SuitSat is Still Alive

Over this past week SuitSat reception reports have been received from around the world.

Everyone is in agreement that SuitSat's 145.990 MHz FM downlink signal is extremely weak. Using AMSAT's RF Link Budget spreadsheet along with data from well equipped
amateur satellite stations (and a few assumptions to fill in the gaps) calculations indicate that SuitSat's transmitter power is in the range of 1-10 milliwatts.

The following are representative of the SuitSat signal reports:

Reception reports from Kenneth, N5VHO and Nick, KC5KBO using the W5RRR station at the Johnson Space Center in Houston say, "Identifiable were brief portions of the English voice recording, the CW id and SSTV. The Telemetry data was just starting to be read when the signal faded below the noise level."

From Japan Kobayasi, JH0MHE copied SuitSat's signal peaking at 59+20dB on an EME system.

Mak, SV1BSX in Athens, Greece, using a 9 element vertically polarized Yagi antenna with his VHF All-Mode TRIO TR-9130 radio reported, "Suitsat SSTV signal heard on a pass over Eastern Europe at only 13° elevation! The signal was weak (no deflection on my S-meter) but 100% audible for few seconds in NBFM."

Keith, ZS6TW reported receiving SuitSat on a 50° pass using 2 X F9FT 17 elements yagis with 16dBd gain connected to a Yaesu FT-847. He copied the Russian language segment of the recorded message.

Stefan, VE4NSA in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada copied SuitSat on a 60° pass using a HyGain 216SAT 2M antenna with preamp connected to his Yaesu FT-847. He reported a weak FM signal S1-3, child voice making an announcement followed by male voice with strong fading.

Ed, N9AWP in Indiana reported hearing SuitSat's CW and SSTV signal followed by a heterodyne on a 53° elevation pass using an Arrow 3 element antenna connected to his Kenwood THF6A handheld in CW mode.

To listen to SuitSat recordings received around the world go to AJ's web page at http://www.aj3u.com.

SuitSat has continued to be covered by the popular press this past week. The Times Union in Albany, New York ran a story: http://timesunion.com/ss.asp?s=446685&c=&b=

The Times in London:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2027835,00.html

Gould, WA4SXM has written a PowerPoint presentation suitable for club talks. It is available on-line at:
http://www.reelfootarc.com/blg/article.php?id_art=31.
Follow the blog article and click the link to the presentation. It is 3MB in size.

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