ARLA/CLUSTER: AO-85 tem as baterias esgotadas

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

AO-85 turned off due to return of eclipses and poor battery condition

At 1114 UTC February 6, 2019, AO-85 was commanded OFF until further
notice, due to return of eclipses and poor battery condition as noted
by Mark Hammond, N8MH, control operator.

Beginning in December, 2018 AO-85 had issues with the batteries
dropping precariously low during eclipse. The Engineering and the
Operations Teams think it's likely the batteries suffered degradation
due to heat during previous periods of no eclipses.

This made it difficult to keep the satellite available for use
with-out further endangering the batteries. On December 19 the
nominally 3.6v battery pack was down to 2.8v at the end of the eclipse
which is dangerously low.

In an effort to extend the usable life of the satellite, both the IHU
and the transmitter were turned off at this time which ceased all
transmissions, including the beacons every two minutes in both sunlit
and eclipsed parts of the orbit.

AO-85 was turned back on during the next period of no eclipse, full
sun illumination which began on January 24, 2019. The repeater was
enabled for regular use. AO-85 occasionally reset due to low voltage
on it's batteries and operated in SAFE MODE.

February 4 marked the end of the recent full illumination period with
periodic eclipses. The battery condition began to deteriorate again.
The satellite health will be tracked with periodic telemetry
transmissions when commanded by a control operator.

The next full illumination periods without eclipses for AO-85 will be
June 7-19, 2019 and the next in early September, 2019.

During this time it is important to leave AO-85 tracked in your
FoxTelem setups, in order for us to gather telemetry and keep tabs on
the situation. If you do happen to hear a Veronica beacon, or either
the normal repeater or the COR/no telemetry repeater, please let the
amsat-bb list know, or send an email to ko4ma  amsat.org

The Data-Under-Voice (DUV) telemetry is decoded and uploaded to the
Fox Data Warehouse with the Fox Telem software available on the AMSAT
web: http://www.amsat.org/tlm/leaderboard.php?id=0&db=FOXDB

Stations not equipped to receive and decode the telemetry can monitor
the latest reports at: http://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=1&port=

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we try to make the
most of the situation. Please consider supporting the AMSAT GOLF
project with your membership, and one-time or recurring donations at
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/
or https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Thanks to Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations, and Mark
Hammond, N8MH, AO-85 control operator and ANS for the above
information