AO73 /FUNcube-1 is no longer in full sunlight!
After some eight months in continuous sunlight, FUNcube-1 has now started to see some eclipses during each orbit.
The telemetry received has shown that the spacecraft continued to function perfectly during this period and the on board temperatures did not reach excessively high levels. After this became clear, our next concern was the battery. Having been kept fully charged for this period, would it actually hold a charge and do its job when in eclipse? After three weeks of increasing eclipse periods we can now see that indeed the Li battery appears to be ok and the bus voltage has not yet dropped below 8.1 volts. So today we have changed the operating mode from high power telemetry educational mode to continuous amateur mode withe the transponder ON. The telemetry continues to be available, albeit at low power. We will , of course, continue to carefully monitor the data but are planning to leave the spacecraft in this mode for at least the next week. Please enjoy using it! 73Graham G3VZV
Hi Graham,
Thanks for advising.
Not really using the transponder this side as no-one to QSO with. But sending the TLM of all FUNcubes to the warehouse as now on automatic mode (per my previous direct mails), however chasing other birds and sometimes FUNcubes have lower priority as I wish to increase my collection (now at 105 birds confirmed TLM or QSO).
I wish to take this opportunity to say to all that sending the TLM data to the satellite operators (if the SATs have been IARU coordinated only) does help a lot for research work and to monitor the birds globally. I therefore encourage all to do so, so that we may have more HAM sats flying in the future.
Keep up the good work.
73
Jean Marc (3B*DU)
On Jun 1, 2020, at 9:34 PM, Graham Shirville via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
After some eight months in continuous sunlight, FUNcube-1 has now started to see some eclipses during each orbit.
The telemetry received has shown that the spacecraft continued to function perfectly during this period and the on board temperatures did not reach excessively high levels. After this became clear, our next concern was the battery. Having been kept fully charged for this period, would it actually hold a charge and do its job when in eclipse? After three weeks of increasing eclipse periods we can now see that indeed the Li battery appears to be ok and the bus voltage has not yet dropped below 8.1 volts. So today we have changed the operating mode from high power telemetry educational mode to continuous amateur mode withe the transponder ON. The telemetry continues to be available, albeit at low power. We will , of course, continue to carefully monitor the data but are planning to leave the spacecraft in this mode for at least the next week. Please enjoy using it! 73Graham G3VZV _______________________________________________ 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (2)
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Graham Shirville -
Jean Marc Momple