Quoting Graham Shirville g.shirville@btinternet.com:
Delfi C3 will have a linear Mode B transponder - a triple cubesat scheduled for launch in June. See http://www.delfic3.nl/ for details
To have one in a single cubesat would be a big challenge, especially if it needs to share power with other on-board experiments. If we could fund/develop an amateur only cubesat then it could be a fun project!
still dreaming!
73
Graham G3VZV
The amateur-only cubesat model is a very exciting one since it reduces the cost of launch considerably and provides the builders with a likely launch scenario early in the process. Delfi C3 is really leading the way in this field, and some of the compromises it makes are instructive. It has a transmitter power of, 400mW, 6 to 10dB below what we are used to in LEO linear birds. It also has no batteries, and will therefore work only when illuminated.
I expect that the power trade-off will be acceptable and that a fixed-elevation directional antenna with LNPA will still work well, though CW might be more popular on this bird :-)
There seem to be many AMSAT operators who use large Az/El systems for LEOs; perhaps, then, an even weaker transmitter on 2m might be acceptable. My vote would be for an S-band downlink. It would be possible to put a patch antenna on one face, but some of this gain is eaten up in increased 'path loss'. Such a bird could be called a 'HardSat' in contrast to the so-called FM 'EasySats' :-)
73, Bruce VE9QRP