Oct 19 2013

Movie: The Basement Satellite

Hojun Song DS1SBO

Hojun Song DS1SBO

The Basement Satellite was screened at the 5th DMZ Korean International Documentary Film Festival on October 19, 2013.

Hojun Song DS1SBO and the NovaNano FlyMate™ deployer

OSSI-1 weighed 963 grams

The film, directed by Hyoung-ju Kim, tells the struggle of Korean artist Hojun Song DS1SBO to develop a satellite, OSSI-1, in his basement studio and launch it into space.

DMZ – The Basement satellite in Google English http://tinyurl.com/DMZ-The-Basement-Satellite

OSSI-1 Amateur Radio CubeSat Launched
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/19/ossi-1-amateur-radio-cubesat-launched/

Hojun Song DS1SBO and OSSI-1 launch from Baikonur, Kazahkstan

Hojun Song DS1SBO and OSSI-1 launch from Baikonur, Kazahkstan

Oct 17 2013

Ham radio operators set to help in tracking comet

Hindustan Times October 17, 2013

Hindustan Times October 17, 2013

After helping the Odisha government in disaster relief during cyclone Phailin, amateur radio operators will now help astrophysicists track a comet.

The Hindustan Times reports that astrophysics experts are joining hands with ham (amateur) radio operators to track and read data comet ISON, scheduled to pass nearest to the earth on November 28, 2013.

Scientists of Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics will send a balloon 40 km into the atmosphere to get data on the comet.

As the instruments drop with a parachute it will be a team of ham radio operators, who will track the APRS packet radio signal and retrieve the balloon.

Read the story at
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Post-Phailin-relief-HAM-radio-operators-set-to-help-in-tracking-comet/Article1-1136224.aspx

TNC-Pi APRS packet radio review https://amsat-uk.org/info/tnc-pi-raspberry-pi-packet-radio-board/

Oct 17 2013

FUNcube-1 has arrived in Russia

The vital FUNcube-1 Add Before Flight (ABF) plug

The vital FUNcube-1 Add Before Flight (ABF) plug

The amateur radio FUNcube-1 CubeSat has arrived in Russia and is now en-route to the Dombarovsky launch site near Yasny.

A few small CubeSats in a large case being loaded into a special cargo hold

A few small CubeSats in a large case being loaded into a special cargo hold

It was flown on a special flight from Rotterdam on Wednesday, October 16 and cleared Russian customs on Thursday,, October 17. Another flight took it to Orsk from where it had a road trip of several hours before arriving at the launch integration facility at Yasny.

The only work that still needs to be completed before launch is a final battery charge up to 7.68 volts,  this is the best storage voltage this type of battery, and the final ABF “Add Before Flight” plug needs to be installed and glued in place.

This work will be done on site by Gerard Aalbers who has been a member of the FUNcube team from the beginning of the project.

FUNcube-1 communication subsystem:
• 300 mW Inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW
– Uplink      435.150 – 435.130 MHz
– Downlink  145.950 – 145.970 MHz
• 300 mW BPSK Telemetry  145.935 MHz (30 mW output when transponder active)

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch Rev4 20100609

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

The Yasny Dnepr launch will carry more than ten spacecraft using the amateur satellite service and one of them, UniSat-5, will, itself, later deploy up to nine CubeSats and PocketQubes so there should be plenty of new signals to listen for after this launch.

Italian Microsat to Deploy Amateur Radio Satellites
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/05/25/italian-microsat-to-deploy-six-amateur-radio-satellites/

Battery Charger for FUNcube-1 https://amsat-uk.org/2012/05/25/italian-microsat-to-deploy-amateur-radio-satellites/

FUNcube Yahoo Group https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

Oct 16 2013

FUNcube-1 has left the cleanroom

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

The exciting news is that FUNcube-1 CubeSat is now en-route to the Yasny launch site.

It was flown on a special flight from Rotterdam yesterday and it cleared through Russian customs this morning.

Well before the launch date, Dashboard software, to decode and display the telemetry, will be made available for download, this will function on any windows pc or laptop using either a Dongle or a 2 metre SSB capable receiver. Additionally a set of pre-launch keps will also be distributed.

This launch is expected to carry more than ten spacecraft using the amateur satellite service and one of them will, itself, later deploy up to nine CubeSats and PocketQubes so there should be plenty of new signals to listen for after this launch.

More info about FUNcube and some pictures can be seen here www.funcube.org.uk

Oct 16 2013

TNC-Pi Raspberry Pi Packet Radio Board

TNC-Pi kit built by Nick Bown 2E0CGW

TNC-Pi kit built by Nick Bown 2E0CGW

The TNC-Pi is a £22 ($40) KISS TNC board which is designed to connect to the GPIO port of the £25 ($35) Raspberry Pi computer board.

It provides a low cost means of using amateur radio AX.25 Packet Radio and APRS.

Nick Bown 2E0CGW has written a well illustrated review of the board. You can download the PDF from TNC-Pi by Nick Bown 2E0CGW

The TNC-Pi kit is available from http://tnc-x.com/TNCPi.htm

Oct 16 2013

50DollarSat PocketQube Satellite

A Dnepr launch

A Dnepr launch

50DollarSat (A.K.A. $50SAT or Eagle-2) is a PocketQube micro satellite made from commercial electronic components and designed to fit in a 50 mm cube.

The primary purpose of the project was to create a cost effective platform for engineering and science students to use for developing real world skills. The PocketQube form factor has no precision mechanical parts and can be built from locally obtained sheet metal.

50DollarSat is comprised of two 40 mm x 40 mm circuit boards. The first is the processor/radio board which contains the PICaxe 40X2 processor programmed in PICaxe basic, the Hope RFM22B single chip radio and some peripheral devices. The PICaxe 40X2 is an easy to use micro controller popular in the education sector.

The second board is the power control and monitor board. This board contains four maximum power point controllers, one for each solar array on each side of the spacecraft as well as current monitors for the battery and summed solar power. The battery is a common 3.7V lithium ion camera battery.

The satellite will transmit data telemetry about the satellites operation, a sequence of call signs in slow FM Morse and some key data as fast FM Morse (120 WPM). The main data payload will also be transmitted as FSK RTTY which should be readily heard on the ground with basic amateur radio equipment.

50DollarSat (Eagle-2) has been a collaborative education project between Professor Bob Twiggs, KE6QMD,  Morehead State University and three other radio amateurs, Howie DeFelice, AB2S, Michael Kirkhart, KD8QBA, and Stuart Robinson, GW7HPW.

50DollarSat will be one of PocketQubes and CubeSats which will be carried by the UniSat-5 microsatellite. It is due to launch in November from a Russian Dnepr silo launched rocket at Dombarovsky near Yasny. UniSat-5 will be released into a sun synchronous 700km orbit. After deployment UniSat-5 will then release its CubeSats and PocketQubes.

50DollarSat http://www.50dollarsat.info/

HOPE RFM22B FSK transceiver http://www.hoperf.com/rf/module/fsk/RFM22B.htm

PICAXE-40X2 microcontroller http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/PICAXE-Chips/PICAXE-40X2-microcontroller/

Italian Microsat to Deploy Amateur Radio Satellites
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/05/25/italian-microsat-to-deploy-six-amateur-radio-satellites/