Feb 18 2014

Brown University CubeSat on TV

WSPI 12 TV video Manufacturing Leader Hannah Varner working on the CubeSat structure

WSPI 12 TV video Manufacturing Leader Hannah Varner working on the CubeSat structure – Image credit Brown University

Students at Brown University, Rhode Island have been getting plenty of media coverage for their LED CubeSat appearing in the TV news broadcasts of ABC 6 and WPRI 12.

They were interviewed by Samantha Lavien for the ABC 6 TV news story which was broadcast on Monday, February 18. You can watch it on the web at
http://www.abc6.com/story/24745098/nasa-to-launch-brown-univ-students-nanosatellite

Brown University Cubesat project https://mygroups.brown.edu/organization/CubeSat

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/browncubesat

Twitter https://twitter.com/BrownCubeSat

Brown University LED CubeSat http://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/12/brown-university-led-cubesat/

Feb 18 2014

Overcrowding of the two metre satellite band

Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV

Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV

At the 2013 AMSAT-NA Symposium Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV gave a presentation on the challenges presented by overcrowding of the two meter (145 MHz) satellite band.

A PDF of his slides can be downloaded from
http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/AMSAT-NA_Symposium2013/Groenendaal_Overcrowding_Two_Metre_Band.pdf

Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO gave a presentation Upcoming CubeSat Launches: The Flood Has Arrived, his slides can be seen at http://www.klofas.com/papers/klofas_amsat2013.pdf‎

The slides for other presentations given at the 2011, 2012 and 2013 AMSAT-NA symposiums can be downloaded from http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/

Feb 17 2014

Delfi-n3Xt transponder to be tested

Delfi-n3Xt Satellite

Delfi-n3Xt Satellite

Delfi Nanosatellite Program Manager, Jasper Bouwmeester PC4JB, has announced tests for Feb 20-21 of the Delfi-n3Xt 435/145 MHz linear transponder for amateur radio SSB/CW communications.

Dear radio amateurs,

It has been a while since we have provided an update, so it is time to brief you again.

Delfi-n3Xt Status

The satellite is doing fine and is in healthy shape. We are now almost 3 months in orbit and have fulfilled a major part of the primary mission objectives. This means that we are close to a mission success. This does not mean that everything works flawlessly as there are several subsystems with issues. Given the amount of payloads and new technologies, I can only say that this was to be expected and accounted for in the mission. Delfi satellites are developing platforms and Delfi-n3Xt is an in-orbit test facility. The good thing is that issues encountered are not even a final verdict on the subsystems performance. The attitude determination and control subsystem currently is hampered by a high magnetic noise, but might still be tweaked and tune to see if we can get it to work properly. This however takes some time, so we are glad that the satellite seems to be in healthy state and we can take more time to experiment with it.

DUDe

We are still working on an improved version of DUDe to tackle several issues which we and many of you have discovered and reported. Unfortunately, many of these issues are more difficult to tackle than anticipated and will still take a while before we can release a new solid version of DUDe. One of the main issues is the fact that the software freezes after receiving noise for some time, meaning that DUDe needs to be restarted each time. Attached is a version of DUDe with a dirty fix which resets the PLL every minute. The penalty is that a 1 or 2 frames are lost each minute, so the performance is less than version 5.1. It is however much more convenient for automated ground stations (like our own) and therefore we decided to release this version.

Transponder

We are going to test the transponder functionality of Delfi-n3Xt this week. I have to be honest that this functionality was implemented last minute on the satellite and was only tested briefly in a non-representative setup. I therefore estimate the chance that it will work at 50/50.

Our first test series will be:

Thursday 20-02-2014 at about 10:50 UT

Friday 21-02-2014 at about 9:50 UT

Friday 21-02-2014 at about 11:25 UT

After a few initial tests, and provided that it works, you are free to use the transponder for communication. We will leave it in this mode for the remainder of the sunlit part of the orbit, so only in Europe and Africa it is possible to use this mode for now. If successful we will turn on the transponder more often and for longer periods of time such that everyone can enjoy it.

