PP NOALL
DE NNN0ASA 139
P 211235Z DEC 2006
FM NNN0ASA VA
TO NNN0ALL
ZEN/AAA9A AZ
ZEN/AGA3C IL
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ: MARSCOM SATELLITE INITIAL OPERATIONS
1. THE FOLLOWING WAS RECEIVED FROM NNN0APR MDE, ON THE LATEST STATUS
OF THE MARSCOM SATELLITE:
QUOTE
FOR ALL NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS AND ALL ARMY AND AF MARS:
AT 0156Z ON 21 DECEMBER, THE MARSCOM SATELLITE WILL DEPLOY FROM THE
SPACE SHUTTLE AND BEGIN OPERATING. IT'S PACKET CALLSIGN IS NMARS AND
WE INVITE ALL ACTIVE MARS MEMBERS TO TRY TO COPY ITS WEAK SIGNAL ON
------ MHZ +/- 2 KHZ. THE MODE WILL BE AX.25 PACKETS BUT IN SSB
MODE.
IT WILL ONLY TRANSMIT ONE PACKET A MINUTE UNLESS WE HAVE USERS
PINGING THE SPACECRAFT. TO PING NMARS, SIMPLY SEND AN UNPROTO PACKET
VIA NMARS ON THE NAVY MARS UPLINK OF ------- FM STANDARD PACKET. IF
THE SPACE CRAFT HEARD YOU, IT SHOULD DIGIPEAT THE PACKET. THIS WILL
GIVE YOU A SIGNAL TO TUNE IN AS THE DOPPLER CHANGES.
THE PRIMARY MISSION OF MARSCOM WILL EVENTUALLY BE FOR VOICE NETS, BUT
THE COMMAND AND CONTROL REQUIRES PACKET. AND SO WE CANNOT ACTIVATE
THE VOICE TRANSPONDER UNTIL WE HAVE COMMAND. THIS WILL BE HARD
DUE TO THE DOPPLER AND SSB DOWNLINK.
SO WE INVITE ALL MARS STATIONS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF PACKET, TO PING ON
------- FOR THE FIRST DAY OR SO OF OPERATION DURING PASSES OF THE
SPACE SHUTTLE (THEY WILL BE IN SIMILAR ORBITS FOR THE FIRST FEW
DAYS).
PLEASE MONITOR THE ------- FREQUENCY BEFORE TRANSMITTING BECAUSE IT
IS A VERY COMMON INPUT OR OUTPUT TO OVER 60 NAVY MARS REPEATERS
ACROSS THE USA. IT IS OFTEN PAIRED WITH ------- MHZ SO CHECK BOTH
FREQUENCIES TO MAKE SURE A NET IS NOT IN PROGRESS BEFORE TRANSMITTING
TO THE SATELLITE ON -------.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE
HTTP://WWW.EW.----------------/MARSCOM.HTML
BOB --------, NNN0APR
US NAVAL ACADEMY SATELLITE LAB
ANNAPOLIS, MD
UNQUOTE
NOTE: THE SATELLITE OPERATES 1200 BAUD VHF PACKET.
2. A LATER E-MAIL UPDATE INDICATES MARSCOM WAS SUCCESFULLY DEPLOYED
AND NNN0APR REPORTS THAT TELEMETRY HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE
SATELLITE INDICATING BATTERIES ARE CHARGING UP.
3. NAVMARCORMARS: PROUDLY SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE.
BT
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