[amsat-bb] Re: AO-73 Deaf again ????
Paul Stoetzer
n8hm at arrl.net
Thu Mar 13 19:03:44 PDT 2014
Peter,
One other thing to keep in mind is that the satellite is out of
eclipse during the last 2-4 minutes of each evening pass at your
latitude now, so the transponder will switch off as it passes to the
north. This period will grow longer and longer as we move towards the
northern summer solstice.
This shows you how much transponder time you have on your evening
passes tomorrow night:
14.03.2014 E 19:09:00 81.3 0.6 156.0 677 3007 39 49 1551 -
14.03.2014 E 19:10:00 73.8 2.5 158.6 676 2783 38 52 1551 -
14.03.2014 E 19:11:00 65.0 4.1 161.3 675 2608 36 56 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:12:00 55.1 5.3 163.9 673 2494 34 59 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:13:00 44.6 5.7 166.5 672 2451 32 63 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:14:00 34.0 5.3 169.1 670 2482 29 66 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:15:00 23.9 4.2 171.8 668 2585 25 70 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:16:00 15.0 2.5 174.4 666 2751 20 73 1551 -
14.03.2014 19:17:00 7.2 0.6 177.0 664 2969 12 76 1551 -
14.03.2014 E 20:42:00 134.8 1.4 144.3 680 2907 20 32
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:43:00 131.4 5.1 146.9 680 2522 19 36
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:44:00 126.7 9.5 149.6 679 2151 18 40
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:45:00 119.9 14.8 152.2 678 1804 17 43
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:46:00 109.3 21.0 154.8 677 1499 15 47
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:47:00 92.8 27.5 157.5 676 1270 14 50
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:48:00 69.1 31.4 160.1 675 1163 13 54
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 20:49:00 43.7 29.4 162.7 674 1211 11 58
1552 -
14.03.2014 20:50:00 24.4 23.4 165.3 672 1400 9 61 1552 -
14.03.2014 20:51:00 12.0 16.8 168.0 671 1681 6 65 1552 -
14.03.2014 20:52:00 4.0 11.1 170.6 669 2016 3 68 1552 -
14.03.2014 20:53:00 358.7 6.4 173.2 667 2381 358 71
1552 -
14.03.2014 20:54:00 354.9 2.4 175.8 665 2762 352 75
1552 -
14.03.2014 E 22:18:00 185.9 0.9 140.5 681 2965 357 27
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:19:00 188.7 4.6 143.1 680 2573 356 31
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:20:00 192.5 9.0 145.8 680 2190 355 34
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:21:00 198.0 14.5 148.4 679 1823 354 38
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:22:00 206.5 21.4 151.0 678 1486 353 41
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:23:00 220.8 29.8 153.6 678 1206 352 45
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:24:00 245.3 37.5 156.3 677 1034 350 49
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:25:00 277.8 37.9 158.9 676 1024 349 52
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 22:26:00 303.4 30.6 161.5 674 1181 347 56
1553 -
14.03.2014 22:27:00 318.6 22.0 164.2 673 1452 345 59
1553 -
14.03.2014 22:28:00 327.6 14.9 166.8 672 1784 343 63
1553 -
14.03.2014 22:29:00 333.3 9.3 169.4 670 2149 340 66
1553 -
14.03.2014 22:30:00 337.3 4.7 172.0 668 2530 336 70
1553 -
14.03.2014 22:31:00 340.3 1.0 174.7 666 2921 331 73
1553 -
14.03.2014 E 23:59:00 252.1 1.4 149.8 679 2904 329 40
1554 -
The most obvious cause of deafness is certainly alligators though. The
satellite appears to be functioning fine. The FUNcube Handbook says
that the AGC range of the transponder is 43 dB. Perhaps someone more
knowledgeable about how transponders operate can put into perspective
how that translates in real-life usage.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 7:02 PM, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)
<amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net> wrote:
> Paul,
>
> I had replied directly to Peter earlier today, and we have had a nice
> exchange discussing what he reported and what I saw on passes last
> night. I can expand on what I saw last night on two AO-73 passes...
>
> The pass you referenced was a 58-degree western pass around 0535 UTC.
> Unfortunately, I was the only one on the transponder (as W1AW/7), so
> I did more tests with my transmitter power. I was able to cut my power
> down from 5W to 500mW and still hear myself loudly and clearly through
> the transponder. And it was nice outside (around 68F/20C at 10.35pm
> local time). The 145.935 MHz telemetry downlink sounded loud, but I
> did not copy it with the software (my laptop was not out with me).
>
> At 0401 UTC, an eastern pass with maximum elevation of 11 degrees
> where I lose the first 3 or 4 degrees in that direction due to mountains,
> I had a hard time getting through in the first couple of minutes. I
> heard a QSO on the transponder, and one station was very loud. I was
> able to finally hear myself at the center of the transponder, and make
> one QSO (as W1AW/7) with CO6CBF. I didn't move around to find the other
> station, so my only QSO on that pass was with Hector.
>
> For both passes, I used a pair of FT-817NDs, transmitting at 5W to my
> Elk handheld 2m/70cm log periodic (except for part of the western pass
> where I cut my power to 500mW).
>
> The suggestion of trying VO-52 in particular is a good one. If the
> setup works for VO-52, it should do fine with AO-73. I'll be on at
> least one AO-73 pass this evening as W1AW/7 (0423 UTC, maximum
> elevation 19 degrees), and - if anyone will be up for the later pass -
> I will stick around for the 0559 UTC pass (maximum elevation 33
> degrees). Or maybe I will swap antennas on the later pass, going with
> something other than the log periodic...
>
> 73!
>
>
>
>
> Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
> http://www.wd9ewk.net/
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 3:20 PM, Paul Stoetzer <n8hm at arrl.net> wrote:
>
>> Peter,
>>
>> Not any evidence from Europe, but WD9EWK reported good downlink
>> signals from AO-73 on a westerly pass from his QTH in Arizona while
>> running just 500 mW to an Elk antenna last night.
>>
>> The AAR29 AO-73 log page also reports several QSOs from Europe today:
>> http://aar29.free.fr/sat/ao73/ao73log.php
>>
>> Have you checked VO-52 and AO-7 Mode B passes to rule out a problem on
>> your end?
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
>> Washington, DC
>>
>>
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