Amateur Radio Satellite FO-29
On the AMSAT bulletin board Masa JN1GKZ reports that the December 23 command test on the 15 year old amateur radio satellite FO-29 was successful.
FO-29 has been inoperative due to eclipse length and the poor condition of the batteries. It carries a 100 kHz wide 145/435 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW contacts.
Masa wrote: JTA was on at 1422z. Loud CW telemetry was heard. Unfortunately, the telemetry was shut off by UVC at 1426z.
I put the telemetry MP3 file on the following URL: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/m-arai/gkz/sound/FO29-111223142200-142544z.mp3
The command station announced Dec. 24 sked as starting at 0405z. I guess this is typo. The correct time is 0505z. Transponder will operate until eclipse. East Asia, VK and southern South American stations will chat over FO-29.
FO-29 frequencies and tracking http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=5
John Heath G7HIA mentions FO-29 in his article ‘Getting started on amateur radio satellites’. Download the article:
http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/05/09/getting-started-on-amateur-radio-satellites/
Working the SSB satellites http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/12/04/working-the-ssb-satellites/