FUNcube-1: One Month in Space

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

The FUNcube-1 (AO-73) spacecraft has now been in orbit and fully operational for one month.

We are very happy and VERY grateful to all the stations who have committed their time and effort into regularly receiving the telemetry and uploading it to our Data Warehouse. We really want to say a BIG THANK YOU and please keep it coming.

Dave G4DPZ is still busy refining the operation of the Warehouse and is promising more features over the next few days/weeks. Further updates to the Dashboard are also expected soon.

If anyone knows of potential additional stations that could be established in some of the remoter parts of the globe we would be grateful to have your ideas and introductions. “Simple” stations with omnidirectional antennas,  dongles and internet connected laptops would be all that is needed.

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch Rev4 20100609

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

We intend to keep the present operating schedule in place for the time being whilst various on board parameters continue to be characterized by the team.

The present low internal temperatures being experienced by the spacecraft, at least in the northern hemisphere, are causing some frequency shifting to take place – especially on the uplink frequencies – roll on summer!

We are not yet 100% certain that Object 2013-066AE is FUNcube-1 but it is looking the most likely candidate.

As the launch was more than 30 days ago, the record for this object has now moved to the http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt file and the object is now referred to as DNEPR OBJECT AE.

The http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/latest-two-line-elements/ page has been updated to match.

73! de the FUNcube team

ISS Ham Video Commissioning

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

As announced August 21,  2013 the Ham Video transmitter is onboard the International Space Station and stored in the Columbus module.

September 10, 2013 we informed about the Experiment Sequences Test (EST) and the Simulations performed by the European Space Agency in collaboration with ARISS.

September 20, 2013 we announced the Ham Video Launch Campaign and described a simple station for Ham Video reception.

New HamTV Antennas for ARISS Telebridge Station IK1SLD at Casale Monferrato, Italy

New HamTV Antennas for ARISS Telebridge Station IK1SLD at Casale Monferrato, Italy

The Commissioning of the Ham Video transmitter needs to cover different configurations involving 2 antennas, 4 frequencies and 2 symbol rates. As announced earlier, the signals transmitted during the Commissioning steps will be received by the Matera ground station, located in south Italy (see HamTV Bulletin #2).

Moreover, during the Commissioning period, the Ham Video transmitter will transmit permanently for several days (weeks). This will allow ground stations to test their equipment and to provide useful information concerning the efficiency of the transmitter.

For these transmissions, no camera will be used. The so-called “blank” transmissions will nevertheless provide a complete DVB-S signal, as described hereafter.

We hoped that the Commissioning of the Ham Video transmitter would be planned October 2013. It appeared that the “Flight Rules” regarding ARISS activities, which cover VHF and UHF transmissions, needed to be updated for S-band.

One of the Columbus Module  2.4 / 1.2 GHz Antennas

One of the Columbus Module 2.4 / 1.2 GHz Antennas

Writing Flight Rules and having them verified, accepted and signed by all parties involved is a process that takes time. ARISS matters have low priority among the countless activities that populate the International Space Station. Unforeseen events, such as the recent failing of a cooling system, evidently cause further delay.

Finally, the January – February 2014 time frame seems a reasonable guess for the Ham Video Commissioning.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

73

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS-Europe chairman
December 22, 2013

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

HamTV Bulletins are available at www.ariss-eu.org
See left side column : HamTV Bulletin 4 (with annexes)

OZ/KO4MA on the satellites December 25-31

Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA

Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA

AMSAT Vice President of Operations Drew Glasbrenner will be operating through the satellites from Denmark from December 25-31 using the call OZ/KO4MA.

He’ll be portable in the Kolding area and hopes to be active on all the satellite transponders.

Mark Hammond plans to be active in the satellites from Madrid in Spain from Dec 24 – Jan 2 using the call EA/N8MH.

