Scenario 6 - The Network Wants Vermont

Session: Tuesday, 14:40 UTC

Stations: BKYD-QFH (weather rig) and BKYD-YAGI (70cm rig) — both live

Operator: You

Riley: Out until evening. Notes only.

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Riley’s Note

Big day. The observation network picked up our station — somebody saw the data we’ve been posting and now we’re on the request list. Two asks today, one on each rig.

This is the part of the hobby that turns into actual science: a few hundred backyard stations, all pointed at the same sky, all posting what they hear. Nobody pays anybody. It runs on volunteers and text files.

Which is exactly the thing I want you thinking about today. Every prediction this station makes comes out of an orbital element set we downloaded from a mirror. No signature. No verification. A text file, from a website, that we simply believed.

Work both requests. If the sky doesn’t match the paperwork, don’t shrug.

— Riley

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Observation Requests

From: Open Satellite Observation Network — Regional Coordinator

#	Satellite	Requested Window	Expected Max Elevation	Rig
1	WXSAT-19	14:50 – 15:04	36°	QFH (137 MHz)
2	CUBEHOP-1	16:59 – 17:12	57°	Yagi (70cm)

“Vermont — we’re short of coverage in the northeast on both of these. Request #2 is the one we really want: CUBEHOP’s 16:59 pass is a good high one over your site and nobody east of Michigan is scheduled. Post whatever you get.”

Note

There is a long gap between the two requests — about an hour and three quarters of empty sky. The station’s time-skip control will carry you across it once the first observation is complete.

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Link Reference

Signal	Frequency	Bandwidth	Mode	Rig
WXSAT-19 APT	137.100 MHz	34 kHz	BPSK 1/2	BKYD-QFH
CUBEHOP-1 FM	435.250 MHz	15 kHz	QPSK 1/2	BKYD-YAGI

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Where Predictions Come From

Everything in the Observations tab — AOS, elevation, azimuth, the countdown — is computed. None of it is measured. The chain looks like this:

Volunteer mirror site  →  TLE text file  →  local propagator  →  your pass list

A TLE is two lines of numbers describing an orbit. It has no signature, no checksum that means anything against tampering, and no chain of custody. If the file is wrong — stale, corrupted, or edited by somebody — your pass list is wrong in exactly the same way, confidently, with no error message.

Caution

A prediction and an observation are different kinds of statement. The Observations tab tells you what the math expects. The waterfall tells you what the sky is doing. When those two disagree, one of them is wrong, and it is your job to find out which — not to pick the one you like.

The Observations panel can fetch a fresh element set from the network if you have reason to distrust what’s loaded.

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Today’s Work

• Request #1: catch WXSAT-19 on the QFH and get a lock
• Cross-check the network’s request sheet against your own predictions
• If they disagree, work out which source to trust and why
• Request #2: get CUBEHOP-1 on the yagi in program-track and log the contact
• Be ready to explain what caught the problem

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End of Briefing

The network is trusting a stranger’s backyard with a real observation request. You’re trusting a stranger’s website with the numbers that tell you where to point.

Both of those are fine. They’re how the hobby works, and how a lot of serious science works too. But trust that can’t be cross-checked isn’t trust — it’s just a habit.

Two sources. One sky. If they don’t match, find out why.