[Inverting SSB/CW transponder
• 435.530-435.570 MHz uplink LSB
• 145.880-145.920 MHz downlink USB]

S-band Transmitter

There seems to be a problem on the S-band transmitter causing the current protection to kick in occasionally. Maybe this is due to charging or some other effect, as the board is not protected by The Onboard Computer leaves the transmitter off after several attempts as part of an internal safety mechanism. We can still turn on the S-band transmitter through telecommand, but this will only last for a few passes. Most cases the S-band transmitter will thus be off and it reporting that we have turned it might not be very effective since it might be off again by the time you read the message. If you are still interested to try and receive the beacon signal of the S-band, please check the regular telemetry in DUDe under ‘Status’ ’Satellite Status’ ‘Subsystem Status STX’ to see if it is actually on.

J. (Jasper) Bouwmeester PC4JB, MSc.
Delfi Nanosatellite Program Manager &
Researcher Small Satellite Technology
Chair of Space Systems Engineering
Delft University of Technology

IARU coordinated Delfi-n3Xt frequencies
• 145.870 MHz Telemetry
• 145.930 MHz Telemetry
• 2405.00 MHz High speed data
• Inverting SSB/CW transponder
- 435.530-435.570 MHz uplink LSB
- 145.880-145.920 MHz downlink USB

Telemetry reception http://www.delfispace.nl/operations/delfi-n3xt-telemetry-reception

Delfi-n3Xt http://www.delfispace.nl/operations/radio-amateurs

Dnepr Yasny launch http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Feb 17 2014

BIS prepares for KickSat Sprite launch

Laurence de Bruxelle and Andy Thomas G0SFJ with KickSat ground station antennas

Laurence de Bruxelle and Andy Thomas G0SFJ with KickSat ground station antennas

British Interplanetary Society (BIS) members Laurence de Bruxelle and Andy Thomas G0SFJ have been working on three of the low cost ground stations for the eagerly awaited KickSat CubeSat which will deploy 200 Sprite satellites operating on 437 MHz.

The launch of KickSat on the SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS 3 mission is expected to take place from the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, March 16 at 0841 UT.

Read the article BIS KickSat personal ground stations
http://www.bis-space.com/2014/02/16/12429/bis-kicksat-personal-ground-stations

Andrew Vaudin of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) gave a presentation on the BIS Kicksat Sprite satellite to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium on Sunday, July 21. You can watch the video of his presentation at http://www.batc.tv/streams/amsat1310

KickSat

KickSat

KickSat 437 MHz Sprite Satellite

KickSat 437 MHz Sprite Satellite

Download it direct to your PC at http://www.batc.tv/vod/kicksat.flv

Information about KickSat can be found at:
http://www.bis-space.com/category/bis-projects
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space

KickSat – Zac Manchester KD2BHC Interview
http://amsat-uk.org/2012/01/13/kicksat-zac-manchester-interview/

Feb 16 2014

University of Louisiana CAPE II CubeSat Designated LO-75

CAPE-2 CubeSat - University of Louisiana

CAPE-2 CubeSat – University of Louisiana

OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced the University of Louisiana’s CAPE II CubeSat has been designated as University of Louisiana OSCAR 75 or LO-75.

Bill wrote to AMSAT mentor Nick Pugh, K5QXJ, and the CAPE II CubeSat team, “I have been able to determine CAPE II has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. By the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA president, I hereby issue CAPE II the designation University of Louisiana OSCAR 75 or LO-75. I, and all of the amateur satellite community, wish LO-75 the best of success”.

CAPE II operates on 145.825 MHz FM with a CW beacon  with the callsign W5UL, it also includes a digipeater, text to speech operation, a simplex repeater, email and tweet functions. The ground station software can be downloaded from http://www.ulcape.org/

Watch CAPE-2 Voice beacon when mobile near east coast of India by Nitin Muttin VU3TYG

Ever since the launch of OSCAR 1 in 1961, it has been traditional for amateur radio satellites to carry the name OSCAR, for “Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio”. At the request of the original Project OSCAR organization, AMSAT-NA now administers the numbering of OSCAR satellites.

