Maybe out of place for this group---but maybe not, as there were quite a
few posts (and interest) here about the (in)famous "Suit Sat".
Well, a new satellite has been launched that may be interesting to
copy/QSL...
From the ARRL web site (arrl.org):
(Jan 15, 2007) -- AMSAT-LU (Argentina) has announced that
Pehuensat-1, the second Argentinian Amateur Radio satellite, now is
in a 635 to 640 km sun-synchronous polar orbit (97.92 degree
inclination). It was launched on January 10 from India. Once
activated Pehuensat-1 will transmit voice messages in three languages
-- English, Hindi and Spanish -- on 145.825 MHz followed by AX.25
1200 bps packet. Named after the native Patagonian Pehuen tree,
Pehuensat-1 was developed by the Argentina School of Engineering at
the National University of Comahue, the Argentina Association for
Technology and Space and AMSAT-LU. More information is on the
AMSAT-LU Web site. To determine the next pass at your location, click
on the small revolving globe off of the coast of Argentina, select
your location from the map, and then select PEHUENSAT-1. Reception
reports are welcome. -- AMSAT-NA; AMSAT-LU
To know when to copy the satellite, you have to know when it is close to
your location. To do that you need a good satellite tracking program.
You can use the one mentioned in the article above, but it seems a bit
difficult to use and only covers a limited number of cities. Let me
recommend a very nice tracking program with a very nice price--free!
Go to
www.stoff.pl and download "Orbitron 3.71". Once you load and
install it, make sure you update the "Keplarian elements", the latest
orbital data the program needs to give you accurate tracking info.