LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report 04-Jun-2014 UTC
Good evening,
I was on two passes of LituanicaSAT-1 over North America this evening. Signals sounded good, though I noted that the uplink sensitivity makes it difficult to work with just five watts of power output to a handheld antenna, except at higher elevations. My signal was in and out except at the middle of both passes. I neglected to make fine tuning adjustments on the uplink for Doppler as I had on previous passes. That might have made a difference had I done that.
On the first pass, around 0031 UTC, KC9ELU in Indiana was the only station heard and worked.
On the second pass, around 0207 UTC, KC9ELU was worked again as was KB1PVH in Massachusetts. Also heard were W0DHB in Colorado and KK4VAU in Tennessee.
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv)
Hi Paul!
I was on the pass that started out here at 0202 UTC, and worked W0DHB in Colorado followed by N5ZNL in Mississippi before the satellite went behind the mountains to the east of the Phoenix area. I was in my back yard, using an Icom IC-2820H at 15W into an Elk log periodic, using narrow FM on the uplink. I did not hear you or KK4VAU come on the transponder. This was a pass from the south to the east, with maximum elevation for my location (DM43bn) of 13 degrees.
This satellite seems like a cross between SO-67 and what the ISS cross-band repeater was like, the few times it was in a V/U configuration instead of the more common U/V configuration. I had to wait for the repeater's squelch tail to drop before I could hear myself through the transponder, and - with the lower orbit - adjusting for Doppler is very important. Narrow FM is a must, and I was able to deal with the 5 kHz tuning steps on the IC-2820H when trying to talk through the transponder.
I plan on trying the next pass, which should start around 0336-0337 UTC. This will come up from my west and wrap around to the north, going up to a maximum elevation of 29 degrees. Meanwhile, time to make a request (or make another request) of the ARRL to add this satellite to the LOTW system.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/
On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 2:41 AM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Good evening,
I was on two passes of LituanicaSAT-1 over North America this evening. Signals sounded good, though I noted that the uplink sensitivity makes it difficult to work with just five watts of power output to a handheld antenna, except at higher elevations. My signal was in and out except at the middle of both passes. I neglected to make fine tuning adjustments on the uplink for Doppler as I had on previous passes. That might have made a difference had I done that.
On the first pass, around 0031 UTC, KC9ELU in Indiana was the only station heard and worked.
On the second pass, around 0207 UTC, KC9ELU was worked again as was KB1PVH in Massachusetts. Also heard were W0DHB in Colorado and KK4VAU in Tennessee.
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hi again!
I was on the last LituanicaSAT-1 pass starting around 0337 UTC. I heard three other stations during the pass - Nestor K6JTT in San Diego, Dave W0DHB in Colorado, and Glenn AA5PK in west Texas. We all worked each other. This was a higher pass for me here in DM43bn, with maximum elevation of 29 degrees. Late in this pass, I heard the CW ID and recorded voice.
I will send a separate report to LY5H including MP3 files with the audio from both passes I worked tonight. I hope the FM transponder can be activated again, while the satellite is still in orbit. This was fun!
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/
On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 2:41 AM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Good evening,
I was on two passes of LituanicaSAT-1 over North America this evening. Signals sounded good, though I noted that the uplink sensitivity makes it difficult to work with just five watts of power output to a handheld antenna, except at higher elevations. My signal was in and out except at the middle of both passes. I neglected to make fine tuning adjustments on the uplink for Doppler as I had on previous passes. That might have made a difference had I done that.
On the first pass, around 0031 UTC, KC9ELU in Indiana was the only station heard and worked.
On the second pass, around 0207 UTC, KC9ELU was worked again as was KB1PVH in Massachusetts. Also heard were W0DHB in Colorado and KK4VAU in Tennessee.
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (2)
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Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) -
Paul Stoetzer