Brazil: High school students shown amateur radio

Gonçalves Dias School Students

Gonçalves Dias School Students

Brazilian radio amateurs participated in a Science Fair at Gonçalves Dias School, Boa Vista on October 16, 2019.

Paulo PV8DX used basic concepts of physics and geography when explaining amateur radio to the students. As well as theory they there were also practicals involving the students in antenna construction and contacts using the transponder on the amateur radio satellite LAPAN IO-86.

Paulo had asked AMSAT-UK FUNcube team if a special ‘Fitter‘ message could be transmitted from the FUNcube-1 (AO-73) satellite. This was arranged and the message from space was received at the school.

Watch Atividade Escolar – Ham Radio – By PV8DX

Further information on FUNcube-1 ‘Fitter’ messages and how to request one is available at https://funcube.org.uk/ground-segment/fitter-messages/

AMSAT-UK https://twitter.com/AmsatUK

University CubeSat Club members get ham radio licenses

Dawson Duckworth KC3NNB, Lauren Hurley KD2RHC, Kaixuan Ji AC3EN and Dr. Alan Johnston KU2Y staffed the AMSAT / Villanova CubeSat Club table at the Robotstock/STEM event in August

Dawson Duckworth KC3NNB, Lauren Hurley KD2RHC, Kaixuan Ji AC3EN and Dr. Alan Johnston KU2Y staffed the AMSAT / Villanova CubeSat Club table at the Robotstock/STEM event in August

Students at the Villanova University College of Engineering started a CubeSat Club in the fall of 2018 and have since got their amateur radio licenses.

The university website reports:

A CubeSat is a nanosatellite—a small, lightweight satellite that is cheaper to build than a conventional satellite. They can be launched from rockets, or occasionally from the International Space Station by astronauts. CubeSats send telemetry information—measurements communicated at remote points by automated processes—over radio signals received on earth by a ground station.

The CubeSat club’s 2018-2019 year was packed with a variety of workshops and projects, including:

• Setting up temporary ground stations called SatNOGS (Satellite Network Operators Group)
• Building Yagi-Uda antennas from tape measurers and scrap wood and using them to track low earth orbit satellites as they flew over Villanova
• Building an AMSAT CubeSat Simulator, a functional satellite model
• Assisting with the freshman CubeSat mini-design projects
• Earning amateur radio licenses and ham radio callsigns
• Assembling and selling electronic transceiver boards used in CubeSats as a fundraiser
• Attending the 2019 Hamvention conference and running the AMSAT education table
• Received and decoded a special message sent from the AO-73 FUNcube Satellite especially for Villanova

Read the full story at
https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/engineering/newsevents/newsarchives/2019/community/CubeSat-Club.html

The students emailed a request to the FUNcube Operations Team to get their special message transmitted from space by the AO-73 satellite. Further information on these ‘Fitter’ messages is available at https://funcube.org.uk/ground-segment/fitter-messages/

ESEO student satellite to enter final test phase

Dr Chris Bridges M0IEB and Pete Bartram conduct uplink command testing on the ESEO payload in the grounds of University of Surrey

Dr Chris Bridges M0IEB and Pete Bartram conduct uplink command testing on the ESEO payload in the grounds of University of Surrey

The European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO) satellite carries the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-4 amateur radio 1260/145 MHz FM transponder. On September 27 it successfully completed the vibrations test.

In the past few years, ten student teams from different European universities have combined forces to produce essential equipment for the spacecraft, including subsystems parts, scientific or technology demonstration instrumentation, and the ground mission control support for this micro-satellite mission, planned to fly to Low Earth Orbit later this year.

The project reached an important milestone on August 28, 2018, when the assembly integration of the ESEO spacecraft was declared complete. In this phase all the satellite’s physical parts were assembled together, and all functional interconnections were checked to confirm they work as required.

On September 27, 2018 ESEO reached another key milestone, when it successfully completed the vibrations test campaign at SITAEL’s premises in Mola di Bari, Italy. ESEO has now demonstrated that its design is solid enough to safely withstand the mechanical solicitations it will undergo during the rocket launch.

In the next couple of weeks it will undergo the so-called thermal vacuum and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests at ESA’s ESTEC site in the Netherlands.

Read the full ESA story at
http://www.esa.int/Education/ESEO/A_step_closer_to_launch_-_ESEO_student_satellite_to_enter_final_test_phase

AMSAT-UK ESEO page
https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/eseo/

ESEO satellite FUNcube-4 transponder talk will take place at the RSGB Convention on Sunday, October 14. The talk will be streamed live to a global audience, details at
https://amsat-uk.org/2018/08/27/eseo-satellite-funcube-4/

Ada Lace book features amateur radio and space communications

Emily Calandrelli KD8PKR with her new Ada Lace book

Emily Calandrelli KD8PKR with her new Ada Lace book

Ada Lace, Take Me to Your Leader is a new book written for young people by Emily Calandrelli KD8PKR that features amateur radio and space communications.

