JT65 Moon orbit probe?

[VK2FAK]

Hi all..

Hi Joe...good to see you having a go...18 ele...sounds nice.. its going to be interesting to see just how far out you guys can still get some sort of copy on the probe...

From the reading, its more to do with the attitude of the probe than the actual signal being Tx'd, so you just never know.

If there is a way Bob, I am pretty sure you will find it..hihi

[VK6ZRY]

145.980MHz

http://moon.luxspace.lu/blog/

[VK2FAK]

Hi all...

Has reception died off now,,,,or is everyone still getting some of the TX from the probe...?

[VK7JG]

It needs to be visible . Not due till 2130 this morning . and hopefully it should be swinging around the moon to come home .

73
Joe
VK7JG

[VK2FAK]

Hi all....


Just had a look at the tracking details....and the Probe is at low elevations at the moment at over 400,000 km..

wonder if anyone has had any luck to RX at such elevations and distances...?

[VK7JG]

5500 6 -19 8.442 304 3* RAJAG3ZULA 1 0 0.0 Its early


Yes John.

This was this morning at "moonrise" the sat is about 10 deg in front of the moon and it appeared over the horizon 20 minutes ahead of the predicted time .

It has deep QSB but before I had to leave I decoded it about a dozen times. The Dt has increased to over eight seconds.

It will only get stronger as it returns to earth .

73
Joe

[ZL3MH]

I would like to know Joe ( VK7JG ) how big antenna you have and
what frequency are you on as with 11 elements I can hear nothing !

Thanks Murray ZL3MH

[VK7JG]

> 4M-LUNAR on 145.9800 JT65 -19 > QE38NN 0°
500 6 -19 8.442 304 3* RAJAG3ZULA 1 0 0.0 Its early

Hello Murray .

This was my first decode this morning . The rig was tuned to 145.98Mhz. and you should see the trace in the waterfall 304Hz higher using JT65 decode.
This will vary depending if you are looking at moonrise or moonset direction.
As you can see from the decode the Dt is now 8.4 seconds so if you are trying to decode you will need to set Dsec to -8 if you are not using the latest WSJT10 .

There is a photo of my aerial on the QRZ site single yagi no elevation.

The rig is a FT847 mast head pre-amp and a M2 18 el yagi. . My aerial c/o relay is also mast mounted so I have a separate RX feed .

It is not very strong signals averaging -20. with lots of QSB .

You should see something on acquisition when you have a little ground gain , Bob ZL1RX does wonders with a small aerial .

http://moon.luxspace.lu/tracking/

Go here to calculate tracking info although it is a little out until they do some corrections. This morning I received it about 20 minutes earlier than predicted.

AS it returns home it will get stronger .
Good luck
Joe VK7JG

[VK3KGR]

Just got my first few decodes. Using a 5 element yagi and pre-amp at antenna. 409384 Km

Awesome !!!

[VK2FAK]

Hi all....

So the comp is now over.....no new updates on the blog page........is this thing still flying....

[VK7JG]

Yes John .
It will keep flying till it burns up in the atmosphere in a few days time .

Check VK4UH posting his last reception was at 20:15 this morning.

Yesterday I was decoding it on my FM vertical aerial . two by two element yagis 100 foot feed line and no pre-amp.

It appears to be running late so expect it around midday today .
have a listen. 145.98. Df around 350Hz. dt now over 10 seconds.

73
Joe
VK7JG

[VK4UH]

Very interesting

I left the decoder running overnight here and had screens full of decodes this morning. at 20:00 I came into the shack to hear the JT65 signals easily from the loudspeaker even though the website predictions had the bird well below the horizon!

Keep listening and watching, don't put too much faith in the Az El predictions any more. The discrepancy is widening

What a blast!

Kevin VK4UH

[VK7JG]

Hi Kevin.

What was the temperature of the craft ?

I noticed in today's paper that the Chinese space vehicle had returned to Earth . I assumed that "our" satellite was a piggy back ride . Has 4M also returned ?

Is this why is was so strong

No sign of it as yet today .

73
Joe
VK7JG

[VK2FAK]

Hi all....

You guys should be getting some strong signals when its elevation is up....

[VK4UH]

My last decodes from 4M were on Sunday morning 2nd November when it was very loud, probably well in earth orbit by then.
Did anyone detect it after that?
Will have been converted back into sand by now

KJ

[ZL1RS]

It is still up there according to the comments on the EME e-mail reflectors in the past few hours. The novelty wore off here, and I went back to listening to hissss on 6m.

73,

[VK2FAK]

Hi all..

I guessed the interest wore off......it seems a difficult thing the keep the interest up in Amateurs on any new projects..

But I know there are still a few doing the satellite stuff and this latest Probe.....they probably just don't post here...

[VK2FAK]

Hi all.....

Well, looks like this mission is coming to a close, battery is losing voltage and some not hearing it ....

But looked like another interesting experience for hams to participate in..

[VK7JG]

Hi John. For your info here is a copy of an email .
It is all over . Had an great time tracking the device . Looking forward to the next launch .
73
Joe VK7JG




Dear All,

Rein appears to have received the last words of 4M, after 438 Hours, well well over its guaranteed lifetime.

Here at Luxspace, we have to thank you all for the reports, for the tracking, and we also hope that we provided you with the challenges you expected.

4M may possibly awaken from time to time if illumination becomes better.

We shall now endeavour to prepare the next one.

With all our greetings.

Ghislain, lx2rg

[VK2FAK]

Hi all....

Did any of the latest tracking info give a reasonable estimate of where it was.....?

I might put the data in the software and keep an eye on it....