SuitSat still alive

[kr2d]

Reports at suitsat.org and amsat.org indicate that SuitSat is still transmitting, but is very, very weak with deep QSB. High gain antennas and mast mounted preamps are required. An HT with a rubber ducky won't hear anything.

From amsat.org:
Quote[/b] ]I would not waste your time on passes below 40 degrees elevation. SuitSat is too far from your station to receive a reliable signal. We have found that closest approach provides several seconds of SuitSat communication with 22 element yagi.

I guess my 1/4 wave groundplane or g5rv aren't going to cut it.... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[N5RLR]

Well, at least it's still working. #The [other] good news is that this is a learning experience. #We [the Amateur Radio/SWL community, AMSAT, ARISS, et. al.] will have a good idea of what to expect the next time. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[kd5rpo]

I hope they were not using a rubber ducky in the suitsat. 19 inches of wire and a counterpoise would have really helped.

[n2nh]

Quote[/b] (kd5rpo @ Feb. 05 2006,22:48)]I hope they were not using a rubber ducky in the suitsat. 19 inches of wire and a counterpoise would have really helped.
How about running wires down the arms - dipole style? Maybe a duct tape antenna? I was wondering if they just went with the rubber ducky too...

[WA9SVD]

I'm pretty sure they used at least a 1/4 wave antenna. If you watch the "hand launch" closely, there's definitely something that appears to be an antenna extending from the backpack in a vertical (in relation to the suit) orientation.

[N5PVL]

The antenna was mounted on top of the helmet. It looks like a 1/4 wave VHF antenna to me. Take a look at the NASA spacewalk video.

I started to say "1/4 wave vertical" but of course that would not be accurate when talking about a tumbling satellite in orbit.

[WA9SVD]

Unfortunately, I don't have cable or NASA -TV. But from the media pix, it certainly looked like there was (a lot) more than a "rubber duckie" antenna, but it wasn't clear just where it was actually attached. On the helmet seems a natural location for a 1/4 wave antenna. Depending upon the actions of the space suit itself, it might even be circularly polarized?
Just hope it lasts a few more days, even if it doesn't fulfill all expectations.

[k0cmh]

Well, I could not hear it on my tm231a with a quarter wave vertical mag mount on the trunk lid of my Olds.

[n5tjd]

You will need much more than that.... High gain antennas would provide a much better chance. Amsat says an Arrow antenna and an HT would be the bare minimum and I don't know if that would work. They say not to waste time with passes below 40 degrees. There was a nearly 90 degree pass this morning, but I was busy finding something to eat. D'oh

[W6GQ]

As fast as it died I thought they were using an ICOM 2720 #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[ky5u]

A great idea to involve many people including Kids in Amateur Radio that fizzled. Didn't even last until Monday when kids were in class. Need a SETI dish to hear it. This was a dodge to dump space junk overboard. Put a transmitter on a urine bag and call it a big deal.

I am sure a simple solar powered transmitter could have been put together that would have lasted longer than a "big gulp" soda.

[WA9SVD]

I doubt it was a dodge to "dump the trash." They do it on a regular basis, with all kinds of trash, and thanks to Mother Nature (or Papa Earth, or Granny Gravity) it all burns up in a little flash at some moment in time. THIS was a PR dream (and nightmare) to rekindle interest in a space program that has been on the back burner for a long time.
It used to be that shuttle launches were watched breathlessly for hours on end by the major TV networks; they became so routine that there was barely a 15 second picture on TV, and a brief page 5 by-line in the newspaper. But each mission IS special, and carries it's own special opportunities and features, and sadly, it's own risks.
Space travel is still in it's early stages, and there will always be risks. While the astronauts and cosmonauts may realize that, at least to a certain extent, the public at large takes it for granted that it is as safe as commercial air travel. But that's FAR from the truth, as has been demonstrated first with Challenger, and then with Columbia. Each mission has it's own dangers and challenges, and we rely on "pretty darn near perfect" operations to put astronauts into orbit and bring them back safely. Sadly, as with any human endeavour, there can always be something that goes wrong, and whether by neglect of safety standards, or by random circumstance, it is usually tragic. That's the nature of space flight and exploration. All we can do is try to eliminate the hazards we can forsee. And as with human nature, that is an impossible goal, although we must minimize the hazards to the best of our abilities.

[ky5u]

I have 2 contacts with the ISS and the cards. Very exciting as one of them came after I had my ticket barely a month. I have a copy of the Apollo 13 book autographed by Gene Krantz and Jim Lovell. I have a picture of the Mercury 7 autographed by the all the guys still alive right after Alan Shepard's death. So I am a big fan of the space program.

I just hate when they do something half-fast like this.

[kg4kww]

Quote[/b] ]From AMSAT.ORG--Paraphrasing Mark Twain....the demise of SuitSat-1 is highly exaggerated!!



For SuitSAT Update see links below:

AMSAT.ORG (http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php)

Latest Contact Log From SUITSAT.ORG (http://www.suitsat.org/results.cgi?n=99999)

[kg4kww]

I do agree that the signal is to weak to be picked up on any thing ither than a beam with serious gain that is attached to a mast mount pre-amp or a dish.