[amsat-bb] Delfi-C3 / DO-64 status update January 2nd 2009 14:00 UTC

[Wouter Jan Ubbels]

Hi all,

please find a status update of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 satellite below.

1. On behalf of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 team we would like to wish you
all a very happy 2009!

2. Delfi-C3 is currently operational in basic mode, transmitting housekeeping
telemetry at 1200Bd BPSK AX.25 on 145.870MHz. Basic mode is the "safest"
mode the spacecraft can be in, since it transmits continuously and
furthermore commanding is easiest when in this mode. The craft has
been in this mode for a while so that we can analyze a possible issue
with the linear transponder :(. As some of you may have noticed, the
transponder has been hard to access during its last weeks of
operation, contrary to the first weeks where it performed fine. We
have performed a number of tests in order to assess this issue, up
till now it seems like the issue is in the receiver frontend. Over the
coming weeks, we will continue to investigate this issue, so whenever
the satellite is over Europe and in range of our groundstation, it may
be switched to transponder mode. In this mode, a CW beacon is
transmitted at 145.870MHz. When you hear the satellite in this mode,
please DO NOT transmit to the satellite until further notice. This
will allow us to further characterize the issue and work out a
solution, if possible.

3. All other subsystems continue to perform fine on orbit.

4. In the meantime, telemetry can still be received using the RASCAL
software package, and forwarded to our server. We have again received
a lot of frames already from various hams worldwide, thank you all for
your efforts! Note that the primary server at 83.138.144.157 is not
operational, but the backup server is and will continue to be
operational.

5. During our free time at Christmas, we have implemented a number of
improvements / bug fixes in RASCAL, the most noticeable one being an
improved tuning range of the demodulator, allowing the input audio
carrier to be between 900 and 2300Hz, instead of 1400-1800Hz. This
makes tuning much easier.
These fixes have been implemented in RASCAL version 1.1.0, which is
available for download as of now from the website at:

http://www.delfic3.nl/rascal

on this page, in the "upgrading RASCAL" paragraph, you can also find
instructions on how to upgrade to this newer version without losing your
original settings and telemetry repository.

73 on behalf of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 team,

Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