Monthly Archives: December 2013

Dec 19 2013

Delfi-n3Xt Update December 19

Delfi-n3Xt Satellite

Delfi-n3Xt Satellite

Delfi Nanosatellite Program Manager, Jasper Bouwmeester PC4JB, provides this update on the Delfi-n3Xt amateur radio satellite which was launched November 21 and carries a 435/145 MHz linear transponder.

Dear radio amateurs,

Today, December 19, we have switched from the ISIS transmitter (ITRX) to the Primary Transmitter (PTRX). This radio seems to have a significantly stronger signal, so it should be easier to receive telemetry. The frequency is a bit higher, 145.930 MHz so you will have to retune. I hope this will help some of the radio amateurs who had trouble in decoding Delfi-n3Xt.

We have also put the S-band transmitter (STX) back in beacon mode on 2405.000 MHz. As the onboard patch antenna is however pointing in arbitrary direction, it is a matter of luck if it is pointed towards a ground station. In about 10% of the passes it should in theory be possible to receive the signal with a >2.5m dish, but I have to admit that it is only going to be fun to try to receive the signal for those people who like to be the first and have the proper equipment.

Unfortunately we have not yet been able to make a new update of the DUDe client. The first issue we want to tackle for the new version is the frequency freeze. After a while, DUDe seems to lock itself at an edge of the band. Currently this means, that DUDe needs to be restarted before a pass. As temporary solution in case you want to track the satellite automatically, you may use an auto-mouse clicker to close and re-open DUDe. But I hope we will be able to fix this issue early next year.

Finally, I would like to state that you may replay your SDR recordings a few times to increase packet decoding as our server can handle more load. Our statistics page however currently does not exclude doubles from a single radio amateur, so please keep in mind that the packet counts for the competition (more details early next year) will eventually be corrected for this. It will take a while though before we upgrade the statistics to exclude doubles from a single radio amateur. We are very happy if we receive more telemetry packets, but please don’t exaggerate the amount of replays as there is not much more to be gained after a few attempts.

Have a nice holidays and a prosperous 2014!

73,
Jasper, PC4JB

Telemetry reception http://www.delfispace.nl/operations/delfi-n3xt-telemetry-reception

Delfi-n3Xt http://www.delfispace.nl/operations/radio-amateurs

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Dec 19 2013

Announcing: The UK CubeSat Forum

uk-space-agency-logo-rgb-121v2.ashxAs a result of recommendations from the January 2013 UK CubeSat Workshop, members of the UK CubeSat community have established a forum to provide an independent, community led discussion and networking platform for UK nanosatellite or CubeSat stakeholders.

The organising committee, which the UK Space Agency also sits on, invites all individuals with an interest in nanosatellite or CubeSat activities to read the forum’s Charter and, if interested in becoming an active member, register at http://www.cubesatforum.org.uk/ to participate in the forum.

As well as building stronger links throughout the CubeSat community, the independent forum aims to be the primary interface for the UK Space Agency to seek the community’s views on matters such as Outer Space Act (OSA) reform, and what its future CubeSat initiatives should look like.

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 model on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow – Credit G3VZV

Best regards
Ryan King
Space Science Assistant Programme Manager

UK SPACE AGENCY
Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1SZ
Tel 01793 41 8090
Mob 07826921986
Web http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
Twitter http://twitter.com/spacegovuk
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/spacegovuk
An executive agency for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space

Aspirations following UKube-1

The UK CubeSat Forum are seeking thoughts on the future format of the UK Space Agency CubeSat programme (aka UKube). Specifically, we are interested in thoughts regarding the mission applications, budget, timelines, and competitiveness in the market.

For example, should CubeSats stay within the education and training sphere or should the UK compete with NASA-style missions: e.g. EDSN (a network of CubeSats)?

Can we progress science further for example into MEO or GEO to investigate radiation belts or focus on industrial problems – e.g. cheaper platforms towards real navigation and Earth observation applications like PlanetLabs‘ Flock?

