Hi!
It was fun to see the launch this morning on NASA TV, even though there were too many clouds around the launch site to let me see any of the launch from outside my house here in the Phoenix area. Then I loaded the FoxTelem software on my Windows 10 tablets during the day at my office (along with Java), along with using my FUNcube Dongle Pro+ instead of my SDRplay SDR receiver, and tried copying some telemetry on a couple of passes tonight.
The first pass, just after 0120 UTC, was a 13-degree pass here. I copied the voice announcement about the satellite being in safe mode, and a couple of data packets. I did not have Upload to Server selected (who reads the manual, when there's a new satellite to hear?!). I also ran HDSDR during this pass, so I could make an RF recording at the same time. I was able to play the HDSDR RF recording in FoxTelem to get my two data packets up to the server.
The pass just after 0300 UTC was the best of the passes tonight. Again, FoxTelem and HDSDR on the tablet, and a 57-degree pass. For this pass, the voice announcement wasn't saying anything about safe mode, but I only copied one data packet. This time, it was uploaded to the server automagically. HDSDR made an RF recording. This time, the CPU on my 1 GB RAM 8-inch tablet was pegged at a few points in the pass. This leads me to believe I'm OK with either FoxTelem or HDSDR, but not both. HDSDR can make the RF recording in real time, then I can just play it in FoxTelem without needing to deal with virtual audio cables or (for some computers) Stereo Mix to pass the audio from one program to the other.
I had one more shallow pass, around 0448 UTC, with a maximum elevation of 8 degrees. After seeing that the transponder was activated until 1000 UTC, I left the SDR stuff inside, and took a couple of HTs outside with me (KG-UV9D, KG-UV8D) with my Elk antenna. I heard the voice announcements every couple of minutes, but never heard anyone through the satellite during this pass. I had the KG-UV9D connected to the Elk, and an audio splitter to feed an earpiece and my Sony audio recorder. Since I was not able to hear myself - or anyone else - talking through the satellite, I did not connect the KG-UV8D to the antenna. That will come soon enough, hopefully - along with a few other radios that don't work full-duplex with SO-50, but may work fine with Fox-1A that way.
The two RF recordings from the earlier passes, the MP3 audio recording from the late pass, and lots of photos and screengrabs were uploaded to my Dropbox space. Some of the photos show the settings I used in FoxTelem and HDSDR. Those files are located at:
Look for the folder "20151009-AO85_Fox1A" for these files.
(refresh the page or hit F5, if my Dropbox public folders don't come up straight away)
You can run both FoxTelem and HDSDR at the same time, provided they use the same center/LO frequency and HDSDR has an input bandwidth of 192000 (192 kHz) from the FUNcube Dongle Pro+. A computer with more CPU horsepower should not have issues with these two programs running at the same time, but the Windows 10 tablets may have occasional challenges. Thanks to Chris Thompson for quickly answering my e-mail question about the bandwidth FoxTelem uses when receiving data from a FUNcube Dongle Pro+! I have previously run the FUNcube Dashboard and HDSDR at the same time, as long as I kept the two programs in sync with the same center frequency and input bandwidth.
This was a great day for AMSAT, and for satellite operators around the world. Almost 6 years to the day the AMSAT Fox project was unveiled at the 2009 AMSAT Space Symposium in Baltimore (that happened on 10 October 2009 during the annual general meeting), we now have the first of a series of Fox-1 satellites in orbit. Some have even been able to talk through the satellite, with many more hearing the voice announcements and copying telemetry. Congratulations to all who have had a hand in building and launching Fox-1A today, and thanks to everyone who has supported the Fox project over the past 6 years!
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK