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KA9LCF > NEWS 17.06.12 06:03l 47 Lines 1673 Bytes #999 (0) @ ALLIN
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Subj: ARN: Ham Radio in Space
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Sent: 120616/0435Z 36876@KA9LCF.#NEIN.IN.USA.NOAM [167962]FBB7.01.35 alpha $:36
From: KA9LCF@KA9LCF.#NEIN.IN.USA.NOAM
To : NEWS@ALLIN
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: BATTERIES FAIL ON SUMBABDILLASAT
More problems for the South Africa built SumbabdilaSat ham
radio satellite. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley,
KI7UP, tells us the latest on the seemingly problem prone
bird:
--
South Africa Amsat reports that the satellites batteries on
SumbandilaSat have failed which means that the satellite is
only active when the solar panels are illuminated.
The report from SA-Amsat says that the satellite recovery
team at SunSpace is still incrementally reading back the
program code from the nine power modules. This, in an
effort to determine the extent of the problem. But with
SumbandilaSat going through eclipses, the satellite is not
available for as long each day as the team would like.
According to Johann Lochner, ZR6CBC, because of the shorter
illumination of the solar panels in the Southern hemisphere
winter and poor orientation of the satellite with respect to
the sun, progress is much slower than originally
anticipated. Lochner said that there where three passes to
work with in January but this month they currently have one.
That said, ZR6CBC says that SumbandilaSat is responding when
it is in full sunlight. As such, the recovery team is
confident that some operations will be restored. He says
that it may even be possible to do some imaging and have the
amateur radio transponder back in operation. However, no
one will speculate as to when.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
--
Updates on the condition of SumbandillaSat can be found on-
line at www.amsatsa.org.za (SA AMSAT)
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