Should the UK implement a similar programme to the NASA CubeSat Initiative where government funds the launch of prebuilt CubeSats? Or should we focus on funding full missions?

Dec 19 2013

11th birthday of ham radio satellite SO-50

Saudisat SO-50

Saudisat SO-50

December 20, 2013 will be the 11th birthday of the amateur radio satellite SO-50.

Now known as SO-50, Saudisat 1C is a Saudi Arabian satellite about 25 cm cubed that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 17:00 UT on December 20, 2002. SO-50 features a “Mode J” FM amateur repeater operating on a 145.850 MHz uplink and a 436.795 MHz (+/- 9 kHz Doppler shift) downlink.

“Most hams already own the necessary equipment to work SO-50,” reports Clint Bradford, K6LCS, who maintains a Web site work-sat.com devoted to working amateur satellites with minimal equipment.

“It is preferable to work SO-50 in true, full-duplex mode – so you can hear the downlink as you transmit. This means – for most – using a second radio or the Kenwood TH-D72A and its true full-duplex capability. The new Puxing PX-UV973 is currently being tested in this mode, too, to see how it works on the satellites.”

SO-50’s repeater is available to amateurs worldwide, and it uses a 67.0 Hz CTCSS (PL) tone on the uplink. SO-50 also has a 10 minute timer that must be armed before use. If you know the satellite is there – but there is nothing heard – you may need to shoot it a CTCSS (PL) tone of 74.4 Hz to turn it ON!

The repeater consists of a miniature VHF receiver with sensitivity of -124 dBm, with an IF bandwidth of 15 kHz. The receive antenna is a 1/4 wave vertical mounted in the top corner of the spacecraft. Its UHF transmitter is a mere 250 mW, and downlink antenna is a 1/4 wave mounted in the bottom corner of the spacecraft and canted at 45 degrees inward.

“Hams just with Technician licenses [or UK Foundation] can work the satellite,” Clint continues. “We are talking about weak signals from 500 miles away – so improving both your TX and RX antennas is critical for success on this satellite.” Plans for making tape measure beams and other inexpensive, high-gain antennas is also on his Web site.

“Do not forget to accommodate for the Doppler shift (+/-9 kHz) on the 436 MHz receive side.”

Complete details – including frequency chart and sources for knowing when the satellite will be over your area, are also on Clint’s Web site.

Work-Sat http://www.work-sat.com/

Watch a video of Simon 2E0HTS working via SO-50 at
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-a-fm-satellite/

Satellite Tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Dec 18 2013

Radio Hams to Repair Faulty ISS Pump

International Space Station ISS 2011

The ARRL report Expedition 38 Astronauts Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, and Rick Mastracchio, KC5ZTE, will leave the confines of the International Space Station (ISS) December 21, 23, and 25 to repair a faulty cooling system pump.

The malfunction has already caused the postponement of one Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact. It’s unclear if the ISS problem will affect additional ARISS school contacts.

Planet Labs CubeSat Constellation

Planet Labs CubeSat Constellation

Also postponed is the shipment of four amateur radio 1U CubeSats LituanicaSAT-1, LitSat-1, ArduSat-2, UAPSat-1, the 915 MHz CubeSat SkyCube and 28 CubeSats (3U) from the company Planet Labs. The CubeSats were to have been sent to the ISS on an Orbital Sciences Antares-120 rocket on December 18 but this launch will not now take place until January.

