to be in sun long enough to get enough charge to be able to provide the peak transmit power for the packet transmitter. If it tries to transmit with insufficient battery charge, the battery voltage drops and the TNC again resets. Users may use the transponder when they think it will respond. Twice a year during full sun, we are able to fully recover the satellite and then it will operate normally for a few weeks until the first reset which will put it back power negative again.
Telemetry
Fm W3ADO-1 To BEACON Via SGATE [19:22:28] T#655,127,125,071,100,213,11111111,0010,1 Fm W3ADO-1 To BEACON Via SGATE [19:23:09] T#657,029,050,059,080,213,11111110,0000,1 Fm W3ADO-1 To BEACON Via SGATE [19:24:48] T#662,128,124,136,116,213,11111111,0001,1 Fm W3ADO-1 To BEACON Via SGATE [19:27:48] T#671,117,125,178,097,213,11111111,0010,1 Fm W3ADO-1 To BEACON Via SGATE [19:31:09] T#681,035,050,058,044,213,11111111,0000,1
Homepage and other references:
NO-44/PCSat Main website