Jun 27 2012

KiwiSAT hoping for launch mid-2013

The development of the amateur radio satellite KiwiSAT is completed and it is now ready for a LEO launch.

It carries a 435 or 1268 MHz to 145 MHz  linear transponder for SSB/CW operation.
* Transmit Power: 2 Watts PEP.
* Beacon frequency: 145.885 MHz
* Uplink: (U-Band) 435.265 to 435.235 MHz LSB or
* Uplink: (L-Band) 1268.880 to 1268.850 MHz LSB
* Down link: 145.850 to 145.880 MHz USB

The KiwiSAT website says the team have been in discussion with ISC Kosmatras for a DNEPR launch. They hope the satellite will be launched mid-2013.

The KiwiSAT team released a status update which can be read at http://www.kiwisat.org/status.html

In addition to the transponder KiwiSAT also carries an Atitude Determination And Control (ADAC) experiment developed by students at Massey University.

Read the article Massey students create space satellite software at http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=238ABC1A-FC7C-B944-8CC0-987538B6B665

KiwiSAT http://www.kiwisat.org/

AMSAT-ZL http://www.amsat-zl.org.nz/

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Jun 26 2012

New CAMSAT Satellite CAS-2

CAMSAT CAS-2 at Friedrichshafen Ham Radio 2012 Event – Image Credit ARRL

The first CAMSAT amateur radio satellite CAS-1 (aka XW-1, HO-68) carried a linear transponder and proved very popular with radio amateurs world-wide.

Fan Shaomin BA1EO with CAS-2 A1

Fan Shaomin BA1EO with CAS-2 A1

CAMSAT and students at the Qian Youth Space Academy have been working on the next satellite CAS-2.

The launch of CAS-2 is planned for 2014 into a 1000 km orbit with an inclination of 12 degrees. This orbit means it may not be receivable in those countries at high latitudes.

It is understood that most of the room in CAS-2 will be taken up by the primary (non-amateur) payload and it has only been possible to fit a single channel FM amateur transponder in the satellite.

The announcement of May 20 indicates that two separate CAS-2 satellite structures are being built – A1 and A2.

Further information in Google English can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/CAMSAT-CAS-2-Satellite

The CAMSAT delegation to Ham Radio 2012 in Friedrichshafen was led by Gong Wancong BA1DU. A group picture taken at the CAMSAT and AMSAT-DL stands and a picture of the engraved glass plaque that CAMSAT presented to AMSAT-DL can be seen on the AMSAT Deutschland Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.420116544697800.90571.168177559891701&type=3

Randy Hall K7AGE visited Beijing in March 2008. Among the people he visited was Fan Shaomin BA1EO.

Watch Randy’s video which provides an insight into amateur radio in Beijing. The BA1EO visit is at 12:55

Read more about Ham Radio in that part of the world from Larry’s, KH6ITY, article at ARRL – http://www.arrl.org/news/cq-china

ARISS unable to do Beijing contacts http://tinyurl.com/ARISS-Cancel-Beijing

Jun 26 2012

F-1 CubeSat Delivered to Tsukuba Space Center

CubeSats ready for HTV-3 Launch – Image Credit Koumei Shibata

The amateur radio CubeSat F-1 built by students at the FPT University in Hanoi, Vietnam has now been delivered to the Tsukuba Space Center in Japan.

F-1 CubeSat – Image Credit Koumei Shibata

F-1 and the other four CubeSats  (RAIKO, WE WISH, FITSAT-1 and TechEdSat) will be integrated with the small satellite deployer J-SSOD before leaving for Tanegashima launch pad.

The CubeSats should be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 21 in the HTV-3 cargo vessel.  It is planned that they will be deployed from the ISS in September by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI using the Kibo robot arm.

F-1 carries a low-resolution camera (640×480), a 3-axis magnetometer and two Yaesu VX-3R transceivers using 145.980 and 437.485 MHz.

See the story on the FPT University website http://tinyurl.com/FTP-F-1-To-Launch

Further pictures of the CubeSats by Koumei Shibata can be seen at http://fspace.edu.vn/?p=633

An NHK TV News video showing the CubeSats shows the LED’s on FITSAT-1 that will be used to flash Morse Code from space. See http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20120625/t10013095191000.html

For the latest news on F-1 see the FSpace website http://fspace.edu.vn/

Video depicting F-1 CubeSat XV1VN deployment from the ISS http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8446

Vietnam Student CubeSat F-1 http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=5025

Jun 24 2012

Video of ArduSat NASDAQ Interview

NanoSatisfi founder Peter Platzer appeared on the Japanese NASDAQ TV feed to talk about the ArduSat satellite.

ArduSat is an open-source arduino-based nanosatellite. It will have an extensive sensor-suite onboard and will allow users to upload their own code and run their own experiments.

