[amsat-bb] LilacSat-2 Transponder active over N America 13:15 UTC

[Paul Stoetzer]

I hope to be able to catch it at some point. I was on the 09:51 UTC
pass over the Atlantic, but only heard the familiar telemetry bursts
of the satellite in it's default mode.

Keep in mind that this transponder is entirely done in software - the
second software defined linear transponder to fly after the ARISSat-1
transponder. Being non-inverting adds a bit of a challenge for manual
operators, but nothing that can't be handled.

LilacSat-2 is a neat satellite. When turned on it's been in FM
transponder mode most often, but the on-board SDR also has programming
for an APRS digipeater as well as a linear transponder as we've seen
the past couple of days. Unfortunately, it suffers from periodic
resets and resets to a telemetry only mode, so you never really know
whether or not it will be on when it comes over.

73,

Paul, N8HM

On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 9:18 AM, KO6TZ Bob <my.callsign at verizon.net> wrote:
> Clayton,
>
> Thanks for the "Heads-Up" worked perfect.  A couple of taps on the "-" key
> and SatPC32 tracked the satellite perfect.  Had a QSO with Glenn.  Nice
> sounding transponder.
>
> KO6TZ
> Bob
>
>
> I should have been a little more clear in my email earlier.  The
> transponder on LilacSat-2 active today was not the normal FM one but
> rather a SSB transponder.  It is experimental and has no AGC according
> to the reports from Twitter.  I'd suggest paying attention to the
> AMSAT OSCAR status page (http://www.amsat.org/status) and following
> BG2BHC on Twitter for operational updates.
>
> I was using manual control but you can add this line to your
> DOPPLER.SQF.  It will need some minor calibration:
>
> LILACSAT-2,437200.0,144362.0,USB,USB,NOR,0,0,SSB Transponder
>
> 73
> Clayton
> W5PFG
>
> On Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 9:26 AM, Clayton Coleman <kayakfishtx at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> This morning, Glenn AA5PK, and I had a QSO via the experimental
>> transponder activated on LilacSat-2.  It was very interesting and fun.
>> A non-inverting mode J transponder was new to me.
>>
>> Using manual tuning to adjust for Doppler shift proved to be a small
>> challenge as I am more accustomed to operating on a transponder like
>> FO-29.  Running SDR in parallel to my Icom IC-9100 gave me a good
>> visual representation of the transponder pass band.
>>
>> You can listen to a brief clip of our QSO here:
>>
>
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