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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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