HO-68 operating schedule Feb 9-21

Alan Kung, BA1DU has released the latest operating schedule for the popular amateur radio satellite HO-68

Since HO-68, also known as Xi Wang 1 (XW-1), was launched on December 15 hundreds of contacts have been made through its cross-band transponders. The 68 by 48 cm satellite weighs 60 kilograms and is in a 1200 km high Sun-synchronous orbit that enables contacts between stations over 5000 km apart using the Amateur 2 metre and 70 cm bands.

The communication payload includes a CW beacon and transponders for SSB/CW, FM and digital AX.25 packet operation. The linear transponder, used for SSB and CW working, has proved very popular. It has a bandwidth of 50 kHz which allows about 10-15 simultaneous contacts to take place and can sound like the 20 metre band.

On December 30 Mike DK3WN and Henk PA3GUO showed you could also send pictures through the SSB transponder when they carried out the first Slow Scan TV (SSTV) contact.

Due to Doppler shift the CW beacon can appear to be up to +/- 9 kHz from its nominal frequency of 435.790 MHz and you need to tune your receiver to follow it during the pass. The beacon has been received on simple antennas such as a ¼ wave ground plane but for best results try a small yagi with about 8 elements.

To reduce the effects of Doppler the SSB transponder is inverting. This means that a LSB signal on the uplink becomes a USB signal on the downlink. You don’t need much power to work through the satellite, many contacts have been made using 5 watts output. Always use the lowest power possible and ensure your downlink signal is never stronger than the beacon.

HO-68 video by PA3GUO : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6oDgUTHCwg

HO-68 Real Time Tracking (tick draw footprint): http://www.n2yo.com/?s=36122

Getting started on Amateur Radio Satellites PDF
http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/408/168/

Operating Schedule Feb 9-21

09 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
15:10...Turn On
South Asia,India,Middle Asia,Europe,NA
15:55...Turn Off

18:50...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
19:35...Turn Off

10 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
01:45...Turn On
South America, NA,North Asia
02:30...Turn Off

02:44...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder
North Asia, East Asia,South Asia
02:59...Turn Off

11:00...Turn On
Oceania, South Asia, East Asia,
North Asia,Europe
11:45...Turn Off

16:40...Turn On
India,Middle East,Europe,NA
17:25...Turn Off

20:05...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:50...Turn Off

11 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
02:27...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
02:42...Turn Off

03:40...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia,
Middle Asia,India
04:25...Turn Off

16:25...Turn On
India,Middle East,Europe,NA
17:10...Turn Off

19:50...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:35...Turn Off

12 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
02:05...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
02:19...Turn Off

10:20...Turn On
Oceania,South Asia,East Asia,North Asia
11:00...Turn Off

16:15...Turn On
India,Middle Asia,Europe,NA
17:00...Turn Off

19:30...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:15...Turn Off

13 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
01:54...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder
North Asia,East Asia, South Asia
02:09...Turn Off

14:30...Turn On
NA,South America
15:00...Turn Off

16:00...Turn On
India,Middle Asia,Europe,NA
16:45...Turn Off

19:20...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA,North Asia
20:05...Turn Off

14 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder
01:37...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
01:52...Turn Off

08:40...Turn On
Europe,Africa
09:20...Turn Off

19:15...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:00...Turn Off

15 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
00:25...Turn On
South America, NA
01:05...Turn Off

03:03...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
03:18...Turn Off

06:10...Turn On
NA,North Asia,MiddleEast,Europe,Africa
06:55...Turn Off

15:25...Turn On
Middle Asia,India,Europe,NA
16:10...Turn Off

18:45...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
19:30...Turn Off

16 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
01:55...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia
02:35...Turn Off

11:00...Turn On
Oceania,South Asia,
East Asia,North Asia,Europe
11:40...Turn Off

15:25...Turn On
NA,South America
15:55...Turn Off

16:50...Turn On
India,Middle East,Europe,NA
17:35...Turn Off

20:15...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
21:00...Turn Off

17 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
02:24...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
02:39...Turn Off

10:45...Turn On
Oceania,East Asia,North Asia,Europe
11:30...Turn Off

15:10...Turn On
Europe,NA,South America
15:40...Turn Off

18:30...Turn On
India,Middle East,Africa,Europe,NA
19:15...Turn Off

20:10...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:55...Turn Off

18 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
02:17...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
02:32...Turn Off

03:10...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia
03:55...Turn Off

10:25...Turn On
Oceania, South Asia, East Asia,
North Asia,Europe
11:10...Turn Off

16:15...Turn On
India,Middle East Asia,Europe,NA,
17:00...Turn Off

19:40...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA,
20:25...Turn Off

19 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
01:54...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
02:10...Turn Off

02:50...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia
03:35...Turn Off

14:35...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia,Europe
15:05...Turn Off

19:35...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
20:20...Turn Off

23:20...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia,East Asia
24:05...Turn Off

20:00...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA,North Asia
20:45...Turn Off

20 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
01:34...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
01:49...Turn Off

02:35...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia
03:20...Turn Off

08:45...Turn On
North Asia, Europe,Africa
09:25...Turn Off

19:05...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA
19:50...Turn Off

21 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder
01:27...Turn On
North Asia,East Asia,South Asia
01:41...Turn Off

02:20...Turn On
South America,NA,North Asia
03:00...Turn Off

08:30...Turn On
North Asia,Europe,Africa
09:10...Turn Off

11:25...Turn On
Oceania
11:40...Turn Off

China AMSAT (CAMSAT)
http://www.camsat.cn/

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