Feb 11 2012

Student Satellite Launch To Be Broadcast Live

Artists impression of Vega launch

Artists impression of Vega launch

The launch of eight student amateur radio satellites from the space center at Kourou in the Caribbean will be broadcast live on the Internet.

The launch should take place between 1000-1300 UT on Monday, February 13 and you’ll be able to watch it at http://www.videocorner.tv/

The student teams have requested reception reports. During the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) Monday, listeners are encouraged to gather at the IRC “cubesat” channel to exchange all the latest available information. Simply point your browser to http://webchat.freenode.net/ and join the #cubesat channel. In the Nickname: field enter “name_callsign” and in the Channels: field enter #cubesat

Preliminary Vega TLE’s for launch at 1000, 1100 or 1200 UT here

Assuming a 1000 UT launch the satellites should deploy their antennas and start transmitting at about 1140 UT. It looks like the first to get reception will be Central America followed quickly by a pass up the East coast of North America. The first pass for the United Kingdom should be a horizon skimmer across the NW at around 1207 UT.

Student amateur radio satellite downlink frequencies:
+ AlmaSat-1   437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK, 2407.850 MHz
+ E-St@r        437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK
+ Goliat          437.485 MHz 1200 bpx AFSK
+ Masat-1      437.345 MHz 625/1250 bps GFSK, CW
+ PW-Sat       145.900 MHz 1200 bps BPSK AX25, CW
+ Robusta      437.325 MHz 1200 bps FM telemetry – one data burst of 20 secs every 1 min
+ UniCubeSat 437.305 MHz 9600 bps FSK
+ XaTcobeo     437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25

Masat-1 telemetry decode software http://www.uk.amsat.org/4385

URLs for the student satellite websites are at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

Vega Elliptical Orbit Video http://www.uk.amsat.org/4119

Satscape Free Satellite Tracking Software http://www.satscape.info/home/?q=node/2 

N2YO Real Time Satellite Tracking http://www.n2yo.com/

Feb 11 2012

AMSAT Fox-1 CubeSat selected for NASA ELaNa launch collaboration

AMSAT FOX

AMSAT FOX

Project ELaNa, NASA’s ‘Educational Launch of NanoSat’ managed by the  Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center, announced on February 10 that the AMSAT Fox-1 CubeSat has been selected to join the program.

NASA will work with AMSAT in a collaborative agreement where NASA  will cover the integration and launch costs of satellites deemed to have merit in support of their strategic and educational goals.

Watch for full details to be published in the AMSAT Journal.

AMSAT teamed with the ARRL to write and deliver the 159 page educational proposal to NASA. Letters documenting the importance of AMSAT’s satellites in the education programs at the ARRL and also at the Clay Center for Science and Technology at the Dexter and Southfield schools in Brookline, MA, were important parts of our proposal.

AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW said,
“The ELaNA Launch opportunity marks AMSAT’s return to space after the conclusion of the successful ARISSat-1/KEDR flight. We need to get the flight Fox-1, along with an operational flight backup satellite, built, integrated, tested, and delivered. Our ability to provide a spacecraft and get it launched is dependent upon the active support of our donors who wish to see Fox-1 fly.”

AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX noted this will provide a launch opportunity for AMSAT’s next generation of FM repeater satellites with features and operation beyond the experience of AO-51. AMSAT’s Fox-1 Engineering Team is making progress developing the advanced satellite that will provide these features:

• Fox-1 is designed to operate in sunlight without batteries once the battery system fails. This applies lessons learned from AO-51 and ARISSat-1 operations.

• In case of IHU failure Fox-1 will continue to operate its FM repeater in a basic, ‘zombie sat’ mode, so that the repeater remains on-the-air.

• Fox-1 is designed as the immediate replacement for AO-51. Its U/V (Mode B) transponder will make it even easier to work with modest equipment.

• From the ground user’s perspective, the same FM amateur radio equipment used for AO-51 may be used for Fox-1.

• Extending the design, Fox-2 will benefit from the development work of Fox-1 by adding more sophisticated power management and Software Defined Transponder (SDX) communications systems.

The Fox-1 Project presents an opportunity to literally put your callsign on the Fox hardware. AMSAT is looking for major donations to help underwrite the cost of solar cells/panels, one of the more significant expenses of the project.

These solar cells are needed for the flight unit as well as for the a flight spare. As Fox-1 will have solar cells on all six sides of the spacecraft and given the relatively small surface area available on each side (at most 4″ by 4″ per side), AMSAT needs to invest in high efficiency solar cells to gain as much power as possible to operate the spacecraft.

