Satellites

Beacon Mode
Downlink Freq: 437.325 MHz
Modulation: FM, 200mW, Morse Code, ~20 WPM

Data Mode
Downlink Freq: 437.325 MHz
Modulation:
GMSK, 1W, 9600 baud, AX.25 (default)
FM, 1W, Bell 202, AX.25

The orange and white lines indicate when BEVO1 will be in data mode.

Sorry for the news hiatus; I had become lazy with updates since school started. We still have not received any signals, even with our improved 2x42 El UHF Yagi array and minimal cabling. We are still listening to most high elevation passes over Austin. Also, SRI International has tracked some BEVO-1 passes using its 60-foot UHF dish, but they have not heard any BEVO-1 signals.

Posted on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:44:27 CDT.

Our friend in Germany (DK3WN) reports no signals from BEVO1 and hears strong signals from AggieSat2.

Posted on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:41:56 CDT.

We still have not been able to receive any signals from BEVO1. We are going to attempt to increase the gain of our ground station to better determine if BEVO1 is transmitting any weak RF signals.

Posted on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:07:56 CDT.

We tried again to uplink commands during Thursday evening's passes, but we could still not hear any response from BEVO1. We are trying to form a new plan of action, given what we know about the satellite and the resources available for tracking satellites.

Posted on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:39:29 CDT.

We tried to uplink commands on Tuesday and Wednesday evening with no success in hearing a response from BEVO1. We will try again during the passes Thursday evening, which will be at a much higher elevation over Austin than the past couple of days.

Posted on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:38:33 CDT.

Photographs of DRAGONSAT deployment from Shuttle Endeavor were released by NASA. Note the lack of separation and slight bending to one side. The satellites' current state (whether they are still attached, or if BEVO1 has booted up) since deployment is unknown since thermal cycling or other environmental factors could have changed their state.

Posted on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:39:03 CDT.

No signals were heard from BEVO1 during last evening's and this morning's "high" pass over Austin. We will attempt to uplink a command to switch BEVO1 into the low-speed data mode during this evening's "high" pass over Austin.

Posted on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:58:14 CDT.

No signals were heard from BEVO1 during the 10:22 AM CDT "high" pass over Austin. The next "high" pass over Austin is at 6:22 PM CDT.

Posted on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:31:16 CDT.

We still have not received signals from BEVO1. The current plan of action is to listen for the data mode signal during the BEVO1 passes on Mon, 3 Aug 2009. If BEVO1 booted up on deployment, then the GPS experiment should have started on Sun, 2 Aug 2009 and will last for 1000 minutes. Once the GPS experiment has finished, BEVO1 will resume radio communications and enter beacon mode. If BEVO1 obtains orbital elements from the DRAGON GPS, then it will be able to predict when it is over Austin or Rochester and switch to data mode. If the transition to data mode can be established, then we can confirm that BEVO1 is alive and that the GPS experiment was probably successful. If we receive signals on Monday, we will monitor their quality and decide on the next plan of action.

Posted on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:57:54 CDT.

Our friend in Italy (IK1ODO) reports no signals from BEVO1.

Posted on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:27:02 CDT.

Still no signals from BEVO1, although beacon packets were heard from AggieSat2. The current theory on the state of the satellites is that only partial separation occurred. The inhibit switches keeping the satellites powered off have been closed, allowing the satellites to boot up. However, it is likely that the antennas did not deploy correctly, leaving the antennas disconnected from their respective transmitters. AggieSat2 transmits with 1W of power so it is easier to hear, while BEVO1 only transmits with 200mW during beacon mode.

Posted on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:00:30 CDT.

Our friends at SRI (KF6ZEO) and CalPoly (KI6EPH) and operator of UT's secondary ground station (KE5WAM) in Rochester, MN have not received any signals from BEVO1 during their respective passes.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:16:33 CDT.

NORAD has assigned a TLE to the DRAGONSAT object:

DRAGONSAT
1 35690U 09038B   09211.78040654  .00052238  00000-0  27158-3 0    10
2 35690 051.6362 082.9800 0005074 086.7019 273.4578 15.80416454    40

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:28:21 CDT.

Again, no signals have been received during the 12:18 PM CDT and 1:54 PM CDT passes over Austin. NORAD has confirmed that there is only one object, indicating the satellites did not separate at deployment.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:05:30 CDT.

Our friend in West Central Florida (N4ZQ) reports that nothing was heard from BEVO1 or AggieSat2 during the 11:50 AM EDT pass. We are preparing for our next pass over Austin at 12:18 PM CDT.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:28:03 CDT.

We just had a 4 deg elevation pass over Austin, but again no signals from BEVO1. The best case scenario right now is that the batteries are charging. The worst case scenario is that the pair of satellites did not separate.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:55:12 CDT.

Our friends in the Netherlands (PE4WJ and PA3WEG) listened to an 86 deg elevation pass, but could not copy any signals from BEVO1.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:42:07 CDT.

The following TLE is for BEVO1 at deployment time:

1 99999U           9211.52399245  .00015326  99081-9  77971-4 0    19
2 99999  51.6397  84.3142 0004954  91.3966 248.8994 15.80682654  2322

The difference with the predicted TLE should not be significant. Also, according to NASA, "when the satellites exited the SSPL both AggieSat and Paradigm were visible, however, [they] could not see visible separation through [their] 4 minute photo/TV window."

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:23:11 CDT.

NASA TV covered the successful deployment of the DRAGONSAT payloads live on July 30th, 2009 at 7:33 AM CDT! We are currently waiting for deployment TLEs from NASA and reports of contact with BEVO1.

Posted on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:50:06 CDT.

The predicted TLE for Shuttle Endeavor at deployment time is:

1 99999U          09211.52303181  .00142300  00000-0  77606-3 0 00003
2 99999 051.6421 084.3173 0006451 030.6533 304.0318 15.79145351000176

BEVO1 is currently scheduled to be deployed on July 30th, 2009 at 7:33 AM CDT. The deployment can be watched live at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and is listed as item 232 on the NASA TV schedule.

Posted on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:49:11 CDT.

BEVO1 has been pre-programmed to follow a specific set of instructions after deployment. If the battery voltage is too low, BEVO1 will charge to the required level with no radio communications. When BEVO1 first boots up, BEVO1 will be in beacon mode for three days in order to allow for attitude stabilization before conducting the GPS experiment. While the GPS experiment is in progress, there will be no radio communications in order to maximize battery life, which will last about one day. When the GPS experiment is finished, BEVO1 should have determined its orbit and switch to data mode when visible over Austin, TX or Rochester, MN. A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for success of the GPS experiment is if BEVO1's clock was set correctly, which can be noted in the beacon message.

Posted on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:38:17 CDT.

With the launch of Shuttle Endeavor (STS-127), BEVO1 is in space! BEVO1 is scheduled to be deployed on July 30th, 2009 at 7:27 AM CDT. Currently, no predicted orbital elements for BEVO1 are available.

Posted on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:03:35 CDT.