[amsat-bb] Newbie: Is S2 TX "on" outside of schedule?

["Bill Acito W1PA" <w1pa@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

N  QST AMSAT AO-40          SCHEDULE                2003-06-01
                MA      002   030   130   244   002
                ---------7-----1-----5-----0-----7
                S2/K-Tx  |  S  |  S  |  S  |  S  |
                MB       |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |
                RUDAK    |     |     |     |     |
                V/U-Rx   |  U  |  U  |  U  |  V  |
                Uplink   |     | UL1 |     |     |

I was just listening to the MB on my Primestar Dish from last year,
using a new downconverter (AIDC vs DEM), and a new feed (cupped K3TZ
patch vs helix).

http://webpages.charter.net/acito/FD2003/newpatch.jpg

I could hear the MB at MA 140 (60K range) at S7, with the background
noise at S5 on my FT-847.

Obviously, I should not have heard any QSO's at MA 140 (and didn't), but
I also tried to hear the transponder floor by looking for the edges.

Question: If outside the scheduled transponder window, should someone
with a capable system still hear the transponder edges, or does the S2
TX shut down as well.

I would read from the schedule above that the MB and S2 TX are on all
the time, and that the bird shuts down the input U RX outside of MA
30-130. So I should still be able to look for the noise floor change
(although I couldn't find it).

Bill
W1PA



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