The UK newspaper the Daily Mail reports on a Glasgow-based start-up Alba Orbital which has recently begun creating and selling the building blocks for tiny satellites named ‘PocketQubes’
Artur SP3OSJ has launched an amateur radio solar powered pico balloon on 437.700 MHz USB from Poland which should be over the UK on Sunday, October 13. Also on its way is another pico balloon SP3UOB on 437.5966 MHz USB.
The SP3OSJ balloon, launched at about 06:01 UT on Saturday morning, is on its way west from Poland with the predicted path going over Denmark then on to the United Kingdom.
Artur asks for other amateurs to assist by tracking the telemetry signal on approximately 437.700 MHz USB. It is running UKHAS RTTY 100 baud 7n2, 470 Hz shift – SP3OSJ (SP3OSJ/08 in dl-fldigi).
Tomasz also request amateurs to listen for his balloon on 437.5966 MHz USB.
The payload on the balloons weigh only a few tens of grams. They comprise a tiny 437 MHz transmitter running about 10 milliwatts and a GPS receiver. The SP3OSJ balloon is powered by a rechargeable battery and solar panel with should give an extended lifetime of several days.
SP3OSJ Pico Balloon Payload
SP3OSJ is flying at an altitude of between 3000 and 3500 metres and should have a radio range of around 150 km.
FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG
Dave Johnson G4DPZ will be giving a presentation on the amateur radio AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 and UK Space Agency (UKSA) UKube-1 satellites to the RSGB Convention on Saturday.
The presentation will take place from 16:45-17:30 in the Cook 2 room at Horwood House, MK17 0PH on Saturday, October 12.
FUNcube-1 carries a 435/145 linear transponder for SSB and CW communications and an educational telemetry beacon using 1k2 BPSK for school outreach purposes.
Ukube-1 carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards that will provide an additional 435/145 MHz linear transponder and educational telemetry beacon.
UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow
The current launch information has lift off for FUNcube-1 scheduled for late November and UKube-1 on February 20.
FUNcube-1 communication subsystem:
• 300 mW Inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW
– Uplink 435.150 – 435.130 MHz
– Downlink 145.950 – 145.970 MHz
• 300 mW BPSK Telemetry 145.935 MHz (30 mW when transponder active)
UKube-1 communications subsystem:
• Telemetry downlink 145.840 MHz,
• FUNcube subsystem beacon 145.915 MHz
• 400 mW Inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW
– Uplink 435.080 -435.060 MHz
– Downlink 145.930 -145.950 MHz
• S Band downlink 2401.0 MHz
• myPocketQub 437.425-437.525 MHz
The RSGB’s Centenary Convention, sponsored by Martin Lynch & Sons, takes place this weekend (Fri eve-Sun) October 11-13 at Horwood House, MK17 0PH just a few miles outside Milton Keynes. Tickets are available on the door.
This is a challenge open to launch a balloon/payload from the UK that crosses the Arctic Circle before the next UKHAS Conference in September 2014.
The challenge will require both development of a payload, launching a floating balloon but also the ability to receive the data confirming it has crossed the Arctic Circle.
There is a prize for the first person to complete this challenge, obviously eternal glory but also a trophy and a cash prize.
This computer-generated image depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft firing its Leros-1b main engine – credit NASA
Radio amateurs around the world took part in an experiment with NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it did a flyby of Earth.
SDR display showing 28 MHz transmissions taken by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD
NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Earth on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 to receive a gravity assist from our planet, putting it on course for Jupiter.
To celebrate this event, the Juno mission invited amateur radio operators around the world to say “HI” to Juno in a coordinated Morse Code message that would be detected by Juno’s radio and plasma wave experiment, called Waves.
Radio amateurs transmitted Morse (CW) signals on a range of frequencies between 28.001 and 28.450 MHz. To give a random spread the precise frequency used depended on the last character of each stations call sign. The natural signals the team expect to measure at Jupiter will consist of a large number of discrete tones, so spreading the signals out in this manner was a good approximation to the signals Juno is expected to detect. But at Jupiter, they don’t expect to be able to decode CW in the telemetry!
The Waves instrument is sensitive to radio signals in all amateur bands below 40 MHz. However, experience with the University of Iowa instruments on the Galileo and Cassini Earth flybys showed significant shielding by the ionosphere at lower frequencies, so the 28 MHz band was chosen for the experiment.
Juno’s antenna consists of a pair of tapered 2.8 meter long titanium tubes, deployed from the bottom deck of the spacecraft under the +X solar array and magnetometer boom. A high impedance radiation resistant preamp sits at the base of the antenna and buffers the signals from 50 Hz to 45 MHz. The elements are deployed with an opening angle of about 120 degrees. 28 MHz is above the resonant frequency of the antenna and NEC analysis indicates a lobe generally along the spin axis of the spacecraft. This will be good for detection on the inbound part of closest approach to Earth.
The Waves instrument uses four receivers to cover the frequency range of 50 Hz to 41 MHz. Signals up to 3 MHz are bandpass filtered, sampled by A/D converters and FFT processed into spectra using a custom FFT processor developed by The University of Iowa under a grant from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium.
Among those taking part were students at Virginia Tech using their club station K4KDJ.
Peter Goodhall 2E0SQL, a well known amateur radio satellite operator, will be giving a presentation on the Raspberry Pi computer board at the RSGB Convention this weekend .
Peter Goodhall 2E0SQL operating portable through the satellites
The popular Raspberry Pi has been used for many different amateur radio applications. Peter’s presentation will be given at 14:30-15:15 on Saturday, October 12.
The RSGB’s Centenary Convention, sponsored by Martin Lynch & Sons, takes place this weekend (Fri eve-Sun) October 11-13 at Horwood House, MK17 0PH just a few miles outside Milton Keynes. Tickets are available on the door.
AMSAT-UK 
You must be logged in to post a comment.