The transponder on HuskySat-1, now designated as HuskySat-OSCAR 107 (HO-107), has been activated and is open for use and testing, AMSAT Vice President – Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, reports.

“It’s fairly sensitive, and 5 – 10 W is plenty most of the time. There are some fades due to satellite orientation, and some passes are definitely better than others. Strong signals may impact the beacon strength.”

HuskySat-1 is the first CubeSat from the Husky Satellite Lab at the University of Washington and the first mission with AMSAT’s linear transponder module (LTM-1), a V/u transponder and integrated telemetry beacon and command receiver. University researchers recently completed their Part 5 (Experimental) operations and have opened up the amateur radio transponder, which is available for use in educational CubeSat missions that are willing to enable the transponder for worldwide use.

The HuskySat-1 V/u transponder is inverting, with an uplink passband of 145.910 – 145.940 MHz, and a downlink passband of 435.810 – 435.840 MHz. The 1200-baud BPSK telemetry beacon is at 435.800 MHz.