[amsat-bb] Alsat-1N (Pratham ) - Update

[Scott]

Hello Ken & everyone.

Hoping to confirm Ken's possible Pratham CW beacon reception, I was
tracking Pratham on a max 56° pass down the USA East Coast at 14:46 UTC
today.

No signal was seen where it "should" have been, but a strong and clear CW
beacon appeared below the expected frequency.

Replay of the recording with appropriate demod revealed that the CW in
question translated to "M O V E 1".

A Google search lead me to object 39439, cubesat "First Move" which
transmits the MOVE1 CW beacon on 145.970.

Adding that satellite to Orbitron and walking back to the time of my pass,
the First Move satellite was indeed in the area (trailing the expected
track of Pratham).

Running the simulation back to Ken's reception report at 09:45 UTC, First
Move was also in his area.  And, according to the footprint in Orbitron,
First Move would have just been in range of the UK - in fact very close if
the time was closer to 09:50 UTC.

I don't know if this is the CW that Ken might have heard, but in any event
I unfortunately did not see any transmissions around 145.980 on this
morning's pass here that might correlate to Pratham.

-Scott,  K4KDR
Montpelier, VA  USA

=================================

On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 9:31 AM, GW1FKY--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
wrote:

> Hi again,
> I listened for Alsat-1N ( Pratham ) on the subsequent pass -same frequency
> and equipment but also with an update to the keps. Those issued on the  BBS
> posting.
> I regret to inform you that I heard nothing ?    The pass was  lower and in
> a sector were I have difficulty
> due to screening and reflection problems - Weather had also changed with
> very low cloud,mist and rain.
> Even AO-73 would not decode the dashboard data in the same sector during
> the same period.
>
> I am certain about hearing a CW  beacon in the previous  pass.
> I had been setting up my gear for an AO-73 in that earlier pass and had USB
>  selected for the downlink data.
>
> Noticed that Alsat-1N  was also approaching in the same ball part of  time
> so decided to have a listen on the
> 145.980 Mhz frequency.    That was when I started to hear  the CW beacon
> but still had USB selected I selected CW and got a better copy as  it
> approached.
> I wish that I been set up to record but of course was not planning for that
>  particular satellite and pass.
> Had I done so it would have been useful to clarify any doubt about things
> and I am unsure why the subsequent pass showed no activity.
> Hopefully the satellite is alive and active and someone else also monitored
>  and maybe even recorded the pass.
> Ken Eaton
> GW1FKY
>
>