[amsat-bb] Announcing EO-79 transponder testing for one full orbit

[Wouter Weggelaar]

Transponder activated at 0830UTC for 95 minutes.

Wouter PA3WEG


On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 8:52 PM, Wouter Weggelaar <wouterweg at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I can hereby confirm Tomorrows intended activation of the AMSAT-NL
> FUNcube-3 transponder on QB50p1 / EO-79.
> Date and time:Monday 4th of May, activation around 0830 UTC for one orbit.
>
> TLEs are in the normal repositories, COSPAR 2014-033-R, Object# 40025
>
> We would like people to try the following frequencies if possible:
> DOWNLINK: 145.960 USB
> UPLINK: Tune to match downlink +/- 435.065 LSB
> The transponder is linear inverting, nominally 30kHz wide, and approx.
> 500mW output.
>
> Also, If you find the transponder busy on those frequencies, feel free to
> move around and use the entire transponder passband.
> The passband seems to have a "dip" in the middle which is bigger than
> expected, but we do welcome feedback about the usability. Also, please
> limit your uplink power, as it looks like this transponder is as sensitive
> as FUNcube-1. The spacecraft antenna is a monopole, so we would also be
> interested in signal fading reports.
>
> The comissioning of the transponder done to date is very limited, three
> activations for 5, 10 and 8 minutes respectively. So your reports are
> greatly appreciated.
>
> We do understand this is a very short notice, but hope that some of you
> will be able to participate.
> This was a take-it-or-leave-it opportunity offered by the ISIS engineers
> for our consideration, and we are again very grateful to ISIS and VKI to
> give us this opportunity.
>
> Wouter PA3WEG
> FUNcube team
>
> On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 12:28 AM, Wouter Weggelaar <wouterweg at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I would like to inform you all that tomorrow, Monday 4th of may, there is
>> a fairly high chance we will be allowed to test the AMSAT-NL transponder
>> for one full orbit.
>>
>> Details will be made available on short notice, but we are aiming for an
>> activation starting at ~08:30 UTC and lasting until ~10:10 UTC.
>>
>> The aim is to characterize the power budget on board EO-79. So we
>> encourage the usage of this new transponder. Please also report the QSOs
>> and signal reports to pa3weg at amsat.org
>>
>> Wouter PA3WEG
>> AMSAT-NL
>>
>
>