[amsat-bb] Re: The need for telemetry data -or what happened to FO-29-

[Tony Langdon]

At 12:37 AM 5/1/2007, Stefan Wagener wrote:

>My question is, can the satellite user community at large come up 
>with a system that allows the routine capturing of satellite 
>telemetry? Is there a role that AMSAT can play? What would it take?

That seems like a good idea.  With traditional equipment, that 
usually means having a second receiver following the beacon.  Once 
the beacon is being received, appropriate software could be used to 
decode the telemetry.

With the advent of SDRs now and into the not too distant future, 
there are more options.  SDRs open the possibility of monitoring the 
entire passband, which means that the DSP filtering could 
simultaneously capture the telemetry, while you're working the 
satellite somewhere up the passband.  This also opens other 
possibilities, such as automatic power control (now there's NO excuse 
to be an alligator!), while collecting that telemetry.  Might be a 
good time for the software developers with DSP experience in the 
AMSAT community to team up with those working on SDRs.  The beacon 
can also be used as a reference for Doppler correction, in case one's 
PC clock is out by several seconds.

Telemetry servers such as the one that was setup for AO-40 could be a 
means of gathering all the telemetry, along with some form for 
offline distribution for those who don't have the Internet in their shack.

The solutions for traditional radios aren't as neat, because of the 
second receiver requirement, and the need for it to have computer 
control in addition to the primary gear, but some clever people might 
be able to come up with something for the masses...

73 de VK3JED
http://vkradio.com