Ada is an 8-year-old with a knack for science, mathematics, and solving mysteries with technology. Her latest project is to fix up a ham radio, something that she could use to contact people on this planet and beyond.

The book is available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2DbKt9L

Emily Calandrelli KD8PKR
https://twitter.com/TheSpaceGal
https://twitter.com/ada_lace

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Find a UK amateur radio training course near you https://thersgb.org/services/coursefinder/

Free online amateur radio Foundation course https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/

Radio hams receive Slow Scan TV from Space

ISS SSTV 9-9 Edmund Spicer M0MNG 2018-04-11-1730z

ISS SSTV received by Edmund Spicer M0MNG

Radio amateurs around the world are receiving Slow Scan Television images on 145.800 MHz FM from the International Space Station.

The transmissions by ARISS Russia are in celebration of Cosmonautics Day and should continue until 1820 GMT on Saturday, April 14.

Pete M0PSX of Essex Ham reports receiving good pictures using a colinear antenna.

Edmund Spicer M0MNG, a regular guest on the bi-weekly ICQ Amateur Radio Podcast, received an image at 1730 GMT on Wednesday, April 11 using a 5 element ZL Special Yagi and a FT-991. He said it was probably the best quality image he’s ever received from the ISS.

Others have reported receiving images using just a $35 Baofeng UV-5R VHF/UHF FM handheld radio and 1/4 wave antenna.

Read the Essex Ham report which includes times to receive the SSTV signal over Essex
https://www.essexham.co.uk/news/iss-sstv-images-11-april-2018.html

Further information on the Russian ISS SSTV event to celebrate Cosmonautics Day
https://amsat-uk.org/2018/04/08/russian-iss-sstv-cosmonautics-day/

The SSTV can be displayed on a Windows PC using the MMSSTV App, you can even hold an iPhone or iPad next to the radio with the appropriate iOS SSTV App. Links to Apps and other information at
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

If you receive a full or partial picture from the Space Station your Local Newspaper may like to know http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/july/now-is-a-great-time-to-get-ham-radio-publicity.htm

The RSGB produce a handy Media Guide and Template press release for anyone to download and adapt, see http://rsgb.org/main/clubs/media-guide-for-affiliated-societies/

An example of the publicity you can get for the hobby by telling your Local Newspaper
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/04/15/iss-sstv-in-the-press/

 

CQ Magazine honours Britons involved in Astro Pi project

David Honess M6DNT with both ISS Astro Pi computers

David Honess M6DNT with both ISS Astro Pi computers

Radio amateurs David Honess, M6DNT, and Tim Peake, KG5BVI / GB1SS, have been inducted into the prestigious CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.

The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honours those individuals, whether licenced radio amateurs or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet.

David Honess, M6DNT, developed the Astro Pi project which sent two Raspberry Pi computers to the International Space Station as platforms for students on Earth to write and run their own computer code in space. In November 2016 he was honored for this work with the Sir Arthur Clarke Award, presented by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society.

David said “I was really surprised when I heard I’d been inducted into the Hall of Fame, especially alongside Tim! Thank you to CQ magazine for the honour.”

“I’m so jealous of the kids these days, if you could have sent BBC Basic code to the Mir space station when I was kid I would have gone mad for it! Astro Pi gives young people a chance to be real ISS scientists, to have their code run in space and do something meaningful.”

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on the amateur radio station equipment he would use on the ISS

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on the amateur radio station equipment he would use on the ISS

UK astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI /GB1SS, coordinated the International Space Station end of the Astro Pi project.

Tim was very active in the ARISS program during his mission on the ISS. In his free time he used the amateur radio station in the Columbus module to talk to students at schools in the UK and around the world. These contacts included the first use of Digital Amateur Television (DATV) transmissions to schools from space.

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

ARISS Principia UK school contacts https://principia.ariss.org/

Videos of Tim Peake GB1SS amateur radio contacts with UK schools
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQS-yDk7PdE9cRv4MNu8pCw/videos

Astro Pi: Your Code in Space https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/tag/astro-pi/

Astro Pi https://astro-pi.org/
Twitter https://twitter.com/astro_pi
Izzy Astro Pi https://twitter.com/astro_pi_ir
Ed Astro Pi https://twitter.com/astro_pi_vis

CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_awards/cq_hall_of_fame_awards/cq_hall_of_fame_awards.html

David Honess, M6DNT, presented with Sir Arthur Clarke Award
https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/25/radio-ham-awarded-space-achievement-honour/