Oct 25 2014

4M Lunar Payload Update

LX0OHB-4M amateur radio lunar payload - Credit LuxSpace

LX0OHB-4M amateur radio lunar payload – Credit LuxSpace

On October 25 Ghislain Ruy LX2RG provided this update on the 4M lunar amateur radio payload.

Signals from 4M are quite weak. This is not due to a loss of power as telemetry shows normal parameters, but to the attitude of the last stage that places a deep of the radiation pattern in the direction of the Earth. I hope that Earth’s movement with respect to the inertial attitude of the last stage will give better results in the coming days.

The 4M is becoming a real challenge now, and receiving the signals during flyby will be quite an achievement. A little bit away from the original goal though, but this risk was known.

One sure result is the radiation measurement that showed what was to be expected, and the graphs will soon be pubished on the blog.

I hope you will be able to receive during the AMSAT-DL AGM this weekend, but you will have to put 16+dB [antenna] gain at least.

Radio amateurs are encouraged to receive and report the signals http://moon.luxspace.lu/receiving-4m/

For tracking information just enter your latitude and longitude at http://moon.luxspace.lu/tracking/

See the 4M payload Blog at http://moon.luxspace.lu/blog/

Lunar Ham Radio Payload Launched https://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/23/lunar-ham-radio-payload-launched/

4M Lunar Payload https://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/15/4m-lunar-payload-integrated-keps-released/

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Oct 25 2014

UK STEM 434 MHz Balloon Flight to Release Plane

MARS BalloonElysium, a MARS Balloon flight is expected to launch at noon (+/- 1 hour) on Sunday, October 26. The 434 MHz USB signal should cover much of the UK and can also be received world-wide online using the SUWS WebSDR.

The balloon will be launched from the Mendips (51.254, -2.714) and is expected to travel almost directly east for a landing near Basingstoke. The estimated flight time is 135 minutes with a peak altitude of 30 km.

Callsign $$ELYSIUM frequency 434.250 MHz, USB RTTY 50 Baud 560 Hz Shift ASCII-7 no parity 2 stop bits

55 science experiments submitted by 36 schools from across the UK will soar 30 km up into the atmosphere and back. The flight will also contain a plane from Bristol SEDS, activated before launch and to be released at peak altitude, with a separate onboard tracker. Expected to fly further east than Basingstoke.

Callsign $$UBSEDS3 frequency 434.600 MHz LSB RTTY 50 baud 400 Hz shift ASCII-8 no parity 2 stop bits.

Updates on Twitter @marsballoon hashtags #STEM #MARSBalloon
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marsballoon
Elysium Tracking http://marsballoon.com/elysium-2/
Web http://www.marsballoon.com/

Useful links for tracking and receiving 434 MHz balloons https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/balloons/

Pupils at the King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS) Chelmsford, Essex are among those who have developed an experiment for MARS Balloon, see @KEGS_engineers

SUWS VHF/UHF/Microwave WebSDR https://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/15/suws-websdr-moves-to-new-site/

Oct 24 2014

NoV suggestion for Airborne Ham Radio

Ofcom-logo-col-tThe RSGB response to the Ofcom licence consultation raises the suggestion of the use of NoV’s for aeronautical amateur radio operation.

The UK amateur radio licence currently prohibits airborne operation and amateurs have had to transmit using licence exempt spectrum instead.

The Society is critical of Ofcoms’ proposals regarding 470 kHz pointing out they do not align with the Wireless Telegraphy Act, nor are they the minimum necessary under the ITU Radio Regulations. The RSGB also say the 470 kHz proposals set a dangerous precedent in relation to interference.

Regarding the proposal to remove the 15 minute ID requirement and replace it with ‘as frequently as practicable’ the Society say it is open to too great a range of interpretation (and in some cases might be more burdensome than the well known 15-minute rule). The RSGB also suggests there is currently an ambiguity regarding embedding callsign data in modes such as Digital Voice.

In total over 2,000 people responded which is believed to be a record for an Ofcom consultation. It is thought Ofcom may take some time to publish all the responses but when they do they should be at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/amateur-radio-licence/?showResponses=true

Read the full RSGB response, airborne is referenced in Question 9
http://rsgb.org/main/files/2014/09/141020_RSGB_LicenceReview-Response.pdf

RSGB – UK Amateur Licence Review http://rsgb.org/licencereview

Oct 23 2014

Lunar Ham Radio Payload Launched

4M - Chang Zheng CZ-3C-G2 launch vehicle

4M – Chang Zheng CZ-3C-G2 launch vehicle

The 4M amateur radio payload with a WSJT JT65B 145.980 MHz beacon was launched on Thursday, October 23 at 1759 UT.

