Spring has set in on-board Masat-1 and at our ground station as well. From the 5th of April, Masat-1 enjoys continuous illumination, resulting in a steady rise of the internal average temperature, now at 25°Celsius.
Spring has brought excellent weather to the ground station, with occasional thunderstorms. As the lightning protection system protecting our antenna is not complete at the primary ground station, and our antenna system is the highest object in the neighbourhood, we have a high possibility of lightning directly hitting the antenna. We evaluated the advantages of having the primary ground station up and running versus the possible damage of a lightning strike, and decided to pull down the mast, lessening the possibility of a direct lightning strike.
While the primary ground station’s antenna is pulled down, we rely on the secondary ground station at Érd for data collection and satellite commanding. During this period we increasingly rely on data coming from radio amateurs all around the world. We are honoured and thankful of their contributions.