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and AMSAT-NA have adopted the paper Information for Developers of Satellites Planned to Use Frequency Bands Allocated to the Amateur-Satellite Service, which can be found at http://www.iaru.org/amateur-radio-satellite-frequency-coordination.html

The OSCAR Numbers Policy page is at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/amsat-na/oscar.html

Source AMSAT News Service (ANS)

Feb 16 2014

Fox-2 to have Mode J (145 to 435 MHz) transponder

AMSAT FOXTony Monterio AA2TX and the AMSAT News service (ANS) have released this update on the Fox CubeSat program.

The main point of Fox-2 is to develop and fly an advanced, software defined transponder (SDX.) An SDX can be programmed to be any kind of transponder. It will be a linear [SSB/CW], inverting mode-J [VHF uplink UHF downlink] transponder by default.

We would also like to try some new and interesting digital modes perhaps including digital voice which would be my personal favorite. That is the tremendous flexibility you get with an SDX. You can change the transponder in software.

ARISSat-1 was our first attempt at an SDX and it worked very well. It could only be programmed on the ground though. The SDX for Fox-2 will be programmable in orbit.

Fox-2 will be a 3U CubeSat (three times the size of Fox-1) providing a lot more power and space for the electronics.

The source of confusion may be because we are building four Fox-1 flight units. The idea is to have them available and ready to fly so we can easily team up with universities that want to fly science missions and get free launches. Building them all at once is also a much cheaper way to build satellites.

All four Fox-1 units will have the same hardware and avionics. The universities will supply their experiment cards and the software can be customized for each satellite as needed.

Once the Fox-1 flight models are built, the engineering team can begin working on Fox-2. That should start this year [2014].

The status of the Fox-1 satellites is as follows:

Fox-1 (Fox-1A) is scheduled to fly on NROL-55.

RadFxSat (Fox-1B) is a joint project with Vanderbilt University. It has already been accepted into the NASA ELaNa program but it has not been assigned a launch yet.

Fox-1C and Fox-1D are not currently assigned.

Feb 16 2014

ARRL Radio Waves Newsletter Features FUNcube

ARRL Radio Waves Winter 2014

ARRL Radio Waves Winter 2014

The Winter 2014 edition of Radio Waves, ARRL’s e-newsletter for instructors and teachers, is now available for download.

Among the selection of articles: “High School Students Put Packet Radio to Work for Local Environmental Study,” “Club Boasts Fourfold Increase in New Licensees/Upgrades,” “Instructor Corner — News, Ideas, Support,” and “In The Classroom: Teaching Ohm’s Law.”

The newsletter also features the AMSAT-UK FUNcube satellite project.

Radio Waves aims to provide information that will help educators and instructors with licensing or classroom instruction and to share experiences and stories of other instructors and teachers that may offer ideas for you to incorporate in your own activities.

Download the Winter Radio Waves at
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Radio%20Waves%20Newsletter/Winter%202014%20Radio%20Waves.pdf

Source ARRL
http://www.arrl.org/news/winter-edition-of-new-radio-waves-e-newsletter-for-teachers-and-instructors-now-available

Feb 15 2014

Brazilian students talk to Space Station using Amateur Radio

ARISS PV8DX students at Escola Estadual 'Gonçalves Dias'

ARISS PV8DX students at Escola Estadual ‘Gonçalves Dias’

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact took place at 17:24 UT on Thursday, February 13, 2014.

International_Space_StationStudents at Escola Estadual ‘Gonçalves Dias’, Boa Vista, Brazil, using the station of Paulo PV8DX, were able to talk to astronaut Michael Hopkins KF5LJG who was using the callsign OR4ISS. The contact lasted about 9 minutes and took place in English on 145.800 MHz FM.

The school, founded in 1977, works in two shifts, morning and afternoon with a total of 800 students. The school has a specialty program dedicated to Computer Science and related areas – students in this area were directly involved in the ARISS event. These same students were involved in the development of questions and related studies. The school has 70 teachers and 30 administrative support staff.

