How to hear SuitSat, what u need
By Miles Mann WF1F
SuitSat-1 was launched on schedule last Friday February 3rd 2006. Due
to an antenna system problem, the 500 milliwatts of transmitter power
is not making it all the way to the antenna. The exact cause of the power
transmitter power loss is not known.
As a result it is very difficult to copy the signals coming
from SuitSat-1. The SuitSat-1 transmitter and controller are still working.
The voice messages, Telemetry and SSTV image is still being sent every
9 minutes on a repeating cycle. The down link is just too weak for most
station to copy. If you do have a tracking antenna system then we would
like to hear from you if you are able to get some reliable telemetry information
from SuitSat.
Specifically what we need is the following:
Temperature: Every few minutes the voice will speak
the temperature.
Battery Voltage: Its on a 28 volt scale.
Date and time UTC you heard this data.
Location: where you are when you head this data.
At the beginning of each 9 minute cycle, the SuitSat-1 will ID and then
speak the Mission time, Temperature and voltage in this format:
This is SuitSat-1 RS0RS
Mission time is:
The temperature is: 21 degrees Celsius
The Battery voltage is: 27.4 Volts
If you hear CW, get ready to decode SSTV. The order will be a DTMF tone,
followed by the CW ID and then SSTV. This is also a good time to listen
for the System Telemetry. The Telemetry comes right after the SSTV image.
Then the whole process repeats.
What you Need to Hear SuitSat-1:
Antenna, High gain, 10+ dBd at least. (Circular
polarized antennas work better)
AZ/EL Rotor system
Mast Mounted Preamp
Very close pass, better than 40 degrees
How big is my antenna in Gain?
Just count the number of dipole elements that are
one/half wave long
1 = 0 dBd
2 = 3 dBd
4 = 6 dBd
8 = 9 dBd
16 = 12 dBd
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment
73 Miles WF1F
MAREX-MG
Until we meet again
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