FOX-1 AO-85 Cube Satellite
Fox-1A is now in orbit as AMSAT-OSCAR 85 (AO-85)
AMSAT Fox-1 – 1-kilogram CubeSat features an amateur radio FM voice repeater that will provide easy portable satellite communications opportunities for amateur radio operators worldwide. The satellite will also test a MEMS Gyro and a low energy proton experiment.
GRACE (Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment) is the name of the NRO auxiliary payload that will carry a total of 13 CubeSats, including AMSAT FOX-1, with nine sponsored by the NRO and four sponsored by NASA, to space as part of NROL-55, scheduled to launch October 8, 2015, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.
FOX-1A / AO-85 Operating Tips and Ettiquette
Brief communications is the name of the SAT game:
Listen FIRST, if open
Call ONCE, "CQ N8ABC", listen
Heard acknowledgement, "N8ABC N6JSX QSL EN70"
Confirm with, "N6JSX N8ABC QSL DM43 73"
Heard call "CQ K9ABC"
Acknowledge with " K9ABC N6JSX QSL EN70"
Heard respose " N6JSX K9ABC QSL EN44"
Confirm with "K9ABC N6JSX QSL 73"
Remember you are not the only one using the satellite. Do not get discouraged if you do not connect. At the satellite, it is one big DX-Pile-up.
"CQ" on FM sats is generaly not preferred practice. Call and grid square is preferred, as shown above.
Fox1A / AO-85 Doppler Shift Correction and Frequency Settings:
Acquisition of Signal (AOS); Loss of Signal (LOS)
[ Varying the receive frequency --> RX +/- 0.5MHZ on AOS/LOS can help ]
Video: FOX-1A CubeSat Deployment to Orbit
Fox-1A deployment from the P-POD in the NPSCuL on the Centaur Stage, October 8, 2015.
The order top to bottom in the P-POD: ARC1, BisonSat, and Fox-1A.
Video: FOX-1A CubeSat launch 2015-10-08
Video: NASA Briefing on CubeSat Program
FOX-1A / AO-85 Keplerian elements:
There are seven to eight elements that define a satellite orbit.
The basic orbital elements are:
Epoch
Orbital Inclination
Right Ascension of Ascending Node (R.A.A.N.)
Argument of Perigee
Eccentricity
Mean Motion
Mean Anomaly
Drag (optional)
The element set epoch uses year, numerical day of year and decimal fraction of the day. NASA has a handy perpetual day of year calendar HERE.
Keplerian Elements are sometimes called KEPs or Two-Line Elements(TLEs). Keplerian Elements are used in a mathematical model to time the position of the satellite in the sky. A detailed description of how the elements can be used to estimate position (x,y,z) and velocity (x,y,z) of a satellite, in the sky, is contained in the following report: SPACETRACK REPORT NO. 3 "Models for Propagation of NORAD Element Sets"
FOX-1 AO-85 - KEPs From AMSAT Oct 8, 2015
1 99992U 15281.53437500 .00015007 00000-0 15580-2 0 00009
2 99992 064.7657 291.6734 0216442 282.3705 182.7702 14.73904028000019
FOX-1A AO-85 Oct 13, 2015 from http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/satellite/cube-nano-picosats/fox/
1 90747U 15286.49403807 +.00001891 +00000-0 +21258-3 0 00074
2 90747 064.7778 276.6321 0217755 280.3643 225.3523 14.74250622000597
AO-85 Oct 15, 2015 from http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm
1 40967U 15288.45410647 .00001717 00000-0 19463-3 0 00095
2 40967 064.7786 270.6978 0217887 279.7064 188.0541 14.74257447000881
AO-85 Oct 23, 2015 from http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm
1 40967U 15058D 15296.39702964 .00003345 00000-0 36061-3 0 00196
2 40967 064.7805 246.6364 0218054 277.4590 223.9805 14.74306821002055
AO-85 Oct 29, 2015 from http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm
1 40967U 15058D 15302.30036689 .00001904 00000-0 21334-3 0 00240
2 40967 064.7795 228.7545 0217878 275.5719 236.2101 14.74335309002925
AO-85 Nov 05, 2015 from http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm
1 40967U 15058D 15309.34512913 .00001833 00000-0 20584-3 0 00315
2 40967 064.7782 207.4152 0217970 273.4912 187.1222 14.74363405003965
TLE encoding example - The reference number line below the row of dashes is an aid to count character positions from 1 to 69
ISS (ZARYA)
1 25544U 98067A 04236.56031392 .00020137 00000-0 16538-3 0 9993
2 25544 51.6335 344.7760 0007976 126.2523 325.9359 15.70406856328903
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 reference number line
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Description of each TLE Line:
2 25544 51.6335 344.7760 0007976 126.2523 325.9359 15.70406856328903
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 reference number line
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Note, The checksum is computed as follows:
Start with zero.
For each digit in the line, add the value of the digit.
For each minus sign, add 1.
For each plus sign, add 2 (or maybe 0, depending on who created the element set and when)
For each letter, blank, or period, don't add anything.
Subtract the least significant digit of the result from 10, (that is, compute the modulo 10). Result is the check digit.
FOX Operating Guide
AMSAT Journal FOX Launch Special Issue
Fox-1 Cubesat AMSAT website
AO-85 Telemetry Data log files website