Monthly Archives: September 2011

Sep 5 2011

1970s UK Satellite To Be Revived

40 years ago the United Kingdom’s first satellite launched on a UK built rocket went into space and now a team from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey are attempting to revive it.

The Prospero spacecraft was launched by a Black Arrow rocket on October 28, 1971 from Launch Area 5B, Woomera carrying a series of experiments to investigate the effects of the space environment. The satellite operated successfully until 1973 and was contacted annually until 1996. Its beacon on 137.560 MHz was heard by Amateurs in 2006.

Audio recordings of the 0.3 watt phase modulated signal with 2048 bit/s PCM from Prospero on 137.560 MHz can be heard on the Sounds from Space site of Matthias Bopp DD1US http://www.dd1us.de/spacesounds%204.html

Prospero real-time oribtal tracking page http://www.vk3ukf.com/Space/GadgetSatProspero.htm

BBC Prospero story and pics at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14783135

Bernhard VA6BMJ says that there’s an item about Prospero in the Space Boffins podcast :
http://audioboo.fm/boos/431009-space-boffins-podcast2

Britain in Space http://www.britain-in-space.co.uk/1960/blackarrow.html

Sep 5 2011

Louis Varney G5RV Cup

The G5RV Cup for Space Communications has been awarded to Paul Robinson 2E1EUB by RSGB President Dave Wilson M0OBW.

RSGB President Dave Wilson M00BW Presents Louis Varney G5RV Cup to Paul Robinson 2E1EUB

RSGB President Dave Wilson M0OBW Presents G5RV Cup to Paul Robinson 2E1EUB

The cup is awarded for advances in space communication and the presentation took place at the Telford Hamfest on Sunday, September 4.

Paul was nominated by AMSAT-UK for his work promoting and encouraging the use of amateur radio satellites and perfecting the art of a portable ground station.

Paul comments that he is privileged to have his call sign and name on the cup alongside some very famous call signs, some of which are no longer with us, he would like to thank AMSAT-UK and the RSGB for this award.

Previous holders of the cup are: 1956 G2IG, 1960 G3BCM, 1967 G3FDW, 1968 BRS15744, 1970 G3JGO, 1989 GW3XYW, 1991 G0/K8KA, 1992 G3RUH, 1993 G3AAJ, 1994 G6GEJ, 1996 G6GEJ, 1997 G3AAJ, 2000 G3RUH.

AMSAT-UK publishes a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, that is full of Amateur Satellite information. A sample edition can be seen at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf

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

Sep 5 2011

50 percent more satellites to be launched in the decade ahead

by Staff Writers
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 05, 2011


Civilian government agencies are expected to procure more satellites for operational missions in Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, and communications. In most countries, communications satellites (comsat) are now primarily acquired by private companies for commercial services, but several governments continue to fund comsat technology development domestically to ensure they have cost-effective systems when needed.

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Sep 5 2011

Radio hams tune in to space airwaves

John Heath G7HIA has written an article about amateur radio space communications for the October edition of the British Interplanetary Society magazine Spaceflight.

The Spaceflight description says:
“Radio amateurs have always been keen to exploit new means of communication and John Heath [G7HIA] provides a fascinating insight into how satellite technology has transformed the world of the radio ham soon after the launch of Sputnik right up to the present day.”

The article covers the FUNcube satellite, ARISSat, GB4FUN and the FUNcube Dongle SDR.

You can buy the October edition of Spaceflight magazine via
http://www.spaceflightmagazine.com/pages/latest-issue.html

Sep 4 2011

World Amateur Radio Day – Celebrating 50 Years in Space

In light of the anniversary of the launch of OSCAR 1 on December 12, 1961 and the launch of OSCAR 2 on June 2, 1962, the IARU Administrative Council selected the phrase, “Amateur Radio Satellites: Celebrating 50 Years in Space” as the theme for World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2012

World Amateur Radio Day celebrates the founding on April 18, 1925 of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and hams around the world will be on the air. The 2011 event attracted the interest of TV news broadcasters: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2011/amateur_rady_day_on_tv.htm

Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189990007710376

Notes of the IARU Region 1 C5 committee meeting that took place in Sun City August 14-16, 2011 have been published in the VHF-UHF-MW newsletter Editon 58 that can be dowloaded at http://www.oevsv.at/export/oevsv/download/UKW/Newsletter_58.pdf

IARU Region 1 Minutes of the Final Plenary, August 17, 2011

IARU Administrative Council Summary Record August 19-20, 2011

Sep 3 2011

OSCAR-11 Report September 1, 2011

OSCAR-11 Report
September 1, 2011

Clive Wallis G3CWV says excellent signals from OSCAR-11 have been reported from stations located around the world.

clive_wallis_g3cwv

clive_wallis_g3cwv

This report covers the period from 27 April to 01 September 2011.
The satellite has continued to operate in a very predictable way since the last report, and no changes have been observed.

During this time the satellite has been heard reliably during its ten-day transmission periods. Excellent signals have been reported from stations located around the world, and good copy obtained from decoded telemetry frames.

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