6Aboard Sky Station July-August 1997 Experimental Balloon 1.Introduction The Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD) proposes to place an Amateur Radio package on the fProposal for an Amateur Radio Package Aboard Sky Station July-August 1997 Experimental Balloon 1.Introduction The Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD) proposes to place an Amateur Radio package on the fnd code and will operate only over the United States or its territorial waters. The package will transmit periodic Morse code identification followed by a packet giving the balloon's location as derived from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The equipment will be expendable and expected to be lost in the ocean. 3.Technical Proposal The system is to consist of the units represented in the block diagram shown below. Because of the short lead time, it is not possible to state with certainty that the modules described will be used or whether functional equivalents will be substituted. 3.1System Block Diagram GPS Antenna VHF/UHF Antenna Solar Panels GPS Rx Packet VHF/UHF Power Lithium Telemetry Unit Tx/Rx Controller Battery 3.2Global Positioning System Receiver and Antenna A low-cost, low-power GPS receiver capable of supplying altitude information is being selected. We are investigating Eagle, Garmin, Magellan and Trimble receivers but have tentatively selected the Trimble SVee6-cm3, which operates from 5 V dc and draws 1.2 W of power. Once power is applied, this receiver produces continuous latitude and longitude readings to the Packet Telemetry Unit. The GPS active antenna will be suspended below the balloon. 3.3Packet Telemetry Unit This will be a Clement Engineering, Inc MIM v2.0 module providing 1200-baud AX.25 packet radio transmissions. The unit sends GPS position reports, telemetry data, a beacon text message and a 20 WPM Morse code identification at user-selected time intervals. Clement Engineering's address is 1261 Dogwood Road, Arnold, MD 21012, tel 410 518 6591. 3.4VHF/UHF Transmitter/Receiver Standard Amateur Radio Products, Inc Image C508A shirt pocket transceiver transmits GPS packets on 2 m (~146 MHz APRS frequency) receives telecommands on 70 cm (~435 MHz). Specifications are: ( 280 mW transmit power on 2 m and 70 cm amateur bands ( Capable of receiving on 100-180 MHz, 340-400 MHz and 400-480 MHz ( Receiver sensitivity 0.158 µV ( Operates from 3 V ( Dimensions: 8.5 (h) x 5.8 (w) x 2.5 (d) cm For further information, see: http://www.stdradio.com. 3.5VHF/UHF Antenna A 48-cm flexible monopole whip antenna will be used. 3.6Power Controller The Power Controller will be custom built. 3.7Lithium Battery The battery for the initial experimental flight will be non-rechargeable and will be used to supply power at night. The package will use Lithium Bromide size DD cells which has already been flown on balloons. The cells are rated at 3.4 V average loaded voltage, 30 Ah capacity, 350 mA discharge current drain, -55°C to +72°C temperature range. For additional information see http://www.greatbatch.com. 3.8Solar Panels The low-cost photovoltaic solar panels will be mounted on the outside of the package and will supply power when illuminated by sunlight. Solar panels being investigated include Solarex MSA-5 thin-film silicon modules capable of providing 15 V at 330 mA in a package 34 x 31 cm weighing 1.1 kg. See http://solarex.com/prodover.htm. Also see http://www.photocomm.com for similar units manufactured by Photocomm, Inc. 3.9Packaging Because ambient temperatures are expected to be around -50(C, the package will be housed in an insulated container. Pelican watertight, airtight cases such the model 1400 are being investigated. See http://www.pelican.com/cases.html. Low-cost alternatives such as Coleman high density polyurethane foam cooler boxes, see http://www.coleman-eur.com/coolbox-e.html are also being studied. Annex I Key Participants Paul L. Rinaldo, W4RI, President, AMRAD, 4559 Quality Street, Fairfax, VA 22030, home tel 703 968 2892, fax 703 968 0175. Work tel 202 296 9107, fax 202 293 1319. E-mail: prinaldo@mindspring.com. Terry L. Fox, WB4JFI, Vice President, AMRAD, 7504 Silver Maple Lane, Falls Church, VA 22042, home tel 703 849 1189. E-mail: tfox@erols.com. Elton A. Sanders, WB5MMB, Director, AMRAD, 404 Park SE, Vienna, VA 22180, home tel 703 281 1298. E-mail: esanders@erols.com. Majd Kanawati, N4TPY, 10111 Scout Dr, Fairfax, VA 22030, home tel 703 385 9737, fax 703 385 4638. Work tel 703 273 7010, fax 703 273 7011. E-mail: mark@spacequest.com. Glen W. Baumgartner, KA0ESA, 8932 Victoria Rd, Springfield, VA 22151, tel 703 239 0125. E-mail: gwbaumgartner@tasc.com. Robert M. Cullen, W8MAU, 101 N George Mason Dr Suite 2, Arlington, VA 22203, tel 703 525 8782, fax: 703 525 8784. E-mail: cullenro@aol.com. Tracy Wood, K7UO. Annex II Amateur Organizations 1Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD) The Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in June 1975, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit educational and scientific organization under the Internal Revenue Code. It is a radio club of approximately 200 individual members interested in technical experimentation. Its Directors and Officers serve as volunteers without compensation. It has no paid staff. The purpose of AMRAD is to develop skills and advancement of specialized knowledge in the art and practice of radio communications and