ArduSat will use a GomSpace NanoCom U482C which is a half-duplex UHF transceiver, capable of up to 3W, operating in the 435-438 MHz amateur radio satellite band. It implements Forward Error Correction (FEC) and Viterbi coding based on the CCSDS standards in order to improve reliability and throughput of the space link.

The project is raising donations through the Kickstarter site at http://nanosatisfi.com/ In just over a week they raised more than $43,000 in pledges from almost 300 donors.

Watch NanoSatisfi NASDAQ interview which is in English with Japanese sub-titles

Watch ArduSat Kickstarter Thank you

It is understanding the team are now aiming for a larger 2U CubeSat instead of the 1U originally planned.

ISIS CubeSat Structure Brochure http://www.isispace.nl/brochures/ISIS_CubeSat%20Structures_Brochure_v.7.11.pdf

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/NanoSatisfi/307866409295499

ArduSat Arduino CubeSat Technical Details https://amsat-uk.org/2012/06/20/ardusat-arduino-cubesat-technical-details/

ArduSat Open Source CubeSat Next Phase in DIY Space Access http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8337

ArduSat Arduino CubeSat Update http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8284

NanoSatisfi was founded by Austrian-born Peter Platzer a former high-energy physicist (CERN), former Hedge Fund Quantitative Trader, avid HP-41 hacker and Arduino enthusiast, along with Belgian aerospace engineer Jeroen Cappaert intern at NASA Ames Research Center, Canadian aerospace engineer Joel Spark intern at EADS Astrium and Hungarian Reka Kovacs intern at NASA Ames Research Center working on alternative methods of public outreach for space science. The four founders met at the International Space University in Strasbourg and thought that they could do something to provide affordable, open-source space exploration for everyone.

Jun 22 2012

Winner of HORYU-2 Receiving Competition

Testing_HORYU-2_Solar_Panels

Testing HORYU-2 Solar Panels

Built by students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) the amateur radio satellite HORYU-2 was launched on May 17 at 1639 UT.

HORYU-2 Receiving Competition Prize

Radio amateurs from around the world sent in telemetry and the winner with the most points has been announced as Yoshitomo Iji JA6PL who will be presented with a bottle as the prize.

The top three places were:

1st place: JA6PL (91 points)
2nd place: ZL2BX (36 points)
3rd place: JF1EUY (35 points)

The satellite’s callsign is JG6YBW and the CW telemetry beacon frequency is 437.375 MHz (+/- Doppler shift).

The free KIT HORYU-2 telemetry software can be downloaded from
http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/Documents/information_launch_english.html

KIT HORYU Blog in Google English http://tinyurl.com/HORYU-Blog

Japanese HORYU website in Google English http://tinyurl.com/HoryuSatellite

English language version of HORYU website http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/index_e_new.html

Further information on HORYU-2 is at http://www.uk.amsat.org/7404

HORYU-2 online WebSDR receiver http://sdr.opt.ro:8901/

KIT HORYU-2 Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/277436165678985/

HORYU-2 CW Telemetry Decoder by DK3WN http://tinyurl.com/SatSoftwareDK3WN/

SimpleSatLookDown satellite tracking software http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8217

Jun 21 2012

Video of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-56 mission

Ellen Ochoa KB5TZZ the first Hispanic woman in space

The crew of STS-56 made numerous amateur radio contacts to schools around the world using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II), including brief radio contact with the Russian Mir space station, the first such contact between Shuttle and Mir using amateur radio equipment.

STS-56 Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa KB5TZZ plays the flute in space shuttle Discovery’s aft flight deck in April 1993. Credit: NASA

STS-56 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to perform special experiments. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 8, 1993.

There were four radio hams on STS-56, Kenneth D. Cameron KB5AWP, Mike Foale KB5UAC, Ellen Ochoa KB5TZZ, Kenneth Cockrell KB5UAH.

Ellen Ochoa KB5TZZ was the first Hispanic woman to go into space. She went on to complete four space shuttle flights and become Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center.

The primary payload of the flight was the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2 (ATLAS-2), designed to collect data on the relationship between the sun’s energy output and Earth’s middle atmosphere and how these factors affect the ozone layer. It included six instruments mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the cargo bay, with the seventh mounted on the wall of the bay in two Get Away Special canisters.

Narrated by the Commander and crew, this video contains footage selected by the astronauts, as well as their comments on the mission. Footage includes launch, onboard crew activities, and landing.

The amateur radio aspect of the mission features at 09:58 into the video.

Watch Space Shuttle STS-56 Discovery ATLAS-2 pt1-2 Post Flight Press 1993 NASA

Watch Space Shuttle STS-56 Discovery ATLAS-2 pt2-2 Post Flight Press 1993 NASA