May 17 2014

Chelmsford 434 MHz STEM Balloon Launch

Radio amateur Chris Stubbs M6EDF will be launching one of his 434.300 MHz USB trackers on a 100g Pawan – Cheapo 11 – for a school in Chelmsford at about 1:50pm on Tuesday, May 20. Depending on altitude it could have a radio range of 500 km and the flight path will be displayed in real-time on the web.

Chris Stubbs M6EDF with 434 MHz trackers

The launch is being run as a STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) event for the school. In addition to the main STEM objective the launch is also being used as a charity fundraiser. You can buy a £1 ticket to “Guess the location” of the burst with money raised going in aid of The Brathay Trust, Cancer Research and Havens Hospice.

Tracking of the 434.300 MHz signal would be greatly appreciated by both Chris and the students at the school.

Balloon flight details:
Callsign: CHEAPO-11
Frequency: 434.300 MHz USB
Mode: RTTY 7N2 50 baud 450 Hz shift
Location: Chelmsford, UK
Date: 20/05/2014
Time: 1:40PM

Chris took the amateur radio Foundation training course run by the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS) in January 2013. He is keen on both electronic construction and software development and combines the two interests in High Altitude Ballooning (HAB). Chris has built many tracker payloads for his balloon launches which usually take place from Danbury Common near Chelmsford.

Details of his high-altitude ballooning hardware and experiments are online at http://chris-stubbs.co.uk/

See online real time tracks and frequencies of this and other 434 MHz balloons at
http://spacenear.us/tracker/

Beginners Guide to Tracking using dl-fldigi http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:tracking_guide

The role of these 434 MHz balloon launches in teaching maths and science was recently recognised by the Department for Education (DfE) see https://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/11/434-mhz-balloons-have-a-role-in-stem-education/

Listen to balloons online (when in range of south-east UK) from anywhere in the world with the SUWS 434 MHz WebSDR (select USB) https://amsat-uk.org/2013/12/28/websdr-for-434-and-1296-mhz/

Check the #highaltitude IRC channel for launch chat. A web client is available at http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=highaltitude

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

The Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society run training courses for those wishing to get their amateur licence. To find out more speak to Clive G1EUC on
Tel: 01245-224577
Mob: 07860-418835
Email: training2014 at g0mwt.org.uk
Web: http://www.g0mwt.org.uk/training/

What is Amateur Radio ? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Post Launch Update: The launch from The Sandon School was successful and reached an altitude of 27,000 metres before the balloon burst and the payload descended by parachute. The payload was recovered from a freshly ploughed field near Wisbech.

The signal from CHEAPO 11 could be received across much of British Isles and into Germany

May 16 2014

LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Active All Weekend

LituanicaSAT-1 Camera and FM Voice Transponder

The LituanicaSAT-1 team have announced the FM transponder should be active during the weekend of May 17-18, 2014.

Dear radio amateurs,

I would like to notify that a long term testing of LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder is planned for this weekend starting from May 17, 04:30 UT. The transponder will remain active for the whole weekend provided that battery voltage does not reach unsafe levels. As always your reports are very welcome. Please send them and any questions you may have to ly5n@qrz.lt.

73,
Laurynas Maciulis
LY1LM, LY5N

Frequency are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS.

The tiny satellite is just 10x10x10 cm with a mass of 1.090 kg yet it has a VGA camera and a 145/435 MHz FM voice transponder, designed and built by Lithuanian radio amateurs.

The prototype of the FM repeater has been operating in the home of its designer Žilvinas Batisa LY3H in Elektrėnai, Lithuania. Further information at http://ly3h.epalete.com/?p=303

FM transponder operating techniques http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=44412

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

May 16 2014

Ham Radio Skills Night – How to track and work amateur radio satellites

A typical amateur radio satellite

On Monday, May 19, Steve Hedgecock M0SHQ will be explaining how to track and work the growing number of amateur radio satellites at the Ham Radio Skills Night run by the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society. This free event is open to all, whether licensed or unlicensed.

These monthly sessions are a great opportunity to chat, swap ideas, and get hands-on with something new. As regular attendees know, what is covered on the evenings is decided by you.

Here is what’s planned for the May Skills Night:

• Working Satellites – How to track and work amateur radio satellites
• A live CW station – Operated by members of the Essex CW Club
• Soldering practical – Soldering plugs and connectors – Need help with a lead? Bring it along
• Hands-on with Storm Tracking kit
• The quiz will run again – just a bit of fun!
• Show-and-tell: All are welcome to bring along any items for show-and-tell
• Representatives from CARS, Essex CW Club, the Essex Repeater Group and Essex Ham will be on-hand, and happy to answer your questions

If you’re interested in coming along, the evening starts at 7pm, although you’re welcome to arrive any time between 7pm and 9pm. If you have anything you’d like to bring along to show to the others, that would be great.

