Author Archives: m0xtd

Mar 13 2012

ESA to start mini space mission series

BBC Science correspondent Jonathan Amos reports that the European Space Agency is starting what it expects to become a regular series of small science missions.

The first winning “S-Class” idea will receive 50 million euros (£42m) and will be readied for launch in 2017.

Prof Mark McCaughrean, head of ESA’s Research and Scientific Support Department is reported as saying:

“We want to hear from innovative people who’ve got a clever idea that doesn’t need a billion or half a billion euros, but can be done with a much smaller amount.”

Read the full BBC News story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17335339

Call for a Small mission opportunity in ESA’s Science Programme for a launch in 2017 http://sci.esa.int/2012-S-Call

Mar 12 2012

GOMX-1 to test CubeSat Space Protocol

GOMX-1 is a student built amateur radio 2U CubeSat. The mission is being flown under the auspices of a Government research grant covering space related radio research. It will qualify a number of subsystems and provide extensive in-flight data.

A large number of future amateur/educational CubeSat missions depend on the important data that will be generated by this mission. This will help these mission teams across the globe to achieve higher reliability and improved utilization.

The mission will also test the use of the open source Cubesat Space Protocol (http://code.google.com/p/cubesat-space-protocol/) for a complete mission including the space link.

A camera payload will take color images of the Earth and an experimental Software Defined Radio receiver will be carried and its performance characterized.

More than 15 students at Aalborg University have been actively involved in the development of this payload as part of their semester projects.

It is planning to use GMSK telemetry with selectable 1k2/2k4/4k8/9k6 rates on UHF with approx 28dBm power to a deployed antenna. Launch is expected in late 2012 into a near sun syncronous orbit on a DNEPR rocket from Yasny in Russia with a number of other amateur radio satellites,  see Gunter’s Space Page http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_chr/lau2012.htm

GOMspace http://gomspace.com/

Mar 11 2012

Howard Long G6LVB featured speaker at AMSAT/TAPR Banquet

Howard

Howard Long G6LVB

The AMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Friday night, May 18 is one of the main AMSAT activities during the 2012 Hamvention at Dayton.

AMSAT-NA is pleased to announce that Howard Long G6LVB will be the featured speaker for the evening event. Howard will be talking about his  FUNcube Dongle, the 64 – 1700 MHz Software Defined Receiver.

This innovative USB device is the size of a thumbdrive and has an SMA antenna socket. Multiple SDR control and display software programs can be used with the FUNcube Dongle.

Banquet tickets will not be sold at the AMSAT booth during the Hamvention so reservations must be made through the AMSAT-NA Store http://www.amsat-na.com/store/item.php?id=100158
Tickets are $30 apiece.

Thanks to Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information

Mar 11 2012

AMSAT-UK Net Recorded via 20 km WiFi Link (March 11th)

AMSAT-UK Net Recorded via 20 km WiFi Link

Simon Brown HB9DRV in Switzerland has made available a recording of Sunday’s AMSAT-UK 80m net that he made using a remote receiver in Poole, Dorset. What is remarkable about this recording is that a 20 km long experimental 2.4 GHz WiFi link was used at the Dorset end.

The AMSAT-UK net is held every Sunday morning at 10am local time on a nominal frequency of 3.780 MHz. Due to interference the net may move either side of that frequency so tune around. Newcomers are most welcome to call-in.

Listen to the AMSAT-UK Net recorded Sunday, March 11th, 2012. Due to the experimental nature of the 20 km WiFi link there are a few breaks in the recording.

http://www.ham-radio.ch/kits/sdr-radio.com/mp3/11-Mar-2012-1058%203.750MHz.mp3

Previous Net Recordings http://www.ham-radio.ch/kits/sdr-radio.com/mp3/

You can listen to the remote radio of Paul M0EYT in Poole, Dorset as well as other remote receivers in the United Kingdom and around the world via the Web Servers (Free)  page at http://www.sdr-radio.com/

Or try listening to the Dutch 80m web SDR at http://www.nachtuilen.net/

Another web based radio site is http://www.websdr.org/

Nine band web SDR http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

Online Receivers http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Internet_and_Radio/Online_Receivers/

Mar 11 2012

Radio Amateur Encourages Engineering as a Career

Ali Guarneros Luna KJ6TVO has been involved in the development of the amateur radio CubeSat TechEdSat. In this video she talks to teenagers at a Careers Night about her aspiration to become an engineer.

Watch Career Night – Ali Luna

Ali Guarneros Luna KJ6TVO was born in Mexico City and now lives in San Jose, California. She received her BS in Aerospace Engineering at San Jose State University in 2010 and will complete her MS in Aerospace Engineering from San Jose State University in 2012.

She currently works with the Edison Program, Small Spacecraft Payload and Technologies (SSPT) and SPHERES National Lab at NASA Ames Research Center. Under the Edison Program, Ali works on development of CubeSat projects, including TechEdSat, as the System Engineering, Mission And Ground Operations, and Launch Vehicle Service expert.

Under the Small Spacecraft Payload and Technologies Program, Ali works as Engineering Support for different missions, most currently in NLAS. At SPHERES National Lab, Ali works as Engineer support for Ground Lab and Operation Support.

Mar 10 2012

RAX-2 Success – Anomaly Detected

RAX-2 Detects Comms-Disrupting Anomaly

RAX-2 Detects Communication-Disrupting Anomaly http://rax.sri.com/

Matt Bennett KF6RTB reports that the amateur radio CubeSat, Radio Auroral Explorer 2 (RAX-2), has detected the communication-disrupting anomaly in the upper atmosphere it was searching for. The team have expressed their thanks to the amateur radio community.

RAX-2 was built by students at the University of Michigan. The primary objective of the mission is to use the onboard radar receiver in conjunction with a powerful radar station in Alaska to study the formation of a plasma anomaly known for causing the scintillation of radio signals in the UHF and higher bands. This scintillation effect is known to inhibit our space radar tracking capabilities and ground-space communications. Studying this anomaly in this bi-static radar configuration (ground based transmitter, space-base receiver) will provide scientists with a better understanding of these anomalies that has not been achievable with ground radars alone.

Late on Friday, March 9, Matt KF6RTB announced the news:

This is unbelievable!! After more than three years of hard work and dedication by my team and professor at Michigan, our chief scientist confirmed today that the RAX-2 spacecraft we designed, built, and launched into space has detected the communication-disrupting anomaly in the upper atmosphere that we’ve been looking for!! Cheers guys, we did it!!! GO guys, we did it!!! GO BLUE!!!! [Michigan Athletics battle cry]

The RAX Team would like to acknowledge and say thank you to the amateur radio satellite community for all of their support on this mission. We’ve really enjoyed interacting with fellow operators while collecting and analyzing telemetry. We’ve also learned a great deal about satellite operations from each other.

RAX-2: 437.345 MHz, 9600 bps GMSK http://rax.engin.umich.edu/

Mission Science Operations http://rax.sri.com/

RAX on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RadioAuroraExplorer

2010 – RAX-1 CubeSat launch announcement http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2010/rax_launch.htm

2011 – RAX-2 CubeSat Launch http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2011/successful_amateur_cubesat_launch.htm