We are glad to see that Masat-1 (MO-72) is still popular among radio amateurs. The enduring interest is testified by the amount of packages we receive from all over the world. We prepare statistics about these received packets. These statistics are published periodically on the website.

Everything is all right on-board Masat-1. All subsystems operate normally. The temperature of the battery is between 5 °C and 10 °C, despite the satellite being in eclipse during more than 33% of the orbit. This elevated temperature is due to the battery heating system, which turns on whenever the battery temperature dips below 5 °C. During the past weeks the available orbits in Hungary shifted from the afternoons to the early mornings. Despite some orbits coming as early as 2 AM, we still track each pass of the satellite.

Masat-1 has been on orbit for more than a week. According to the feedback and the packets received so far, everything is OK on-board. Today the satellite entered the first orbit with a small section of it in eclipse. This opens up a new phase of the mission, which is especially exciting from the scientific perspective. The alternation of illuminated and non-illuminated periods has a significant effect on the thermal state and energy balance of the satellite. To examine these issues, we must perform long-term measurements with short sampling intervals, resulting in a significant amount of data produced.

To make an efficient use of the available time slots during the following week, we will download data from the satellite with an increased data rate of 1250bps. During these passes, those receiving the satellite are kindly asked to switch the demodulation SW to 1250bps mode (this is possible in the new release of the demodulation SW, which is available to download). During these high-speed download passes the callsign of the satellite is transmitted once in 2 minutes, CW battery voltage and temperature are not transmitted. The current data rate (625/1250bps) can be decided using the frequency waterfall or by listening to the audio signal.

Each 1250bps packet demodulated with the SW is a huge help for our team, as the packets received by radio amateurs may contain sections we could not decode because of the rotation of the satellite. It is foreseen that during the weekend and from the next week we will have passes where the demodulation of the current telemetry data will be possible. The demodulated telemetry data is shown by the SW. Please note that for telemetry demodulation the SW must be set to 625bps. We are planning to publish data on the availability of these telemetry-only passes. (Of course, if the satellite is not visible from Hungary, then it always transmits only telemetry with 625bps.)

OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO reports,

“Congratulations on the successful launch of the MaSat-1 Cubesat that the team at Budapest University of Technology and Economics have been responsible for designing, building and testing. Since you have met all of the requirements for being issued an OSCAR number, including coordination through IARU and requesting an OSCAR number, I, under authority vested in me by the President of AMSAT-NA, do hereby name Masat-1 as MagyarSat-OSCAR-72 or MO-72.”

Bill concludes, “I, and all at AMSAT-NA wish MagyarSat-OSCAR-72 great success in fulfilling all of its mission objectives.”

[ANS thanks OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO for the above information]

Our updated client-software is available on this page. Thank you for the highly helpful feedback you sent us about the software. Please keep us informed of your opinion and remarks. Notable changes:

• “Offline” label removed, the status of the automatic packet reporting is displayed
• Battery voltage constant (on the EPS panel) updated
• Now you can change between 626/1250 bps decoding on the Packets panel
• On the frequency waterfall now you can see tracks for the 0, CW and 1. The decoder is the most sensitive if the signal is in the middle of the highlighted track