Transponder Test

This morning we decided to try out the transponder for the first time. Howard and Ciaran were dispatched to the car park with a portable ground station. Howard was to try the transponder, and Ciaran recorded the IQ files for examination later, using his Elk, FUNcube Dongle, and MS Surface Pro laptop. The test was a success, and with his pair of 817’s (one tx one rx) and trusty Arrow antenna Howard was able to hear his SSB signal at good strength through the transponder. We hope to do some further transponder tests soon, and are as yet undecided when these should be, but probably tomorrow. We’ll try and announce here when we plan to do further testing.

We have also been busy with the Media today. In particular we were visited by the BBC TV in the form of presenter John Maguire and his camera man, who shot what seemed like a lot of footage. Keep a look out for us on BBC-1 Breakfast TV between 6 am and 9 am on Monday morning. We’ve been told that our ‘spot’ will last between 2 and 4 minutes, perhaps at 07:50 or 08:50. Its estimated that it attracts about 7 million viewers!

After the visit to the Radio Centre, John Maguire asked us to support a visit to a local school, Abbeys Primary School in Bletchley, to meet up with some 10-11 year old pupils and talk to them about the FUNcube project. The visit was a huge success, with the school children asking lots of questions. As this was the first educational outreach opportunity after launch, the school children were asked to compose a Fitter message which we will upload to FUNcube when they have decided what it should be! (Teachers’s comment “Might be their home work!”).