The Chang’e-5-T1 mission 4M payload launched on the Chang Zheng CZ-3C/G2 rocket from the LC2 launch complex at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan. The first telemetry from the JT65B beacon was received at 1918 UT by Roland Zurmely PY4ZBZ in Brazil.

A number of Australian radio amateurs have reported receiving the signals from 4M. Among them was Rob Whitmore VK3MQ at Mount Dandenong, Victoria (QF22qe) who reports that at best, the strength was -13 on the JT65B scale and could also be totally down into the noise with no decodes.

4M reception by Berend PA3ARK signal level -8 dB

4M reception by Berend PA3ARK signal level -8 dB

Rob VK3MQ says “I am using the “Before” TLE as published on the Luxspace website with Gpredict to stear my 6 element yagi and TS2000. With Doppler the frequency is 145.9787 MHz at the time of writing. So far the decodes have included callsign, telemetry and a story of Manfred Fuchs threading through alternate decodes.”

Sam Jewell G4DDK @DXING Tweeted “Had around 40 minutes of near 100% copy from the moon probe 4M transmitter from around 1725z [Oct 24]. 9 element Yagi and K3/2m on 2m /JT65B”

The spacecraft will head into a Lunar Transfer Orbit (LTO), before performing a flyby around the Moon. Radio amateurs are encouraged to receive and report the signals. http://moon.luxspace.lu/receiving-4m/

For tracking information just enter your latitude and longitude at http://moon.luxspace.lu/tracking/

See the 4M payload Blog at http://moon.luxspace.lu/blog/

4M Lunar Payload https://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/15/4m-lunar-payload-integrated-keps-released/

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Oct 23 2014

UK Students CubeSat Project

Warwick University WUSAT-2 CubeSat

Warwick University WUSAT-2 CubeSat

The Coventry Telegraph newspaper reports on students at Warwick University who are building their own satellite WUSAT-2.

Lucy Lynch writes that eight engineering students are designing their own satellite which will be sent into space. In February or March 2015 they and the project director Dr Bill Crofts will don winter woollies and take their creation to a launch site in northern Sweden, near the town of Kiruna.

It is the second student satellite designed at the university. The first one, last year, was sent up from mid Wales in a high altitude weather balloon.

Once the current satellite has been launched the next step is to create a satellite capable of orbiting the Earth.

Dr Crofts said: “This is a stepping stone to a full orbital launch.”

Read the full article at
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/meet-warwick-uni-students-who-7971498

Twitter @WUSAT_Team
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WarwickUniversitySatellite

UK Students Fly CubeSat to 30km https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/10/uk-students-fly-cubesat-to-30km/

WUSAT Team

WUSAT Team

Oct 23 2014

LituanicaSAT-2 Announced

LituanicaSAT-1 with Vytenis Buzas LY1ZY and Laurynas Maciulis LY1LM - Credit 15min.lt

LituanicaSAT-1 with Vytenis Buzas LY1ZY and Laurynas Maciulis LY1LM – Credit 15min.lt

The LituanicaSAT team has announced on Facebook that the LituanicaSAT-2 CubeSat will be coming soon.

It is hoped the CubeSat will be among 50 satellites launched in the 1st quarter of 2016 on the Ukrainian Cyclone 4 launcher from the Alcantara launch site built by Ukraine and Brazil. The new launch site is located near the Atlantic coast of Brazil just 2.3 degrees south of the equator.

LituanicaSAT-2 will be more complex than the first and will test a new propulsion system which will enable it to change orbit.

LituanicaSAT-2 - Credit 15min.lt

LituanicaSAT-2 – Credit 15min.lt

Currently CubeSats deployed in very low Earth orbit may only last 3 months before burning up in  the Earth’s atmosphere, the propulsion system could extend that up to 18 months.

Read the 15min.lt article about LituanicaSAT-2 in Google English at http://tinyurl.com/LituanicaSAT-2-15min

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lituanicasat1

You can watch a presentation by Gintautas Sulskus on the first LituanicaSAT CubeSat at
https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/presentation-videos/

President tests LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/26/president-tests-lituanicasat-1-fm-transponder/

LituanicaSAT-1 https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/27/lituanicasat-1-cubesat/

QB50 to use Alcantara launch site https://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/28/qb50-cubesat-launch-contract-signed/