electronic technology, advocate individual and cooperative design and construction of experimental electronic equipment and techniques, promote basic and applied research in advanced radio and electronics technology, organize technical forums and symposiums, collect and disseminate technical information, and provide experimental repeaters. AMRAD's accomplishments include: ( First East Coast amateur stations to operate HF and VHF packet radio ( Developed AX.25 Amateur Packet Radio Link Layer Protocol ( First to operate spread spectrum emission in the amateur service ( Conducted spread spectrum direction finding tests with the FCC ( Contributed to the development of the FCC Rules on spread spectrum ( Authored the ARRL's Spread Spectrum Sourcebook used as IEEE course material ( Completed design and construction of EYESAT low-Earth-orbit satellite with an amateur-satellite transponder (AMRAD-Oscar 27) ( Integrated a satellite earth station for Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) ( Developed telecommunications techniques for the deaf and hard of hearing ( Operated the country's second landline Bulletin Board System (BBS) for 20 years ( Under a Department of Education grant, designed and continue to operate a BBS service known as Handicapped Education Exchange (HEX) Mailing address:Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation P.O. Drawer 6148 McLean, Virginia 22106-6148 Web address: http://www.amrad.org 2The American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) The American Radio Relay League, a Connecticut nonprofit corporation, is a 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization. The League, with 175,000 members, is the principal representative of the more than 650,000 licensed radio amateurs. Its purposes, include: the promotion of interest in Amateur Radio communication and experimentation the establishment of networks for use in the event of disasters furtherance of public welfare the advancement of the radio art promotion and conduct of research and development the dissemination of technical, educational and scientific information relating to electronic communication. It is governed by a Board of Directors elected by its individual members. Its officers are elected by the Board. It has an annual budget of approximately $13,000,000 and a paid professional staff of 125 people in Newington, Connecticut. The League serves as the International Secretariat for the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)--the association of national Amateur Radio organizations. The mission of the League is accomplished primarily through a field organization of volunteers, organized by sections corresponding to a state, or portion of a state, with its own elected Section Manager and appointees with functional responsibilities. In addition, approximately 2,000 local amateur radio clubs are affiliated with the League. Public service communications by radio amateurs is organized by League volunteers. Amateurs frequently are called upon to provide temporary or supplementary communications in the event of disasters through the ARRL-sponsored Amateur Radio Emergency Service. The League publishes technical literature, develops and tests new equipment in its laboratory, prepares educational materials, assists clubs in courses in radio theory and international Morse code, and coordinates exam sessions and volunteer examiners for FCC licenses throughout the United States and for US citizens overseas. It also maintains liaison with the FCC, the Department of Defense (which regards the Amateur Radio Service as a standby communications reserve for national security/emergency preparedness), the American National Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), The Salvation Army, and others. Mailing Address:American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Web address: http://www.arrl.org 3The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) AMSAT is a worldwide organization of radio amateurs who design, construct, launch and communicate via amateur satellites. It was formed in Washington, DC in 1969 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization to continue the work started by Project OSCAR. AMSAT's charter is to provide satellite and related equipment and technology for amateur-satellite communications and experimentation throughout the world on a non-commercial basis. Additionally, AMSAT has also helped government and commercial space agencies develop new ways of carrying payloads into orbit. As an example, AMSAT made it possible for the European Space Agency (ESA) to take advantage of unused space on Ariane 4 rockets to launch four small amateur digital packet communications satellites (Microsats) and two amateur satellites that used digital store-and-forward satellite technology pioneered by AMSAT. The LEO concept was first demonstrated with the AMSAT-OSCAR satellites, as were inter-satellite communications and the search-and-rescue satellite techniques to locate downed aircraft. Working with the ARRL and NASA, AMSAT developed manned-rated, space-qualified systems for amateur radio operation by Space Shuttle astronauts, many of whom have their amateur radio licenses. Project SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) is an ongoing program using Amateur Radio contact with the Space Shuttle to bring school children into direct radio contact with astronauts in space. Amateur