The Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT) is a small satellite designed and built by officer students, faculty, and staff at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). The main objective is to support the Space Systems Engineering and Space Systems Operations Curricula by providing a "hands-on" hardware project where exposure to the many facets of a space system development and life cycle can be experienced. The spacecraft itself provides digital, spread spectrum communications using the amateur radio 70 cm band. PANSAT further provides educational training while in orbit through a space-based laboratory for officer students at NPS.

While U.S. Naval officers have had a major role in the development of the spacecraft and ground system, the actual users of the small satellite will be the amateur community. Needless to say, the amateur community and the U.S. military have a longstanding, cooperative relationship. In this case, the Naval Postgraduate School is using amateur radio as an aspect of a purely educational endeavor. In return, the amateur community has a new resource available to them to investigate a modulation scheme which has been surrounded, in some cases, more by fear, than technical curiosity. I say "fear" because I've heard concerns of repeater operation in the 440 MHz area being impacted by PANSAT operation. But, the very nature of spread spectrum, especially from a space-based platform, is to work in the noise. That is, below the noise threshold of conventional (narrowband) receivers. Personally, though, I'll admit that spread spectrum was something of a mystery to me, but the longer I've been on the project, the smarter I've become -- at least on this modulation scheme -- and, I'm still learning. For those interested in learning more about spread spectrum, please see, "The ARRL Spread Spectrum Sourcebook," ARRL, 1991 for information on spread spectrum. Regardless of the perceptions and feelings of those on either side of the spread spectrum fence, PANSAT will provide a quantitative means of investigating the effects, if any, direct sequence spread spectrum communications has in the 70 cm band.

The amateur user will be able to work PANSAT's bulletin board system in a 9842 bps, simplex, direct sequence spread spectrum mode. Unlike some other amateur radio satellites, PANSAT does not have a beacon mode, and it does not have a 2 meter channel. This makes the system rather complex in that the same 436.5 MHz frequency is used for both the uplink and downlink.

As of this writing, PANSAT is one week on-orbit and we (NPS) have just, today (Friday 11/6/98), made the first connect with PANSAT and downloaded telemetry data. Like other packet radio satellites, PANSAT requires additional software to be uploaded, including the operating system and software for AX.25 and file transfers. However, before that happens, we want to see how the spacecraft is operating on its own; and we have some optimization still to be done on our ground system. So, we ask for your patience while we perform our initial spacecraft operations which could take a couple months or more. I can only offer as a consolation that the satellite is projected to be operational 4 to 6 years.

Is PANSAT a "secret Navy satellite?" The answer to that is quite frankly, "No." However, the PANSAT project has and will offer the U.S. Navy an invaluable resource in education. And, isn't that why we got into this radio stuff in the first place? To learn and to have fun while we're doing it? I think that was what many amateurs, if not all, had in mind in the FCC rule 97.113, (5)(c). I only bring this up in order to assure those of you in the amateur community that the PANSAT project is working in the spirit of ham radio and within the rules that govern it. We look forward to sharing more of what we learn together as PANSAT operators.

Thank you for your attention and '73

--- Dan Sakoda ---

KD6DRA

PANSAT Project Manager

11/6/98