International Space Station ISS 2011The students asked these questions:

1. Why did you decide to be an astronaut?
2. How long can a person live in space?
3. How do you communicate with your family?
4. After the mission, what are the most critical physical and psychological effects on your body and mind?
5. If someone is critically injured on the ISS, what would you do with  them?
6. In case of illness, how is aid provided?
7. What kind of research are you doing on the ISS?
8. Do you feel disoriented when you return home?
9. Given the incredible committment to become an astronaut, do you ever doubt your choice?
10. How do you bathe on the ISS?
International Space Station ISS with shuttle Endeavour 2011-05-2311. What is the most interesting thing you have seen in Space?
12. Is oxygen recycled continually on the ISS or do supply vehicles bring up new oxygen?
13. What is a typical day like on the ISS?
14. Since there are people from different countries on the ISS, what is the language spoken on the Station and what kind of food do you eat?

A recording of part of the contact made by PY2TNA can be heard here


.

Michael Hopkins KF5LJG / OR4ISS

Michael Hopkins KF5LJG / OR4ISS

Media coverage can be seen at

http://g1.globo.com/rr/roraima/noticia/2014/02/estudantes-de-rr-fazem-contato-com-astronauta-em-estacao-espacial.html

http://g1.globo.com/rr/roraima/jornal-de-roraima/videos/t/edicoes/v/estudantes-roraimenses-tem-contato-com-astronauta-por-meio-de-projeto-da-nasa/3147827/

http://www.rr.gov.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12994:no-espaco-comunicacao-entre-estudantes-de-roraima-e-astronauta-americano-foi-um-sucesso&catid=198:2014fevereiro&Itemid=210

Sign up for the SAREX maillist at http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station http://www.ariss.org/

Feb 13 2014

Join AMSAT-UK

AMSAT-UK_Bevelled_Logo

AMSAT-UK Logo

Founded in 1975 AMSAT-UK is a voluntary organisation that supports the design and building of equipment for amateur radio satellites.

AMSAT-UK initially produced a short bulletin called OSCAR News to give members advice on amateur satellite communications. Since those early days OSCAR News has grown in size and the print quality has improved beyond recognition. Today, OSCAR News is produced as a high-quality quarterly colour A4 magazine consisting of up to 40 pages of news, information and comment about amateur radio space communications.

The new lower-cost E-membership provides OSCAR News as a downloadable PDF file giving members the freedom to read it on their Tablets or Smartphones anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

An additional advantage is that the PDF should be available for download up to 2 weeks before the paper copy is posted.

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch Rev4 20100609

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

The Membership year lasts for 12 months starting on January 1 each year.

If you join after July 31 of any particular year, then you will receive complimentary membership for the whole of the following year, i.e. join on November 12, 2013, and you have nothing more to pay until Dec 31, 2014.

Take out an Electronic membership here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html

E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News from http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on

A sample issue of OSCAR News can be downloaded here.

Feb 13 2014

CNN report amateurs receive lunar rover radio signal

Jade Rabbit (Yutu) 8462.078 MHz signal received by Paul Marsh M0EYT February 12, 2014

Jade Rabbit (Yutu) 8462.078 MHz signal received by Paul Marsh M0EYT February 12, 2014

Beijing’s Jade Rabbit (Yutu) lunar rover had been thought to be dead but its radio signal on 8462.078 MHz was received by radio amateur Paul Marsh G7EYT / M0EYT on February 12, 2014.

In their story about Jade Rabbit’s return CNN mentions that the amateur @UHF_Satcom Twitter feed reported reception of the rover’s signal.

Jade Rabbit (Yutu) rover on the lunar surface imaged by the Chang'e 3 lander

Jade Rabbit (Yutu) rover on the lunar surface imaged by the Chang’e 3 lander

They say: “An amateur website dedicated to monitoring radio signals from space also reported on its Twitter account that it had detected “pretty good signals” from the device.”

Read the CNN story at
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/12/world/asia/jade-rabbit-resurrection/index.html

UHF-Satcom
Twitter https://twitter.com/uhf_satcom
Web http://www.uhf-satcom.com/
Yahoo https://groups.yahoo.com/group/amateur-DSN

Summary of all Chang’e 3 lunar signals received to date
http://www.uhf-satcom.com/amateurdsn/chang-e-3/

BBC News report Jade Rabbit ‘dead’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26166296

7202.381 MHz uplink signal to the Yutu lunar rover reflected off the Moon! X-band EME

7202.381 MHz uplink command signal to the Yutu lunar rover reflected off the Moon! X-band EME