The event is open to all and there’s no charge for attending the CARS Amateur Radio Skills workshops. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available throughout the evening and an optional small donation to the tea fund and hall hire would be appreciated.

The skills night takes place at the Danbury Village Hall, Main Road, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4NQ

More information http://www.hamskills.co.uk/

Essex Ham http://essexham.co.uk/

CARS run training courses for those wishing to get their amateur licence. To find out more speak to Clive G1EUC on
Tel: 01245-224577
Mob: 07860-418835
Email: training2014 at g0mwt.org.uk
Web: http://www.g0mwt.org.uk/training/

What is Amateur Radio ? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

May 15 2014

BBC: ‘Pocket spacecrafts’ to become a reality

Pocket Spacecraft

On Thursday, May 15, the BBC Radio 4 Today show featured an item on the recently launched 437 MHz Sprite satellites and the new Pocket Spacecraft being developed by a UK radio amateur.

KickSat Sprite satellites deployed – Image by Ben Bishop VK2FBRB

The tiny Sprite satellites, measuring 3x3cm and just a few millimetres thick, contain a 437 MHz transmitter, solar cell, sensor and antenna. The CubeSat KickSat-1 carrying 104 Sprites was successfully launched on April 18, however, a suspected radiation glitch meant they could not be deployed before the CubeSat burnt up on re-entry on May 14.

UK radio amateur Michael Johnson M0MJJ has developed Pocket Spacecraft known as ‘Scouts’. A ‘Scout’ is a wafer thin disk with flexible electronics, smaller than a CD, containing a transceiver, antenna and solar cells. It is hoped to carry them in a CubeSat which would deploy them in Lunar orbit. It is understood that frequencies in the 435 MHz and 2400 MHz bands may be used.

Listen to the BBC Radio 4 clip ‘Pocket spacecrafts’ to become a reality in which BBC Click’s Spencer Kelly discusses the development of pocket spacecrafts http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z4q22

It is expected that Pocket Spacecraft will feature in the BBC TV technology show ‘Click’ due to be released online on Saturday, May 17 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m9ry

KickSat-1 launch https://amsat-uk.org/2014/04/18/successful-launch-of-kicksat-carrying-104-sprite-satellites/

British Interplanetary Society: Sprite Technical Summary
http://www.bis-space.com/2013/03/09/9301/kicksat-technical-summary

UK radio amateur plans Lunar Pocket Spacecraft https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/26/uk-radio-hams-lunar-cubesat-to-go-ahead/

Pocket Spacecraft http://pocketspacecraft.com/

437 MHz Sprite

May 14 2014

Space Boffins: VR2Space and STRaND-1/2 CubeSats

VR2Space Payload Module

Dr. Aaron Knoll and Dr. Christopher Bridges M6OBC from the Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey talk to Space Boffins’s Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham about the exciting VR2Space project.

They also discuss the STRaND-1 (437.568 MHz) CubeSat and the upcoming STRaND-2 CubeSat.

Listen to the podcast

Direct MP3 link http://nakeddiscovery.com/scripts/mp3s/audio/ads/Space_Boffins_14.05.10.mp3

Space Boffins podcast http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/astronomy/show/20140510/

VR2Space https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/07/travel-to-space-for-40-70/

The Bring Your Own Board BYOB CubeSat Workshop and the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium take place in Guildford, Surrey on July 25-27, see https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/

May 14 2014

LituanicaSAT-1 Update May 14, 2014

LituanicaSAT-1 Camera and FM Voice Transponder

The LituanicaSAT-1 team have provided a further update on their CubeSat which was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on February 28.

Dear radio amateurs,

As most of you have already noticed, since May 12 the satellite has been set up to nominal operational mode permanently with noticeable 9k6 baud packet telemetry on 437.544 MHz every 30s. However next day on May 13 a telemetry report from W7KKE has shown that a latchup has been detected on 3.3 V1 EPS channel.

This channel is providing power for CW FM beacon and photo camera. Furthermore following reports from W7KKE and LU4EOU have shown that an OBC reset had occurred on Tuesday, 13 May 2014, 16:27 UT and on 14 May 2014, 01:47 UT (9 h 20 min since first reset).

The reason for these resets and latchup are still unknown but currently all systems are working properly. Due to that we prefer to leave the satellite in safe mode during passes outside the range of our ground station in Vilnius.

Best Regards,
LituanicaSAT-1 team

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

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