Hi Rick!

You should be ready for a downlink lower than what was published. Glenn AA5PK and I were giving each other our downlink frequencies late in the pass, so we could compare where we were listening. If you didn't have more than HT power (5W), you may have also had issues getting through. Hopefully the FM transponder stays on, as these lower passes compared to other satellites only leave me one workable pass per late afternoon. If only these satellites were launched 60 or 90 mimutes later...

As for the uplink frequency and where it falls in various bandplans, Arizona - like the ARRL's 2m band plan - appears to be the exception to the "rule" that nobody recognizes anything more than 145.800-146.000 MHz for satellite operation. I saw this page from the Amateur Radio Council of Arizona, which is the coordinator in Arizona, for the 2m band plan:

https://t.co/Y8DvZR8q3ihttp://azfreqcoord.org/bp/144bp.html

Other than the APRS and AM calling/net frequencies, this is one of the rare cases where amateur satellite operation is actually recognized in a local band plan for this part of the 2m band.

Since LilacSat-2, like most of the others launched over the weekend, didn't receive IARU frequency coordination - it won't be eligible for an OSCAR number. A shame, but I understand the rationale for that. Just give a quick listen on the 144.350 MHz frequency before transmitting, to make sure you don't interfere with anyone else who might be there, before working these passes. And be ready to adjust the downlink quicker than you do with SO-50.

73!

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

I saw the message about the FM transponder being on around the middle of the pass, by the time I got my gear out and set up on the VFO (frequencies now in memory) the bird was about 20 degree from LOS. Since I operate from the backyard of my North facing house, it was down near the rooftops. I did throw my call out, but did not hear the downlink. based on your report, I was probably too high. I won't be available tomorrow or Thursday to try again, maybe Friday. My Schedule is starting to ramp up with theater season....

As for the choice of uplink, Here in AZ 144.410mhz has become the defacto Fm simplex frequency for SOTA (Summits on the Air). So dredging up a discussion from a few weeks back about the choice of frequency, It appears that the IARU will not coordinate these frequencies, so does that mean these birds will not receive OSCAR numbers?