OSCAR Telemetry decode and display circa 1991
This page is posted in response to individual requests for information about WHATS-UP. WHATS-UP is a tool for experimenting with orbital dynamics and Telemetry Decoding and display Program for the UoSAT-2, AMSAT-OSCAR 13, Fuji-OSCAR 20 and the AMSAT Microsat Spacecraft (OSCARs 16, 17, 18 and 19). It is table driven via the configuration files to allow maximum flexibility and easy addition of newer satellites. Over 120 pages of documentation explains more than you want to know about satellites and telemetry.
WHATS-UP is an advanced MS-DOS tool which allows you to capture, decode, display and extract for analysis telemetry from the following Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio (OSCAR).
- UoSAT-OSCAR 11 1200 baud ASCII Telemetry.
- AMSAT-OSCAR 13 50 baud RTTY Z blocks Telemetry.
- AMSAT-OSCAR 16, WEBER-OSCAR 18 and LUSAT-OSCAR 19 Binary Telemetry.
- DOVE-OSCAR 17 ASCII TLM packet Telemetry.
- Fuji-OSCAR 20 Status and Telemetry.
- AMSAT-OSCAR 21 packet telemetry.
- UoSAT-OSCAR 9 telemetry.
- Fuji-OSCAR 12 telemetry.
WHATS-UP contains the following features
- Can beacon [APRS] and/or automatically attempt a connect to MIR/SAREX Can automatically set Kenwood Radios to spacecraft beacon frequency when satellite comes over your horizon.
- Can automatically read the frequency from Kenwood Radios to a disk file for Doppler frequency measurements.
- Can automatically configure a TNC for each spacecraft data format.
- Reads 2 Line and AMSAT format orbit element data files.
- Provides antenna azimuth and elevation pointing data Real time, Playback and Dumb Terminal modes Automatic logging of AOS in LAN-LINK compatible logs for AOS time analysis Automatic Capture-to-disk of raw telemetry.
- Extracts telemetry channel data to a database or spreadsheet readable file for further analysis.
- Link quality measurement on packet telemetry.
- Capability to print the raw telemetry as it is received.
- Up to 16 user configurable display pages (screens)
- You set the position on the page (width of engineering unit field, and number of decimal places) that a parameter is displayed at Wild card page (parameter shows up on all pages).
- Selectable display of Engineering units or raw byte for each display page.
- Display of raw packets (i.e. STATUS) Color changes if a parameter value changed between successive frames.
- Audio and visual alarms if a telemetry value exceeds, falls below or falls outside a preset limit value(s).
- Dumb split screen terminal mode (in the manner of LAN-LINK).
- Customizable colors, PC to TNC baud rate, data parity and stop bits.
- Default spacecraft configuration files.
- Time of day clock display (in HHMMSS format).
Real time analysis requires a receiver and demodulator. Analysis of playback data can be performed with just the computer and WHATS-UP. If you would like an evaluation copy of WHATS-UP and have captured any telemetry to disk, especially daytime or southern hemisphere passes, please put them on a disk and send it in with your request, a mailer and return postage. Don’t let the individual data files become too long. I suggest that you rename them every day in the format YYMMDD.SC, such as 900824.D17, 900824.F20, etc.
Program Requirements
- IBM PC or clone with at least 256k memory.
- DOS (this was pre-Windows)
- A Radio receiver and a TNC with an RS-232 interface is only required for real time data capture.