Mission type Amateur radio SATCAT no. 6236 Launch site Vandenberg SLC-2W Inclination 101.7° Period 1.9 hours Rocket Delta 0100 | COSPAR ID 1972-082B Launch mass 18.2 kilograms (40 lb) Reference system Geocentric Inclination 101.7° Launch date 15 October 1972 Last contact 21 June 1977 | |
Similar Australis‑OSCAR 5, OSCAR 1, AMSAT‑OSCAR 7, UoSAT‑1, UoSAT‑2 | ||
AO-6 (a.k.a. AMSAT-OSCAR 6) was the first Phase 2 amateur radio satellite (P2-A) launched into Low Earth Orbit. It was also the first satellite constructed by the new AMSAT North America (AMSAT-NA) organization.
The satellite was launched October 15, 1972 by a Delta 300 launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. AO-6 was launched piggyback with ITOS-D (NOAA 2).
Weight 18.2 kg. Orbit 1450 x 1459 km. Inclination 101.7 degrees. Box shaped 430 x 300 x 150 mm. Quarter-wave monopole antennas (144 and 435 MHz) and half-wave dipole antenna (29 MHz). It remained operational for 4.5 years until a battery failure on June 21, 1977.
Equipped with solar panels powering NiCd batteries, AO-6 provided 24 V at 3.5 W power to three transponders. It carried a Mode A transponder (100 kHz wide at 1 W) and provided store-and-forward morse and teletype messages (named Codestore) for later transmission. Subsystems were built in the United States, Australia, and Germany.
AO-6 had a 1.3 watt transmitter into a half-wave dipole antenna. AO-6's receiver input sensitivity was approximately -100dbm (2 uv per meter) and had an AGC that provided up to 26 dB of gain reduction optimized for SSB modulation. The transceiver team consisted of Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC, Wallace Mercer W4RUD, Dick Daniels WA4DGU and Jan King W3GEY.
Firsts
AO-6 demonstrated several uses of new technologies and operations.