Jan. 26: Orbital Sciences Minotaur with JAWSAT, FalconSat, ASUSat 1 and OPAL (Orbiting Picosat Automatic Launcher) carrying STENSAT, MASAT (Miniature Amateur Radio Satellite), DARPA/Aerospace Corp Picosat and Artemis Picosat spacecraft from SSI Commercial Spaceport at Vandenberg AFB, CA. Launch window extends from 10:03 PM to 1:04 AM EST (0303 to 0604 GMT on Jan. 27).There is some basic information from Weber State University on JAWSAT. Technically speaking, JAWSAT is the satellite deployment platform, and two subsystems will be left on with be ACP and the experiment it is processing data for. ACP [Attitude Controlled Platform] is what will be really doing the work on JAWSAT once the other satellites are deployed. Its primary mission will be digital, operating at up to 38.4 kbps. Like SUNSAT, it has a number of communication modes it is capable of running in. Data collection needs for scientific experiments onboard will take priority. It is hoped that it will be able to run in mode J-FM ('bent pipe' mode) full-time if resources permit and perhaps operate in other modes, such as an occasional packet beacon at 2.4 GHz. For those preparing S-band receivers for P3D within the satellite coverage area of one of the control stations (Huntsville, AL and Odgen, UT), it is hoped that most of the data transmission will be done at 2.4 GHz. Mode J-FM, when enabled, may be allocated limited power (like AO-27) or run at higher power only part of the time. Of course, this is if resources permit, and full deployment is successful. After several months, the data intensive phase of the scientific experiments should be finished and other experimentation may be possible.-- http://www.flatoday.com/space/next/sked.htm
A recent news article also discusses some of the technology aboard JAWSAT and some of the scientific results that might be possible from this satellite.
Being launched with JAWSAT is FalconSat, but what's currently on-line via the WWW is quite stale. At one point, 'Thunder' was going to be sent, which was to test a communications concept for use on a flight to Pluto. But that is apparently no longer the case and FalconSat is only included here because it is mentioned the news report, as it is not an amateur satellite.
Arizona State University has built and delivered ASUSAT 1. If all goes well, it should be operating in mode J-FM at moderate power levels as well as supporting digital communications. See their WWW site for additional details.
Stanford University has built OPAL, the picosat launcher which will be responsible for launching the following 'picosats'. OPAL itself will include packet radio transmissions operating at 9600 bps in 70cm band, which will be used for the scientific payloads on the launcher itself.
From a group of amateur enthusiasts in the Washington DC area, STENSAT is another 'picosat' which will carry a J-FM transponder. Operating at either 100mw or 250mw, it may be more challenging to hear than AO-27, but, like the other satellites described here, probably will not need to be operating on a restricted schedule as is AO-27. One interesting aspect of this project is that the transceiver uses off-the-shelf parts and parts of this approach look like they may have potential homebrew applications here on the ground.
Alas, a number of WWW searches yielded no detailed information on MASAT. The best i've found are some early slides on the project.[There was an old link to the 'Hockypuck' picosat, still present on one of the OPAL pages, but the callsign associated with those pages has been replaced with a 'vanity' callsign and a replacement URL was not be readily found. I previously recall this being a J-FM bird, but that information is not reliable. -- KD6PAG]
Designed by an all women team at Santa Clara University, Artemis, like the OPAL mothership, will be a amateur packet radio system supporting scientific applications. Like STENSAT, it will be interesting to look at the final transceiver design for terrestrial application.
-- KD6PAG