Ham Radio mode J transponder to be placed in orbit around the moon!!

The Shinen 2 microsatellite, the fourth probe on the JAXA rocket, was developed by the Kyushu Institute of Technology and Kagoshima University. The Shinen 2 weighs just 17.7 kg, and its mission is to communicate with Earth from a lunar orbit using ham radio bandwidths.
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http://ajw.asahi.com/article/sci_tech/technology/AJ201411060057

http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/satellite/commercial-scientific/shinen-2/

 

Neat project, but it is an Earth escape mission, not lunar orbit, from all the links I have read.
73, Drew KO4MA

 

Whoa! Now we're talkin'! A SSB /CW linear transponder; this is an uber HEO DX Sat for sure !!!

Blows away the apparently improbable AMSAT P3E. And so far nobody is asking for a contribution, but I would gladly donate to this effort to make it happen.

73 de John WØPV

 

You're correct Drew, it appears to be more of a HNEO, ie, heliocentric "near-Earth" orbit, moving in and out to +/- 0.3 AU from Earth. That's quite a haul at those limits, but it could still put it pretty close a lot of the time. Perhaps with passes at or within the orbit of the Moon? Question is how far ahead or behind, leading or lagging the Earth will it be in its orbit around the Sun. An ambitious neat project!

http://www.eee.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~fuku-lab/sinen,orbital,english.html

 

I need to get started on antennas! This is exciting. I wonder how long it will take to make one orbit of the Sun? Hmmm... where will I put a 20 dB antenna for 432?

 

I'll have to get my 4m mesh dish up and working if that's big enough! Looking forward to hearing more about this one.

 

How come the AMSAT bullettin board is silent on this MAJOR development?

Is this an April fool? In November?

 

Given the launch results of the past, I think I will wait before building back up a earth station.
That said, it would be awesome if they successfully loft this bird!

 

I'm excited about it, but keep in mind it is an Earth escape mission. Unless something is wrong in all the translations and reports I've seen, in a few days you will need an EME station to hear it, and in a week, Arecibo. So...be ready. I plan on trying it right after launch and going from there. At 2 watts output and omni antennas, it won't be workable long. I think that and the language barrier in the news items has tempered the enthusiasm from the community.

73, Drew KO4MA

 

Certainly not a bird to hit for long from the backyard with an FM HT and an Arrow. But not intimidating either.

It won't take an EME station to work it close-in and making / buying 20db + of antenna gain on 70cm is not a huge effort / expense either; nor running a 50w brick amp for the uplink.

There are plenty of terrestrial all-mode weak signal stations and operators already so equipped that may find this challenge interesting instead of skipping off meteors or waiting for the next cold front tropo opening.

 

There were emails on the AMSAT Bulletin Board about this satellite in April, May, and September. Possibly more, but those were some I could remember.

As pointed out, this satellite will escape the earth's orbit. After a period of time few stations will ever have the slight chance of working it. I will certainly try to work this new mode J transponder in the time we have it available to us.

If folks want to get on-board with a program to replenish our fleet of two-way voice transponders, I highly encourage you to get behind the AMSAT Fox program.

http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1113

 

POOF!

So much for most of the FUN that could have been had with this bird, at least for awhile.

"A linear transponder had been part of the initial design, but Hideo Kambayashi,
JH3XCU, said that Japanese regulations would not allow it (WTH?) and that it would have
taken a long time to negotiate a variance with regulatory authorities. “So, they
gave up the use of the transponder,” he said on the AMSAT-BB earlier this week."

http://www.arrl.org/news/two-japane...ham-radio-payloads-into-deep-space-this-month