ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Deep Space Probe Reception Report

(2014-12-15) PE1ITR
This webpage is about my ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Spacecraft receive experiments on 437MHz. The Shin-en2 and ARTSAT2:DESPATCH spacecrafts transmitting in the 70cm amateur radio band are launched on 2014-12-03 together with the Hayabusa 2 and are cruising into deep space.

Until now I could detect the ARTSAT2:DESPATCH beacon at a distance of 4.7 million kilometers from earth.

The shin-en2 reception is reported on this page.

Beacon info:
ARTSAT2:DESPATCH: CW Downlink 437.325MHz. 7w A1A Modulation. This beacon is not continuous active and has a transmission schedule! Seeartsat webpage for schedule.
Information: http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Main_Page


PE1ITR Receiver:
4x16 element DK7ZB Yagi 3m AGL or 4x16 element DL6WU/Flexa Yagi 10m AGL, 0.35db pre-amp, Funcubedongle Pro+.
Linrad software is used
Related report of reception 2005-09-22 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on 437.100MHz.


Receive Schedule:
Start Time End Time Distance Reception ARTSAT2:DESPATCH
2014-12-03 21:00UTC 2014-12-04 00:00UTC 288.000km ~ 340.000km No
2014-12-05 21:00UTC 2014-12-04 00:00UTC 700.000km ~ 750.000km Yes
2014-12-07 22:00UTC 2014-12-08 01:00UTC 1.917.935km ~ 1.967.779km No
2014-12-08 20:15UTC 2014-12-09 02:00UTC 2.287.391km ~ 2.380.311km Yes
2014-12-14 20:13UTC 2014-12-14 23:00UTC 4.673.531km ~ 4.719.666km Yes



Signal Reception 2014-12-04


Signal Reception 2014-12-08


Signal Reception 2014-12-14 21:06UTC. 4.7million kilometers distance!! I think the signal is within the white rectangle. It is very very weak and it could be doubtful whether this is the signal.
But I think it is the signal because it starts at the exact time of the periodic transmissions, the negative Doppler shift correlates with the expected values and the duration of the transmission is consistent with what I've seen on 2014-12-08.

QSL:
I Received a nice QSL card. Made with a 3D printer

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