Oscar 13

USA

Also called AO-13 or Phase 3C

Launch data:

Designation 19216 / 88051B
Launch date 15 Jun 1988
Launch siteKo, ELA-2
Launch vehicle Ariane-44LP (V22)
MissionCommunications
Earth orbit:
Perigee/Apogee 809/37995 km
Inclination 57.9°
Period 686.6 min

The country of origin should be Germany as the satellite project was led by AMSAT-DL.

Much improved brother to Oscar 10: it has the ability to automatically select transponders for each mode at different points in its orbit. However problems occured: it had a RUDAK experiment onboard that failed shortly after launch. Also, in June 1993, the 70 cm downlink transmitter ceased to function, putting an end to Mode J and L operation.

End of life

Decay 06 Dec 1996

Specifications

Prime contractor  
Platform  
Mass at launch 140 kg
Mass in orbit 90 kg
Dimension  
Solar array  
Stabilization Magnetorquer
DC power 50 W (NiCd battery)
Design lifetime  

Payload power: 145 MHz - 50 W; 435 MHz - 111 W; 2350 MHz - 1.25 W

general beacon 145.812 mhz (psk, cw, rtty)
engineering beacon 145.985 mhz (psk, cw, rtty)
mode b uplink 435.423 - 435.573 mhz (ssb, cw)
mode b downlink 145.825 - 145.975 mhz (ssb, cw, inverting)
general beacon 435.651 mhz (psk, rtty)
engineering beacon 435.677 mhz (psk, rtty)
mode l uplink 1269.351 - 1269.641 mhz (ssb, cw)
mode l downlink 435.715 - 436.005 mhz (ssb, cw, inverting)
mode j uplink 144.423 - 144.473 mhz (ssb, cw)
mode j downlink 435.940 - 435.990 mhz (ssb, cw, inverting)
beacon 2400.325 mhz (psk, rtty)
beacon 2400.664 mhz (psk, rtty)
mode s uplink 435.603 - 435.639 mhz (ssb, cw, fm)
mode s downlink 2400.711 - 2400.747 mhz (ssb, cw, fm)
rudak uplink 1269.710 mhz (inoperative)
rudak downlink 435.677 mhz (inoperative)

The beacon output alternates between CW, 50 baud RTTY and 400 bps PSK. Beacon transmissions contain satellite engineering data and bulletins from ground control.

Ref: #15 - update: 06.09.08