[amsat-bb] Reception report of AO-73

[Paul Stoetzer]

No evidence of any distortion in the transponder on the 02:51 UTC pass
over North America. The satellite sounded just as strong as normal.
The beacon was strong and clear, though the pilot tone was FMing with
the traffic on the transponder. This is normal too.

73,

Paul, N8HM


On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 10:21 PM,  <alancresswell at xtra.co.nz> wrote:
> Solid telemetry over ZL on the 2112 UT and 2249 UT passes. (Not in eclipse)
> There was some minor scintillation late in the pass but that is not
> particularly unusual as it gets well to the South.
> The latest Solar Alert email I received indicated that "charging of
> satellites systems" was to be expected so indeed this may have affected
> AO-73.
>
> 73
> Alan
> ZL2BX
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Paul Stoetzer
> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 1:48 AM
> To: David
> Cc: amsat-bb at amsat.org
> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Reception report of AO-73
>
>
> David,
>
> There is a major geomagnetic storm ongoing at the moment (K index = 6)
> which could account for some of the signal distortion through the
> atmosphere. This solar storm started yesterday and it wouldn't
> surprise me if it was responsible for AO-73 shutting down and needing
> to be reset.
>
> The next pass here is at 02:51 UTC. I will be listening.
>
> 73,
>
> Paul, N8HM
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 7:05 PM, David <at746david at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi from David EA4SG.
>>
>> I send this short AO-73 SWL report hoping it could be useful to the
>> AO-73 Command Team.
>>
>> In the lasts two orbits (#7434 and #7435) over my QTH located in
>> Colmenar Viejo (Madrid) locator IN80CP, the bird reached AOS with the
>> transponder ON as expected, downlink signal was slightly weaker than
>> usual, modulation was quite distorted (similar to the one we get from
>> AO-7) and transponder switched off exactly at the expected "ilumination
>> time" (20:31UTC  and 22:08UTC).
>>
>> I was also listening to the telemetry and it was affected by the above
>> mentioned distorsion too. I didnt try, but I am sure that this
>> distortion will make telemetry harder to be decoded.
>>
>> Best 73s de David EA4SG
>>
>>
>>
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>
> _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb