These are very good and strong transponders and I highly encourage people to get on and try them out. At 0128 this evening, I worked PV8DX on CAS-4A. The satellite was at about 1.8 degrees for him and around 4 degrees for me.
On the subsequent CAS-4B pass, a 9.5 degree max pass, I heard the beacon right as my phone said the satellite rose above the horizon and heard my own signal a couple of seconds after that. I worked KB4TOA on that pass and a couple of minutes later worked AI6GS who had just 2 degrees and was beaming through trees with 5 watts on his FT-817.
Just over midway through the pass, I cycled through power settings and observed no noticeable difference between uplinking with my power output at maximum (about 22 watts) and my power at minimum (about 3 watts). Since low ERP levels appear to activate the transponder's AGC circuits, it seems especially critical on these satellites that all users use minimum power to keep the rest of the passband available to all.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 9:05 AM, Scott Harvey via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
Glen,Thanks for the heads up. I think we have all been waiting for these birds to be active. 73, Scott, KA7FVV President - KBARA www.kbara.org Co-Owner WA7DRE 443.525 System Fusion Repeater http://www.ka7fvv.net
From: Glenn Miller - AA5PK <aa5pk@suddenlink.net>To: AMSAT BBS amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 3:30 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] CAS-4A and -4B
The transponders on these satellites were turned on last night. They sound much like the XW-Xx birds--good ears and strong downlinks.
Two more opportunities now available.
73 Glenn AA5PK
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Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb