Next week, we will enable the PSK-31 transponder on RAFT.
This transponder is 28.120 USB MHz PSK-31 SSB uplink and 2 meters FM down.
Both RAFT and ANDE (and PCSAT-1 this week) are working fine on orbit for those with a big enough OSCAR satellite array to hear the weak 2 meter downlink. PCSAT-1 is much stronger and has passes that are almost 15 minutes in length and can be worked horizon to horizon with a good beam. ANDE and RAFT are only usable above about 10 to 15 deg with a good beam for only a central 3 minutes or less.
RAFT packet-to-voice mode has been enabled for the first 3 weeks and several stations have made contact... See web page: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/ande-raft-ops.html
Next week starting Tuesday 16 Jan, we will enable the RAFT PSK-31 transponder for similar experiments. Here is what it takes once the PSK-31 mode has been enabled: 1) Read the user-service-agreement on the above web page 2) Someone in the footprint must do a packet CONNECT RAFT 3) That will bring up the 10m RX and 145.825 TX for 1 minute 4) Anyone sending PSK-31 or CW on 28.120 MHz USB should be heard
The transponder will time out after 1 minute (maybe later we can extend that time depending on usage).
Remember that the footprint of RAFT is an order of magnitude smaller than PCSAT-1 and so it is hard to hear except when a high pass and the duration is only a few minutes. With PCSAT-1 fully alive this week and next, we are seeing over 80 different stations (the maximum depth of the live capture page http://pcsat.aprs.org ) in under 8 hours.
Just today another satellite was launched onto 145.825 so now there are 5 satellites there! PCSAT-1, ANDE, RAFT, UO-11 and now Pehunesat. All but UO-11 use standard 1200 baud AX.25 packets.
Bob Bruninga USNA Small Satellite Lab