SpaceX has announced that the SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission carrying AMSAT’s Fox-1Cliff CubeSat has been deployed into orbit. A SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle carried Fox-1Cliff and several other satellites into space this afternoon Eastern Time from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, following a 1-day launch delay.
“Successful deployment of four microsats and the upper and lower free flyer with additional payloads for Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express confirmed. Follow @SpaceflightInc for further mission updates,” SpaceX tweeted this afternoon following the launch.
In addition to Fox-1Cliff, the SSO-A mission carried several other Amateur Radio satellites, including FUNcube on ESEO, JY1-SAT, K2SAT, and ExseedSat.
Fox-1Cliff carries the Fox-1 U/v FM repeater, AMSAT’s L-Band Downshifter, the flight spare of the AO-85 Vanderbilt University Low Energy Proton (LEP) radiation experiment, and the standard Fox-1 Penn State University-Erie MEMS gyroscope experiment. Virginia Tech provided a video graphics array camera that’s similar to the one on AO-92 but which will provide images at a higher 640 × 480 resolution.
The Fox-1Cliff downlink for FM voice and data-under-voice (DUV) is 145.920 MHz. Uplinks are 435.300 and 1267.300 MHz.
Fox-1Cliff is named in honor of long-time AMSAT member, contributor, and benefactor Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR (SK), who died in 2006. His contributions to AMSAT and other Amateur Satellite programs — including his service as an adviser during the initial development of the CubeSat specification at California Polytechnic State University — earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award from Project OSCAR in 2006.
In November as the launch was pending, AMSAT asked Amateur Radio satellite enthusiasts to listen for Fox-1Cliff’s telemetry for the initial 72 – 96 hours as on-orbit checkout gets under way. The first station to successfully receive and submit telemetry to the AMSAT server will receive a special 3D printed QSL card acknowledging their contribution.
“If you are capturing telemetry with FoxTelem, please be sure that “Upload to Server” is checked in your settings and your Ground Station Params are filled in as well,” AMSAT has said. In the initial Safe Mode or Beacon Mode after startup, the transmitter is limited to 10 seconds on time followed by a 2-minute off cycle. “You will hear Veronica announcing ‘Fox-1Cliff Safe Mode,’ while in Beacon Mode,” AMSAT said.
AMSAT has said that the on-orbit check-out procedure will be similar to Fox-1D and could be completed in as few as 7 days.
“It is very important, not to mention just plain good Amateur operating practice, to refrain from using the transponder uplink, so we can do the on orbit tests, including when we turn on transponder mode for testing,” AMSAT said. “AMSAT will make it broadly known when the tests are complete and the transponder is available for all to use.” — Thanks to SpaceX and AMSAT Vice President-Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Source:ARRL
Antenna
“The Legendary G5RV Antenna” is the topic of the new (August 15) episode of the ARRL The Doctor is In podcast. Listen…and learn! Read more
![Antenna Fundamentals 1 Propagation [ Video ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/d01645880bc21d293eab203a20ce8adf-90x60.jpg)
Equipment
RigExpert TI-3000 is a new and powerful USB transceiver interface based on high-quality stereo codec IC, for operating phone, CW and digital modes using a personal computer. All in one through a single USB port. Ideal interface for FT8 and... Read more
VHF
Yaesu FT-3DR C4FM/FM Dual Band Transceiver
Yaesu FT-3DR Yaesu FT-3DR 5W C4FM/FM 144/430MHz Dual Band Digital Transceiver Reservation The new FT3DR provides reliable 5W RF power output in compac... Read more
All about repeaters – Ham College 12
All about repeaters. More Technician exam questions. Read more
![Yaesu FT2DR – side by side with FT1DR [ Video ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/yaesu_ft2d_-265x168.jpg)
Yaesu FT2DR – side by side with FT1DR [ Video ]
Yaesu FT2DR Eric VE2MEL received his new Yaesu FT2DR yesterday. Here’s our first video. The good news, it use the same fast charger as the FT1DR... Read more
HYS TC-MAUV11 Dual Band with DTMF
HYS TC-MAUV11 Product Detail Basic Info Model NO.: TC-MAUV11 Type: Vehicle Mouted Function: Mobile Radio Place of Origin: Fujian, China (Mainland) Bra... Read more
Digital Modes
FT8DMC 3rd Anniversary-Activity Days 2020
To commemorate our 3rd anniversary, special event stations will be on air during the FT8DMC Activity Days from 1. to 31. July 2020. All stations will... Read more
K1JT , JOE TAYLOR HINTS AT POSSIBLE NEW MODE!
In a post to the WSJT-X email group today, Joe Taylor K1JT hinted at some ongoing experimentation of a new digital mode with sub-modes. His post was a... Read more
WWSA GACW Contest Rules.
WWSA GACW I – Dates Second weekend of June of every year. From Saturday 15.00 UTC until Sunday 15.00 UTC. 24 hours period. II – Goal To co... Read more
