Monthly Archives: October 2011

Oct 5 2011

Winners of Space App Competition announced

The AMSAT-UK FUNcube team are among the winners in a competition to fly an Android App on the amateur radio Smartphone satellite STRaND-1 due for launch next year.

Space technology experts from Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) at the University of Surrey announced on Wednesday the four lucky winners of the ‘Space App Competition’ who will see their Android Applications run on smartphone-powered satellite STRaND-1, due for launch into space next year.

‘The STRaND Data’ app will show satellite telemetry on the smartphone’s display which can be imaged by an additional camera on-board. This app is developed by the team behind the AMSAT-UK FUNcube satellite and will not only enable new graphical telemetry to interpret trends but also provide a last way of communicating with the smartphone.

Read the SSTL Press Release at http://www.sstl.co.uk/news-and-events?story=1898

Read about the UK Smartphone STRaND-1 satellite in the Spring 2011 edition of OSCAR News at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf

New Scientist – Space apps: smartphone at heart of satellite mission
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/10/britains-smartphone-spaceshot.html

OSCAR News is published quarterly by AMSAT-UK and posted to members. To get your copy join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/

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

Oct 5 2011

ARI Amateur Radio Satellite Meeting Report

The 8th Italian Amateur Radio Association (ARI) satellite meeting was held at the Joseph Hotel in Marina di Pietrasanta (Lu) on September 18, 2011.

The meeting was open to everyone and offered an agenda that covered current amateur radio satellite issues as well as technical lectures.

The presentation by ARI satellite manager, Roberto IW5BSF,  covered the problem of  interference to the Amateur Radio satellites from FM and Digital D-STAR repeaters operating in the Amateur Satellite service segments of the 2m and 70cm bands.

A PDF report of the meeting in English can be seen here, pictures can be seen here.

Italian Amateur Radio Association (ARI) Satellite page in Google English http://tinyurl.com/ARIsatellite and in Italian here.

Oct 4 2011

Neptune TubeSat and CubeSat Launcher

Randa Relich Milliron CEO Interorbital Systems

Randa Relich Milliron CEO Interorbital Systems

The October issue of Sat Magazine carries an 8 page article by Randa Relich Milliron, Interorbital Systems Chief Executive Officer, in which she describes the Neptune rockets and their TubeSat and CubeSat payloads.

The first Neptune 9 rocket is planned to launch mid 2012 and will carry 40+ TubeSats and CubeSats. A number of amateur radio CubeSats will be on this launch including Vietnam’s F-1 and the Danish EuroLuna, Romit 1.

Read pages 46-53 of the October Sat Magazine at http://www.satmagazine.com/2011/SM_Oct_2011.pdf

Interorbital Systems http://www.interorbital.com/

Oct 4 2011

SRMSAT and JUGNU to launch October 12

Mani, VU2WMY, says he used an AMSAT-UK FUNcube Dongle SDR to receive telemetry from SRMSAT and JUGNU during environmental tests.

India’s latest Amateur Radio satellites SRMSAT and JUGNU are now at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spaceport at Sriharikota ready to launch on October 12.

On the AMSAT bulletin board Mani VU2WMY writes:

I was a part of the ISRO team that conducted the Thermal Vacuum, vibration and other environmental tests for both Jugnu and SRMSat.

I was able to receive the signals from both the satellites, while they were here in my centre during the above mentioned test. I even used FUNcube Dongle to receive and decode the telemetry CW data.

Frequencies:
SRMSat: Payload down link and CW Beacon on the same frequency – 437.425 (10dbm)
Jugnu:  CW Beacon – 437.275 (17dbm)  Payload  – 437.505

SRM University Ham Exam
http://chennaihams.blogspot.com/2010/03/asol-exam-conducted-at-srm-university.html

JUGNU website
http://www.iitk.ac.in/me/jugnu/freq_coord.htm

SRMSAT and JUGNU on the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination pages hosted by AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

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

Read a sample of the AMSAT-UK newsletter OSCAR News posted to members quarterly here

Oct 3 2011

Surrey to start making radar satellites.

The distinctive shape is a consequence of the radar antenna underneath and the solar panel on top

The distinctive shape is a consequence of the radar antenna underneath and the solar panel on top

Continue reading →

Oct 1 2011

New ITU Service for CubeSats and Nanosats ?

The latest issue of the AMSAT-UK publication OSCAR News highlights the US NTIA proposal to create a new ITU satellite service for CubeSats and NanoSats.

The proposal seeks one or more frequency bands, totalling up to 10 MHz of spectrum, to support command, control, and data relay for nanosatellites and picosatellites performing a variety of functions.

It proposes that a study be undertaken after WRC 2012 so that the item be placed on the preliminary agenda for WRC 2019. It is unclear where the UHF spectrum for a new ITU service would come from.

Read the NTIA proposal ‘Studies for identifying up to 10 MHz of spectrum for space research service in the 400-2025 MHz range for the operation of nanosatellites and picosatellites’.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/WRC_2012/Documents/NTIA_Proposal/NTIA_Proposal_2011-02-23_8.2(Nanosat).doc

Other NTIA WRC documents can be downloaded from
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/documents-and-proposals

OSCAR News is published quarterly by AMSAT-UK and posted to members.
To get your copy join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/

If you’ve never seen OSCAR News before you can get an idea of what it’s like by downloading a sample issue from http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf