RE: [amsat-bb] AO-7's beacon

["Dr Tom Clark" <w3iwi@xxxxxxxx>]

Gareth:

> The times that I have received the 2m cw beacon of AO-7, the
> cw seemed to be
> about 13 wpm or so. And it was raspy at times. I was unable
> to get into the
> transponder. This morning's pass in KH6 about 1800z, the cw
> seemed slower,
> maybe 5-7 wpm. And this time, the signal was clear. I also heard a few
> QSO's, and I was able to get into the transponder - clearly (mode J).
> Anybody else notice the slower cw beacon rate or was I still asleep?

As it was originally built, the two possible speeds were 10 & 20 wpm. Our
current speculation is that all the command bits, including speed, "wake up"
randomly when the satellite see sun and gets enough power to operate. If the
speeds are now slower than 10/20, it must be that the oscillator that
generates the CW telemetry is operating on a different frequency. Since the
satellite is only running from solar power, the operating voltages are more
erratic, this could be the reason for all the "funny" behavior that you and
others have reported.

73 de Tom, W3IWI

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