Getting started in satellites https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/radcom-getting-started-on-satellites/

How to work SSB satellites https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-the-ssb-satellites/

How to work FM satellites https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-a-fm-satellite/

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

Brazilian contact via FUNcube-1 (AO-73)

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

Paulo PV8DX and Luciano PY5LF have made the first contact using the amateur radio FUNcube-1 AO-73 satellite between the North and the South of Brazil.

Watch AO73 – HAM CUBESAT

Former radio ham plans Bitcoin CubeSat

A CubeSat in Space

Archive image of a 1U CubeSat in Space

Former radio amateur Jeff Garzik ex-KB4UZB plans to develop a CubeSat BitSat to distribute block chain data for the digital currency Bitcoin.

Jeff’s amateur radio license expired in 2006 and in recent years during his spare time he has been a Bitcoin core-developer, contributing to the core Bitcoin protocol.

He says that a satellite node could help defend the Bitcoin network from a Sibyl attack, which is where malicious computers flood a node on the peer-to-peer network with bad data.

It is reported that so far he has raised 37 Bitcoins (about $32,000) in funding for the project.

Read the Wired Magazine article Bitcoins in Space: Hacker to Fire Digital Currency Into Orbit
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/12/bitcoin_space/

Read the Bitcoins in space! thread at
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=334701.0

BitPay Hires Bitcoin Core-Developer Jeff Garzik
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130514006754/en/BitPay-Hires-Bitcoin-Core-Developer-Jeff-Garzik

Explanation of Bitcoin in PC-PRO Magazine
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/384190/how-to-earn-spend-and-mine-bitcoins

UPDATE Feb 5, 2014 https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZHVudmVnYW5zcGFjZS5jb218ZHVudmVnYW4tc3BhY2Utc3lzdGVtcy1pbmN8Z3g6MWJjYzAyZDY0NTdlMmQ0MA

Santa uses 434.075 MHz during sleigh test

Mark and Cassie of STRATODEAN

Mark and Cassie of STRATODEAN

BBC TV News has reported on the 434.075 MHz STRATODEAN balloon carrying Santa and Rudolf that was launched from Coleford, Gloucestershire, UK.

The BBC say that amateur scientists Cassie Phelps and Mark Ireland, from the Forest of Dean, successful launched Santa and Rudolf into near-space 30 km above the Earth.

STRATODEAN report that when Santa finished off the modifications to the 2013 sleigh like all good engineers he opted to test the new changes before rolling it out into production and went to STRATODEAN for help! (It’s been a very well kept secret that they provide technical facilities to all their famous mythical friends. The Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny are already well established customers.)

They were given a clear project remit – to take him up and down on their payload to allow him to test the new handling abilities of his sleigh. Apparently the cost of reindeer propulsion (magic flying dust) has skyrocketed in the last few years and he can only justify the once a year purchase for Christmas due to Mrs Clauses’ bingo habit and the increasing Elf wages. Furthermore, for this test he can only bring Rudolf as the other reindeer are getting on a bit and they need to save their knees.

Watch the STRATODEAN video of the flight

Mark and Cassie with a STRATODEAN High Altitude Balloon

Mark and Cassie with a STRATODEAN High Altitude Balloon

The telemetry downlink from the balloon was on 434.075 MHz using 50 bps 350 Hz shift FSK with ASCII-7 code, 2 stop bits and no parity.

Watch the BBC TV news story – Amateur scientists attach a model of Santa Claus to a weather balloon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25470809

Read The Telegraph story at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/christmas-videos/10529615/Santa-and-Rudolph-spotted-in-orbit.html

STRATODEAN
Web http://www.stratodean.co.uk/
Twitter https://twitter.com/stratodean

A video of the STRATODEAN High Altitude Balloon Presentation given by Cassie Phelps and Mark Ireland to the annual AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford last July can be seen at
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/07/22/video-of-stratodean-high-altitude-balloon-presentation/

To get up-to-date information on balloon flights subscribe to the UKHAS Mailing List by sending a blank email to this address:
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