Two videos showing vibration testing of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube amateur radio satellite have been released

This video shows the general layout of the RAL vibration testing facility, and includes interviews with Graham G3VZV and David G0MRF at the conclusion of testing.

FUNcube AIV Testing – Vibration from Jim Heck on Vimeo.

This is a short video showing what happens during a ‘high sine’ test. The test is being performed in the Z axis. Hold your breath!!

FUNcube AIV Testing – Vibration from Jim Heck on Vimeo.

The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium is being held July 30-31 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, England. The event is open to all and among the presentations will be one on the FUNcube 435/145MHz linear transponder satelite.

Either day passes or full packages comprising overnight accommodation and meals are available. For futher information see http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium-2011/

The Colloquium schedule, times in BST (GMT+1), is at
http://tinyurl.com/2011ColloquiumSchedule

There will be a live webstream at http://www.batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=3

Join the FUNcube Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube/

The Spring issue of the AMSAT-UK newsletter OSCAR News can be downloaded free at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf

Join AMSAT-UK at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/

The Amateur Radio satellite OSCAR-36 (UoSAT-12) and the UK-DMC satellite were used for the first tests in space of the “Interplanetary Internet”.

Lloyd Wood PhD, MSc, MEng, CEng MIET of the University of Surrey Centre for Communication Systems Research (CCSR) will be giving a talk to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium about this exciting pioneering work in bringing the Interplanetary Internet and terrestrial Internet together.

His talk will describe how pioneering tests of computer networking on Surrey Satellite Technology’s satellites (UoSAT-12 and UK-DMC) were able to integrate the satellites with the terrestrial Internet, and then conduct the first tests in space of the “Interplanetary Internet” that is designed for NASA’s deep space missions.

The talk takes palce 16:10 – 16:50 BST on Satuday, July 30, there will be a live webstream at http://www.batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=3

IPv6 in space http://info.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/dtn/interplanetary-internet
Delay-Tolerant Networking http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/dtn/
John Lloyd http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/CCSR/profiles?s_id=5839&

The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium to be held July 30-31 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, England. The event is open to all.

Either day passes or full packages comprising overnight accommodation and meals are available. For futher information see http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium-2011/

The Colloquium schedule, times in BST (GMT+1), is at http://tinyurl.com/2011ColloquiumSchedule

The Spring issue of the AMSAT-UK newsletter OSCAR News can be downloaded free at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf

Join AMSAT-UK at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/

Shamai Opfer 4Z1WS will be giving a talk on Israel’s new 3U CubeSat InKlajn-1 to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford next weekend.

The triple CubeSat aims to educate a new generation of Radio Amateurs, enabling students to take a part in a real space mission. (e.g. developing an attitude control algorithm and demonstrating it in space).

It is planned to provide telemetry using 1200bps BPSK and 1200bps AFSK with an option of 400bps BPSK and 1200bps MSK . Downlink frequencies of 145.815 and 145.950MHz have been coordinated by the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination panel.

Ejection test of the Nano Satellite Inklajn-1, of the Israeli Nanosatellite Association (INSA). Feb 2011

Israeli Nano-Satellite Association (INSA) http://www.insasite.com/

IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination pages http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held July 30-31 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ. It is open to all. Either day passes or full packages comprising overnight accommodation and meals are available. For futher information see http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium-2011/

Colloquium schedule, times in BST (GMT+1): http://tinyurl.com/2011ColloquiumSchedule

Webstreamed live at http://www.batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=3

During the week starting 18 July, members of AMSAT-UK performed temperature testing and thermo vacuum testing of the FUNcube satellite. The facilities to do this were very kindly offered by the Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV) facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, at Harwell, near Oxford. AMSAT-UK are extremely grateful to them for helping and advising us. The boards we tested were our ‘Engineering Models’ (EMs) which are just about identical to those that will fly. Below are some pictures of the facilities, and the team.

In summary (as at Wed 20 July) we have determined that the stack operates down to a temp of minus 10 degs C and up to +60 degs C and survived storage at -30 and +70. These results were obtained by the use of a temperature controlled oven in air. On Tuesday evening we transferred the stack to a thermo vacuum chamber, and are continuing testing.

AMSAT-UK is aiming to complete the thermo vacuum testing by Friday morning, leaving the rest of Friday to apply glue to the structure, and mount it in its ‘POD’ ready for vibration testing on Monday.

The temperature is measured by the means of thermocouples which are mounted in different places on the ‘stack’, one on the PA final amplifier device, one on the microprocessor of the CCT Board, one on the RF board near the rx local oscillator, and the fourth one on the structure. When in the air oven the readings from the thermocouples are noted down manually. In the thermo vacuum chamber these reading are logged automatically once per minute.

All the telemetry sent by the stack is being logged, via a FUNcube dongle, so in this way we will be able to calibrate some of FUNcube’s temperature sensors.