Optical-unknowns 29 Jan 2008

From: Greg Roberts (grr@telkomsa.net)
Date: Wed Jan 30 2008 - 12:44:08 UTC

  • Next message: Greg Roberts: "Optical 29 Jan 2008"

    Observations 29 Jan 2008:
    -------------------------------
    
    Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
    MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005 lux typical
    in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT mode with 128
    frame integration.
    
    Used with 6 inch f/2.7 reflector,integrating for 128 frames
    which is equivalent to an exposure of 2.56 seconds per image.
    
    Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude  33.94058 deg S,
    Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
    
    
    UNKNOWNS:
    --------------------
    
    99000 08 027GEO 0433 G 20080129193238700 56 15 0341034+074435 39  +115 05
    99000 08 027GEO 0433 G 20080129193550700 56 15 0344173+074122 39  +115 05
    99000 08 027GEO 0433 G 20080129194024700 56 15 0348517+073711 39  +115 05
    
    91120 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129193238700 56 15 0340357+073615 39  +095 05
    91120 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129193550700 56 15 0343505+073632 39  +095 05
    91120 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129194024700 56 15 0348273+073656 39  +095 05
    
    91121 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129210227700 56 15 1001162+051942 39  +095 05
    91121 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129210600200 56 15 1004523+051929 39  +095 05
    91121 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129211018700 56 15 1009159+051930 39  +095 05
    
    91122 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129215929100 56 15 0528424+052135 39  +125 05
    91122 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129220200200 56 15 0531135+052149 39  +125 05
    91122 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129220502000 56 15 0534155+052154 39  +125 05
    91122 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129220857500 56 15 0536221+052058 39  +125 05
    91122 08 029GEO 0433 G 20080129220918000 56 15 0536412+052056 39  +125 05
    
    Notes:
    --------
    
    (1) 99000 is the unknown found by Peter Wakelin on 27th Jan 2008. It is
        emitting radio signals on 2232.5049 Mhz, 2237.4994 Mhz and 2239.5480
        Mhz which is characteristic of the DSP series of satellites. It is
        slowly drifting eastward and showed magnitude variability on a small
        scale.
    
    (2) 91120 was found very close to 99000. It is bright and appeared steady.
        The inclination appears to be quite small.
    
    (3) 91121 was found close to 90035. It is transmitting on 2257.4998 Mhz
        which indicates it may be a DSCS satellite. Nice and bright.
    
    (4) 91122 was on the edge of the field during several exposures so field
        distortion may be a problem-the last two positions were in a different
        part of the frame and was only found today when I ran through the DVD
        recording. It appears to be transmitting on 2257.4956 Mhz which again
        may indicate a DSCS satellite.
    
    (5) 90016 looks like its on the move again. I did not find it last night.
        This puts out a strong radio  signal on 2232.5080 Mhz so when next I
        do radio observations I will compare the predicted position against
        the pointing of the dish after  aiming for maximum signal - this will give
        an idea of the size of the orbit shiftchange for optical work. The dish
        has a pointing accuracy of  about 2 degrees at the moment.
    
    (6) All frequency readings are the observed doppler frequencies and are
         not corrected.
    
    The radio observations were done using a 6 foot dish on an alt/az mount,
    followed by a MINIKITS S-band preamp and feeding into an AR8600 receiver
    providing continuous coverage up to 3000 Mhz. The output signal is
    displayed on two computers, one running SPECTRUMLAB and the other , via
    an SDR-IQ, into SPECTRAVUE.
    
    Cheers
    Greg
    
     
    
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