Saudi Sat - SO-50

 

(Source: www.amsat.org)

Owned by the "King Abdulaziz University for Science & Technology" , the SaudiSat-1C was launched from the Baikanur Cosmodrome, on 20th Dec, 2002. It is classified as a micro-satellite weighing 10 Kgs. It is placed in an elliptical orbit ranging from 603  (nearest - Perigee)- 713 Kms (farthest - Apogee) from the surface of the earth.  It takes just under 98 mins to complete one orbit around the earth

SO-50 carries several experiments, including a mode J FM amateur repeater experiment operating on 145.850 MHz up link and 436.800 MHz down link. The repeater is available to amateurs worldwide as power permits, using a 67.0 Hertz PL tone on the up link, i.e. your rig must be capable of transmitting with CTCSS, for on-demand activation. SO-50 also has a 10 minute timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a PL tone of 74.4 to arm the timer.

The repeater consists of a miniature VHF receiver with sensitivity of -124dBm, having an IF bandwidth of 15 KHz. The receive antenna is a 1/4 wave vertical mounted in the top corner of the spacecraft. The received Audio is fed to the 250mW UHF transmitter. The downlink antenna is a 1/4 wave mounted in the bottom corner of the spacecraft.

This has been one of the satellites with a consistent signal and  a good footprint.

Capsulated details again
UPLINK
Trigger - 145.850 (74.4Hz CTCSS Tone - activates the satellite for a 10 min slot.)
QSO - 145.850  (67.0 Hz CTCSS Tone)
DOWNLINK
Listen on 436.795 +/- for doppler shift.

All the best