[amsat-bb] Re: AO 73

[Burns Fisher]

Hi Rich,

The minimum equipment to receive is pretty small.  I think it depends in
detail on what you want to do.   The signal is nice and strong in the
daytime when you would be doing school experiments.  When Funcube is in
sun, it turns off the ham transponder and uses all it's downlink power on
the telemetry beacon.

To give you an idea of what you need, I have been able to hear AO73 on an
HT with rubber ducky.  I have not tried to decode anything that way, and I
would not necessarily recommend that, but it IS easy to receive.  For my
telemetry station, I am using a Funcube Dongle Pro Plus (I also used and
older Pro non-Plus), a M3 Eggbeater 2M antenna and a preamp out at the
antenna.  The antenna is not well placed.  It maybe 6 feet above the ground
between my house and the woods, but with a clearish view to the southeast.
 I am generally able to get dozens of packets per daytime pass depending on
the azimuth and altitude of the pass.  At night when the beacon power is a
lot lower, I am more likely to get a few packets up to a couple dozen,
again depending on the azimuth and altitude.  I can generally receive
successfully on 2 or three passes in the morning and 1 or 2 passes in the
evening.  Obviously, you can get more with a beam of some sort, and the act
of pointing is itself interesting science.

73,

Burns W2BFJ


On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 8:50 AM, Rich/wa4bue <richard.siff at verizon.net>wrote:

> Hi All
>
> Just getting back to A0 73.  Found AO 73 in the CELTEX file, that was
> great. Is the data signal stable as compared to the transponder?  If not
> what is the technique for tracking the drift?  I would like to try to
> implement at school by April.  With a little luck we will have the upgraded
> Portable SATCOM running next week.  Once it is up I will try to get some IT
> guys setting up the dash board.
>
> Also what is the minimal antenna to copy AO 73?  We have picked up a
> second school and looking at a 3rd one maybe next year,
>
> Your answers will be a great help.
>
> God Bless
>
> Rich W4BUE
> K4AMG.org
> W4FOS HS Radio Club
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "M5AKA" <m5aka at yahoo.co.uk>
> To: "AMSAT BB" <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 6:37 AM
> Subject: [amsat-bb] New Guide Promotes FUNcube-1's Educational Value
>
>
>  ARRL Education & Technology Program (ETP) Director Mark Spencer, WA8SME
>> has developed a new FUNcube guide, see
>>
>>
>> http://www.arrl.org/news/new-guide-promotes-funcube-1-s-educational-value
>>
>>
>> ----
>> 73 Trevor M5AKA
>> AMSAT-UK
>> website http://amsat-uk.org/
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>> ----
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