AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Attendees Wave To Cassini – Image Credit Neil PA9N
NASA asked people to wave at the Cassini space probe which was taking pictures from near Saturn. Attendees at the AMSAT-UK International Space Collquium responded enthusiastically
On Friday, July 19 between 21:27 and 21:47 UT NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took images of Saturn, with the planet Earth in the background nearly 1.5 billion kilometers away. NASA encouraged the public to look and wave in the direction of Saturn at the time of the portrait and share their pictures via the Internet.
AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium attendees were among the many world-wide who did just that.
The Ofcom 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz consultation closes at 5 pm on Monday, July 22. It proposes the loss of large chunks of amateur radio spectrum in both bands.
The British Amateur Television Club (BATC) have issued the statement below and all amateurs should give consideration to helping defend our spectrum by responding to this important Ofcom consultation.
Our vital allocations at these frequencies need to be defended. If Ofcom receives few responses to the consultation they may draw the conclusion that all amateur frequencies are “up for grabs”.
Noel G8GTZ on behalf of the BATC committee says:
It is vital that all BATC members in the UK, whether active on 2.3 GHz or not, respond and use the opportunity to show Ofcom that we value the spectrum we do have access to.
If they do not see a large response, they will be more inclined when considering the future of other bands, such as 10 GHz, to take the approach of the authorities in Sweden and Australia and just remove our access to bands without consultation.
The ATV community is particularly affected by the proposed changes, and whilst we do not have a formal BATC response, I have posted my own proposed responses on the BATC forum at: http://www.batc.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3176
Are you a user these bands or other amateur microwave bands?
Are you a member of an associated specialist group? (eg UKuG , BATC, AMSAT-UK etc)
Typical use (eg narrowband, EME , ATV, data, beacon/repeater keeper etc)
Any particular concerns or other general comments
And of course, try to give specific answers to the nine questions !
Thanks to the good work by Murray Niman G6JYB and the BATC technical liaison team we do have a good relationship with our regulator in the UK and this is the opportunity for you all to show them how much we value the spectrum we have access to.
The event takes place on Saturday/Sunday July 20-21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK and is open to all.
KickSat Sprite satellites enable individuals to have their own satellite orbiting in space for very low cost, typically £200 ($300). Andrew Vaudin’s presentation should start at 9:50 AM on Sunday and is understood to include a demonstration.
Thanks to BATC volunteers all 18 presentations should be streamed live to the web, enabling them to be seen by a global audience.
Clearly a webcast cannot match actually being there, with the opportunity to chat to satellite builders and inspect space hardware, but if you can’t get to Guildford then the webcast provides the next best thing.
There will also be a Chat facility available that can be used to ask the presenters questions, set your chat ID by entering: /nick “your callsign” or /nick “your name”.
Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space
BBC News is reporting that the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1, being built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, may launch in late October 2013.
Clyde Space Senior Systems Engineer Steve Greenland will be giving a presentation on UKube-1 to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium which takes place July 20-21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK.
Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards
UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards which will provide:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.915 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.930-145.950 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.080-435.060 MHz
In addition UKube-1 also carries:
• ISIS 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.840 MHz
• UKSEDS myPocketQub 442 on 437.425-437.525 MHz with 11 mW output using spread spectrum
• 1 watt transmitter on 2401.0 MHz from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, for high data rate mission data downlinking using up to 1 Mbps QPSK or OQPSK modulation
Gunter’s Space Page lists UKube-1 as manifested on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M rocket to be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG
If the launch does go ahead as planned in late October then the FUNcube-2 boards will be in orbit before the FUNcube-1 satellite which may launch in November, 2013 on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny.
FUNcube-1 will be using these frequencies:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.935 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.950-145.970 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.150-435.130 MHz
Watch UK Space Agency video – UKube-1 CubeSat payload animation
On Friday, October 19, 2012 after some final testing and characterisation checks completed at the facilities of ISIS BV in Delft, AMSAT-UK handed over the set of three PCBs that form the FUNcube-2 subsystem on the UKube-1 spacecraft to Clyde Space Ltd in Glasgow. Clyde Space are leading the development and assembly of this CubeSat project for the UK Space Agency.
Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1
The PCBs were taken to Glasgow in a Pelicase by Graham Shirville G3VZV who handed them to Steve Greenland Senior Systems Engineer at Clyde Space.
The three PCB’s comprise:
• CCT Board – Command, control and telemetry, interfaces via I2C with the antenna deployment system and the main OBC (On-Board Computer).
• RF Board – Command receiver, telemetry transmitter and linear transponder of the FUNcube satellite educational payload also includes telemetry sensors.
• PA Board – 400 mW VHF amplifier and sensors.
The telemetry transmitter provided by AMSAT-UK will be available for educational outreach to school students around the world.
UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow
Some of the participants at the 2013 small satellite developer workshop
The National Institute of Amateur Radio was involved in the Small Satellite Developer Workshop held July 8-13, 2013 at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, in Kancheepuram.
The event was organized by Dhruva Space, a Bangalore based Small Satellite and High Altitude Ballooning Start-up, in association with the National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad.
Satellite experts with engineering models on display helped participants to grasp the challenges in designing and developing the subsystems of the small satellites.
To understand space based applications an Amateur Radio workshop was conducted to give participants a live example of usage of communications during disaster management.
AMSAT-UK 
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