Read the ARRL story at
http://www.arrl.org/news/two-ham-astronauts-to-repair-faulty-pump-during-multiple-spacewalks

LituanicaSAT-1 with amateur radio FM transponder to deploy from ISS
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/12/lituanicasat-1/

LitSat-1 amateur radio frequencies announced
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/09/11/litsat-1-amateur-radio-frequencies-announced/

ArduSat Open Source Ham Radio CubeSats
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/09/ardusat-open-source-ham-radio-cubesats/

UAPSat-1 http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=210

SkyCube to use 915 MHz CubeSat Ground Station Network
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/08/25/skycube-to-use-915-mhz-cubesat-ground-station-network/

In the United States and a number of other countries 915 MHz is an Amateur Radio allocation. In the UK the regulator Ofcom plan to make 915-921 MHz license exempt http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/short-range-devices/

Planet Labs http://www.planet-labs.com/#missions
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PlanetLabsInc

Dec 18 2013

How high-altitude balloon missions stay on track

Mark and Cassie with their STRATODEAN High Altitude Balloon

Mark and Cassie with their STRATODEAN High Altitude Balloon

In The Register Lester Haines interviews radio amateur Daniel Richman M0ZDR (ex-M6DRX) about the impressive Cambridge University Space Flight (CUSF) Landing Predictor.

Rob Anderson wrote the original landing predictor for High Altitude Balloons in 2008. Since then it’s been continually updated to improve performance, and now offers anyone wanting to send a balloon aloft the chance of seeing very quickly indeed just where it’ll burst and where they should head to recover their precious load.

Others who’ve worked on the predictor in the past five years are Fergus Noble M0NBL, Ed Moore M0TEK, Jon Sowman M0JSN and Adam Greig M0RND.

Read Fair winds and following servers: The art of flight prediction
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/18/lohan_flight_prediction/

CUSF Landing Predictor http://predict.habhub.org/

Daniel then M6DRX was one of three pupils at the Reading School who in 2010 built the Alien-1 high altitude balloon http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2010/alien_1_launch.htm

To get up-to-date information on balloon flights subscribe to the UKHAS Mailing List by sending a blank email to this address: ukhas+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Dec 17 2013

Yasny Dnepr Satellite ID’s

Dnepr Launch November 21, 2013 - Credit ISC Kosmotras

Dnepr Launch November 21, 2013 – Credit ISC Kosmotras

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) Nico Janssen PA0DLO has posted a summary of the presently known IDs for the satellites that were launched on the Yasny Dnepr on November 21.

Further Doppler measurements show that TshepisoSat (aka ZACube-1) is object 39417 (2013-066B) and AMSAT-OSCAR-73 (aka FUNCube 1) is object 39444 (2013-066AE). Therefore HiNCube must be object 39445 (2013-066AF).

It is not easy to get a good Doppler curve with many CubeSats because of the limited transmissions and because of the frequency drift of their beacon transmitters.

These object IDs from the Dnepr launch seem to be correct, although some still need to be confirmed (tbc):

39416 2013-066A  Aprizesat 7
39417 2013-066B  TshepisoSat
39418 2013-066C  Skysat 1
39419 2013-066D  Dubaisat 2
39421 2013-066F  Unisat 5
39422 2013-066G  STSat 3
39423 2013-066H  WNISat 1
39425 2013-066K  Aprizesat 8
39427 2013-066M  Triton 1
39428 2013-066N  Delfi-n3Xt
39429 2013-066P  Dove 3
39430 2013-066Q  GomX 1
39431 2013-066R  BRITE-PL
39433 2013-066T  HumSat D
39436 2013-066W  Eagle 2 ($50Sat) (tbc)
39438 2013-066Y  Velox PII (tbc)
39439 2013-066Z  First-MOVE (tbc)
39440 2013-066AA CubeBug 2 (tbc)
39444 2013-066AE AMSAT-OSCAR 73
39445 2013-066AF HiNCube
39446 2013-066AG UWE 3 (tbc)

73,
Nico PA0DLO

The FUNcube-1 team are currently using object 2013-066AE as the best fit for FUNcube-1 (AO-73) and the latest TLEs have just been updated at: http://funcubetest2.wordpress.com/working-documents/latest-two-line-elements/

Satellite TLE Challenge Begins https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/23/tle-challenge-begins/

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/