This video demonstrates the AMSAT-UK FUNcube dongle pro receiving
CW signals from PRISM.
The You Tube video has the following comment by the publisher
“I was only using a vertical VHF/UHF antenna hooked up to the FUNcube Dongle Pro. Software is SDR-Radio and HRD Satellite Tracker, both by Simon HB9DRV”
You can purchase the FUNcube dongle pro HERE
AO-27 transmits with a power output of 0.5 W into a quarter-wavelength whip antenna. Satellites are approximately 500 miles (800 km) distant when directly overhead and over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) distant when near the horizon. For use on AO-27 with a half-wavelength whip, your receiver sensitivity at 436 MHz should be at least 0.18 uV for 12 dB SINAD, which corresponds to the approximate signal strength of AO-27 at 10 degrees elevation when your whip antenna is correctly positioned for the polarization of the incoming signal. At the horizon, AO-27’s signal strength, under similar conditions, is approximately 0.13 uV. Most modern, high-quality amateur radio transceivers will meet these specifications if designed to operate at this frequency (i.e., without modifications). Most scanners, and most radios which have had to be modified to cover 436 MHz, will not.
AO-27 transmits FM on about 436.795 MHz, plus/minus Doppler shift of up to 10 kHz on either side. Their uplink frequency is 145.850 MHz, plus/minus Doppler corrections of up to approximately 3.4 kHz.
by Ray Soifer, W2RS
EuroLuna
Tor Fos Mortensen gave a presentation about Euroluna to the European Lunar Symposium in Berlin , April 19-20, 2012.
Euroluna are a Danish amateur team participating in the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE contest to be the first privately funded team to land and drive a rover on the Moon.
Their first Amateur Radio CubeSat Romit-1, fitted with an Ion motor, is planned to launch on an Interorbital Systems Neptune 30 rocket.
Watch Euroluna Presentation with Sound.wmv
March 2012 – Euroluna OZ9LUNA CubeSat Launch Update http://www.uk.amsat.org/5153
Twitter http://twitter.com/Euroluna
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Euroluna/337261739568
Interorbital Systems http://www.interorbital.com/
Google Lunar X PRIZE http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/
Space Hackers fom Lausanne, Switzerland and San Francisco, USA have been working on the TechEdSat CubeSat challenge.
TechEdSat is a 1U CubeSat that will be launched on July 21, 2012 from Tanegashima, Japan aboard the HTV-3 ISS resupply mission. TechEdSat will be among the first CubeSats to be deployed from the ISS, and is investigating the use of Plug and Play software/hardware and intersatellite communication via Iridium and Orbcomm networks.
For this challenge, space hackers must implement a command and control system, utilizing both the OrbComm and Iridium modems as uplink and downlink. The software should be modular to facilitate the easy implementation of future commands, and should be fault tolerant.
A ground segment of the software should include the ability for a laptop (or bonus points for an Apple or Android phone) to issue commands to the spacecraft over Iridium/Orbcomm. The spacecraft segment should be written for a Linux environment able to listen for commands, and have the ability to send arbitrary data packages back to the ground.
Bonus points for relaying data received from the spacecraft automatically to Twitter. Space hackers will be issued interface documentation for Iridium and OrbComm modems, and engineering development hardware for testing. This software has the potential to fly on the TechEdSat mission if completed.
Find out more at https://github.com/AVGP/CubeSatRemote/wiki
SSTL Kepler Building
GEO members have been invited to have a guided tour of the new facilities at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) on Friday, June 8.
SSTL HQ - Tycho House
GEO is a group of enthusiasts interested in the amateur reception of weather and earth imaging satellites. They produce a first-rate quarterly magazine, samples can be seen here.
SSTL has more than 25 years of experience in delivering bespoke Earth observation missions, operating constellations and providing imagery to a diverse range of customers.
Further details of the visit are at http://www.geo-web.org.uk/events.html
GEO organises symposia. The first was in May 2004, there has been one every year since then – the most recent in May 2011. The programmes included workshops for total beginners and for the more advanced users of MSG-1. Full details are published in the GEO Quarterly and the groups website.
The quarterly GEO magazine features colour images, advice and commentary about the latest Earth imaging satellites and other developments. Thirty one issues have been published so far – the next is due in June 2012. Other resources available to new members are computer software, equipment advice and support from other members.
The GEO Yahoo Group can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GEO-Subscribers/
GEO Group for Earth Observation http://www.geo-web.org.uk/
Watch a timelapse video of the construction of the SSTL Kepler building
Click here to register to attend the Workshop
Background
For 2012 the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative includes 6U CubeSat satellites. An 8 kg 6U CubeSat can be designed to perform some of the Earth observation missions of 100 kg microsatellites. A 6U CubeSat (~33 x 10 x 22 cm, ≤ 8kg) has 4 times the payload capacity of a 3U CubeSat (33 x 10 x 10 cm, ≤ 4 kg) which uses two thirds of its volume for system components.
This workshop, the first in the world dedicated to the 6U CubeSat, will explore the range of missions possible with a 6U CubeSat in the areas of:
Keynotes
Technology Keynote – John W. Hines, Chief Technologist, NASA-Ames Research Center (To be confirmed)
Science Keynote – Professor Harvey Butcher , Director Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Chair
Dr Steven Tsitas, Senior Research Associate, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, University of New South Wales
Who Should Attend
Scientists and engineers interested in payload and mission concepts that take advantage of the greater payload capacity of the 6U CubeSat. For examples of 6U CubeSat designs and payloads that could perform some of the Earth observation missions of 100 kg microsatellites please see “6U CubeSat Design for Earth Observation with 6.5 m GSD, 5 Spectral Bands and 14 Mbps downlink” and “6U CubeSat Commercial Applications”. Reprints available upon request.
Presentations are invited describing payloads and mission concepts for the 6U CubeSat. Presentations are also invited regarding 6U launch opportunities and 6U CubeSat standards.
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