SB SPACE ARL ARLS012
ARLS012 New Amateur Radio FM Transponder CubeSat Now in SpaceThe BY70-1 CubeSat launched on December 28 from the Taiyuan Space Launch Center in China, but in a lower orbit than intended. The satellite carries an Amateur Radio FM transponder.
BY70-1 was intended to go into a 530 kilometer (approximately 329-mile) circular Sun-synchronous orbit, but it appears the orbit is 524 x 212 kilometers, which will give the spacecraft an orbital lifetime of just a month or two.
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, reported working Wyatt Dirks, AC0RA, through the FM transponder during the 1709 UTC pass on December 28. “Uplink requires precise frequency adjustment, and there’s a delay on the downlink, but the signal is strong,” Stoetzer said.
BY70-1 is a 2U CubeSat project for education and Amateur Radio. It features 3-axis stabilization and deployable solar panels. In addition to the FM transponder, BY70-1 has a camera, and plans call for downloading images and telemetry via a 9600 bps BPSK downlink. The IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination pages list an uplink of 145.920 MHz, and a downlink of 436.200 MHz.
AMSAT-UK has more information online at, https://amsat-uk.org/2016/12/27/by70-1-fm-transponder-satellite/ .
Submitted by KD4WX
White County Amateur Radio Club 