FASTRAC sats to be open to all Radio Amateurs

FASTRAC faculty adviser, Glenn KE5DDG, reports that the two FASTRAC satellites slated for launch around 02:24 UT on Saturday, Nov 20, will become available for Radio Amateurs as Digipeaters as soon as the primary mission experiment is completed.

The FASTRAC project clearly demonstrates how University CubeSat projects help attract more people into Amateur Radio with 10 people getting their licences as a direct result of working on the project.

On the AMSAT bulletin board he writes:

Many of the students who have worked on FASTRAC have amateur radio licenses, and it was our hope to engage the global amateur radio community in our project from the beginning. After launch on Nov. 19 [AST], the best way anyone can assist us is by tracking our signal, and uploading any data you collect to our web site:
http://fastrac.ae.utexas.edu/for_radio_operators/users/
phpBB3/frontpage.php

Once you are registered on our web site, we will track how much data is collected by individuals and you can view health and status information about each of our satellites (FASTRAC-1 and -2, also known as Sara Lily and Emma).

After the main experiment is done, amateur radio operators can use the satellites as two-way digipeaters for as long as they remain operational.

We really appreciate all the advice and help that we have received from the amateur radio community over the years. Now, with a little bit of good luck, it will soon be time to enjoy the result!

73,

Glenn KE5DDG

Amateur radio operators - help track the FASTRAC satellites
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2010/
fastrac_tracking.htm

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