repeaters and two-way communications equipment are operational aboard the Russian Mir space station. Work is in progress to have a permanent presence on the International Space Station. AMSAT organizations are located in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, North America, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and the UK. Also, AMSAT has cooperative programs at the University of Surrey in the UK, Weber State University in Utah, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Stanford University, National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Technion Institute of Technologies in Israel, and the University of Maryland. More than two dozen amateur satellites have been constructed, launched and operated in the amateur-satellite service, of which the majority are presently in operation. They include highly eliptical orbit communications satellites, numerous LEO digital store-and-forward packet radio satellites, and some LEO analog linear transponder satellites. The most-recent one is Mexico-OSCAR 30, built at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, September 5, 1996. Mailing address: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 600 Silver Spring, MD 20910-4703 Web page: http://www.amsat.orgAnnex III THE AMATEUR SERVICES 1International Regulation The Internationalirst experimental flight of a Sky Station to be launched from Fort Sumner, New Mexico (34.28 N 104.14 W) in July-August 1997. The purpose of the package is to work with Sky Station International in the initial phase as a learning exercise for permanent amateur packages aboard operational flights starting in 1999. The benefits of amateur participation in Sky Station experiments are: provision of environmental telemetry, assistance in identifying the recovery location, experience integrating a secondary payload on the balloon without interference to the main mission, and publicity of successful stratospheric communications. Key members of the amateur team are identified in Annex I. The lead Amateur Radio organization will be AMRAD, whose profile is given in Annex II along with those of other Amateur Radio organizations which may be involved as the experiment develops. Individual amateur stations in the United States may also participate by receiving transmissions from the amateur package. The Amateur Radio package will operate under AMRAD's club license in the Amateur Radio Service using frequencies already allocated to the service. As the balloon will fly less than 50 km above the Earth's surface, the package will operate within terrestrial amateur service rules, not those of the amateur-satellite service. Excerpts from the ITU Radio Regulations and Part 97 of the Federal Communications Commission's Rules may be found in Annex III. As the proposed package will operate within existing Rules, no waiver or experimental license is required. On March 1, 1997, a preliminary design meeting was held in Fairfax, Virginia with the AMRAD team, Dr. Huanchun Ye of Sky Station, Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) Vice President Dr Perry Klein, W3PK; and Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR) President Greg Jones, WD5IVD. A design concept of a position-reporting system using a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver was outlined at that meeting for an April-May flight. AMRAD made a proposal, which was not accepted for reasons internal to Sky Station International. On May 31, Dr. Sam Chen explained that the original flight was delayed until July or August because of late delivery of materials and that conditions were changed such that an amateur package can be invited. 2. Design Concept The initial flight may be: (a) a brief one-hour test of a half-volume balloon with an ion engine aboard, and/or (b) a free flying flight lasting several weeks. Only the latter flight would be of interest for the amateur package. (There will be continuing amateur interest in the October experimental flight and subsequent operational flights, but that it beyond the scope of this proposal.) The amateur package would be designed and constructed in Northern Virginia. One or more of the amateur team would travel to the launch site to install and activate the package. Once operational, the amateur package would operate under telecommand of designated amateur stations. The package would not transmit without the proper comma Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations define these services as: Amateur Service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. (RR S1.56) Amateur-Satellite Service: A radiocommunication service using space stations on earth satellites for the same purposes as those of the amateur service. (RR S1.57) The international regulations affecting the amateur services are found in Article S25 of the Radio Regulations. 2US Domestic Regulation In the US, the amateur service and amateur-satellite service are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission in accordance with Part 97 of the FCC Rules, which begins: §97.1 Basis and purpose. The rules and regulations in this Part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles: (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications. (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art. (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of the art. (d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.