No visuals

Several more passes have happened while I was running the flash command, and unfortunately these is a bit of light pollution to the South where I view (look for) the satellite.  I was not able to see anything that I could confirm wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me. Might need assistance or at least a darker place to observe it.  The passes are getting too early for it to be completely dark going forward, so our next chances to see night passes will be the end of September.  I did see many shooting stars, though!

No visual / Eggbeater Test

Over the weekend I successfully transmitted a packet to the cubesat using this eggbeater antenna and an old (version 1.0) Kenwood TH-77A handheld packet radio.  While I was only to get one packet through (at the peak of the elevation), this was a good indication that the buoy concept can work, particularly in lower latitudes.  I am spending a great deal of time (while the passes were overnight) assembling components to make a prototype buoy.  I will see if I can set this setup (above) up a little more permanently and leave it for unattended operation.  Parts are on order, don't know if I can get that far this week.

During this weekend's new moon I stayed up (very late) for 4 passes to see if I could see the LEDs on board blink.  I used automation to send the "blink" command every 20 seconds.  My laptop is too bright to use even on the lowest setting and would ruin my night vision.  I was able to use my I-pad and Samsung phone by locking them down to the lowest brightness and disabling "auto" brightness.  I also used some Baofeng cheapo handheld radios to monitor uplink and downlink in real time so I could "hear" what was going on.  I had one pass that was fairly clear (cutting down on the light pollution from the nearby elementary school and village of Randolph, which I have to look over to see the satellite from home), I was unable to see anything.  The other 3 passes were clear sky but enough fog/haze to increase the light pollution too much to clearly see stars.  I went out at least 30 minutes before the pass to make sure my eyes adjusted beforehand.  I would like to try again, seems like this won't be until mid September.

I am trying to get in the habit of creating blog posts, seems like there isn't enough time to do everything I want to do.

Still running!

I stayed up late and worked a pass at 1:20 AM, it was a low (early) pass at 22.9 degrees, and I was remote (no doppler).  I was able to get several echoes and beacons and queried the IMU temperature.  Was able to hear responses down to 8 degrees.  Hoping for good visual conditions this weekend to maybe see LEDs.

Older Pictures

Here are some of the earlier pictures that we captured beginning in late February, 2014. 

These came at considerably more cost, much harder to get these before customized workflow, software, and procedures allowed us to, and after we thought the satellite might have been lost.

Pictures to Show

Here are the pictures we have downloaded of note to date. (many more are not "of note")

Start of VTLunar Blog

Welcome!  In November, 2013, the folks at Vermont Technical College as well as other partners lunched a cubesat.  The cubesat's primary mission is to gather information and data to be used for navigation.  A follow-up satellite is planned with the hope of being the first cubesat to leave Earth orbit and head for the moon.  Here's some of the experiences I've had as I am lucky enough to be the communications director on the mission.