AO-85 getting sicker?
This morning on the 1345Z pass, the satellite AO-85 had a severe amplitude wobble every 15 secs and also a frequency wobble of several kHz. I had seen both before but this pass had them both. A link follows to a JPG capture of my waterfall display.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hx66RJLVeUygm2XY1ynvC9zDV6reDcsz/view?usp=s...
The satellite was in sun.
Ron W5RKN
Ron,
There are two factors here. First, due to the battery issue, AO-85 is operating at or below the minimum desired voltage, which results among other things in the TX frequency being low, and dependent on the voltage. Second, it is in a period of full illumination and will remain so until 2 November. While this gives us 24 hour operation, the satellite is running 30-35 C warmer than usual, which further depresses the voltage. It is in COR rather than Transponder mode, which means we are not getting telemetry. Since it is "happy" there, the Command stations are going to leave it that way. Based on past experience, it might spontaneously shift modes. Or crash completely.
73,
Alan WA4SCA
<-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ronald <G. Parsons via AMSAT-BB <Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 09:11 AM <To: AMSAT-BB [email protected] <Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-85 getting sicker? < <This morning on the 1345Z pass, the satellite AO-85 had a severe amplitude <wobble every 15 secs and also a frequency wobble of several kHz. I had seen <both before but this pass had them both. A link follows to a JPG capture of my <waterfall display. < <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hx66RJLVeUygm2XY1ynvC9zDV6reDcsz/vie <w?usp=sharing < <The satellite was in sun. < <Ron W5RKN <_______________________________________________ <Sent via [email protected]. 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (2)
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Alan
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Ronald G. Parsons