[amsat-bb] CAS-2T & HO68 Beacon Report

[Clayton W5PFG]

My assumption is that people listening for the CAS-2T beacon have not 
been patient the last few days. It is not continuously transmitting as 
it was after launch. There is a very long pause between transmissions 
(several minutes.) I copied the same series of letters as K8YSE/7 yesterday.

There might be some confusion on reporting satellite operational status 
on the AMSAT OSCAR Status Page (http://www.amsat.org/status.)

"Not Heard" can be subjective. Either the transponder was not heard or 
the beacon was not heard. My opinion is to only use "Not Heard" when you 
have tried the transponder and telemetry/beacon frequencies. Only if you 
do not hear either one should you report "Not Heard."

73
Clayton
W5PFG

On 11/25/2016 12:26, John Papay wrote:
> Some are reporting hearing the beacon of
> CAS-2T, however, I had not been hearing it
> for the past few days.  Yesterday I set it on
> the Beacon Frequency and waited without tuning
> around.  Sure enough it was eventually heard,
> but not in a continuous stream. It would send
> "CE" and then go silent for a while.  Then it
> would send "CASS" and go silent, maybe for a minute
> or two before sending "CE" again.  No response on
> the voice repeater frequency.  In the past it had
> stuttered when activated.
>
> The HO-68 beacon was heard on frequency sending the
> data but often times it would stop sending in the middle
> of the data group.  It would go off for some time and then
> come back sending a few characters before going off again.
> The beacon frequency has been absolutely stable
> for years.  Frequency settings have not been changed here
> for years and it is always right there every time.
>
> 73,
> John K8YSE/7