Several opportunities to make your donation to keep amateur radio in space include:
• Call Martha at the AMSAT Office +1-888-FB AMSAT (1-888-322-6728)
• Paypal donation widget on the main page at: http://www.amsat.org
• Paypal donation widget for Project Fox at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/
• You can also go to the Paypal site and send your donation to martha@amsat.org
• The AMSAT Store: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/categories.php

Project Fox web site provide a good overview of the technical progress of the new satellite: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/

Thanks to AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX and AMSAT’s Project Fox Engineering team for the above information.

Feb 10 2012

13cm Threat in Sweden

The 2300-2450 MHz band in Sweden is under threat. As part of the consultation process the Swedish national society, SSA, has submitted it’s response to the regulator, the PTS.

SSA argues that the amateur service should remain in the 2.3 GHz band. Wideband digital systems are becoming less sensitive to narrowband signals, which improves the possibilities for band-sharing.

SSA believes that communication with amateur satellites in the band 2400-2450 MHz should continue to be permitted. SSA is requesting to meet the PTS to discuss the technological basis for continuing the amateur service in the band.

Read the full response in Google English at http://tinyurl.com/SSA2300MHzResponse

SSA in Google English http://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA

January 2012 – Sweden loses 13cm amateur radio band
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2012/sweden_loses_13cm_amateur_radio_band.htm

Feb 10 2012

Time-lapse Video of Aurora from the ISS

NASA Earth scientist Melissa Dawson has created a stunning time-lapse video of the Northern Lights. She came up with the idea in August after seeing pictures that were taken three seconds apart from the ISS as it moved along the eastern coast of North and South America.

Watch Northern Lights from Space

Watch Interview with NASA Earth Scientist Melissa Dawson

Feb 10 2012

CubeSats on the Vega qualification flight

In this video Roger Walker, Head of education projects unit, ESA, talks about the CubeSats that will be on the first launch of the Vega rocket, planned to take place between 10:00 and 12:00 UT on Monday, February 13.

The video shows the integration of the CubeSats in the P-POD deployment system and includes some interviews with ESA’s experts and European students involved in the programme. Over 250 students were involved in the development of the seven amateur radio CubeSats.

Watch CubeSats on the Vega qualification flight

Frequencies and URLs for the student amateur radio satellites on Vega can be seen at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

Feb 9 2012

ISS APRS Balloon to Launch Saturday

BLT-28 Katy to Nanjing

BLT-28 Katy to Nanjing

A group of amateur radio operators aims to establish a world record for distance by flying an unmanned, helium-filled balloon from Katy, Texas, across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean then on to Nanjing, China.

During the trans-Atlantic crossing, when out of range of shore based stations, the balloon’s APRS beacon will operate on the International Space Station (ISS) packet digipeater frequency of 145.825 MHz.

The South Texas Balloon Launch Team will release the balloon at 3 pm CST (2100 UT) Saturday, February 11.

The balloon payload package weighs only about 150 grams and contains a high altitude GPS tracking system and a 144 MHz FM APRS amateur radio transmitter. To conserve weight and battery life, no camera equipment will be on board. The maximum altitude is expected to be above 30 km, with horizontal speeds between 160 and 240 km per hour. The balloon size will increase from about 1.5 metres to about 11.8 metres at maximum elevation. Recovery of the payload package is not expected.

Individuals may follow the balloon’s progress on the Internet by logging onto APRS tracking site, filling in the “Track callsign:” field with “kt5tk-11” and changing the “Show last:” field to 24 hours.

The APRS telemetry transmitter is frequency agile to cope with different APRS standards across the globe. The frequencies used will be:
USA = 144.390 MHz FM
mid-Atlantic = 145.825 MHz (International Space Station packet digipeater frequency)
Europe = 144.800 MHz FM

APRS tracking site http://aprs.fi/

Read the Katy Times story at
http://katytimes.com/news/article_b2683a60-527e-11e1-bca4-001871e3ce6c.html

BLT-28 The Flight of the Orient Express http://www.w5acm.net/b28.html

South Texas Balloon Launch Team http://www.w5acm.net/

QRP APRS to the ISS http://www.uk.amsat.org/3838 

Qtmm AFSK1200 soundcard modem software for decoding packet radio, APRS and telemetry from amateur radio satellites http://www.uk.amsat.org/4313

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) http://www.aprs.org/

Link to UZ7HO Soundmodem 1200 bps packet and other APRS software http://wa8lmf.net/miscinfo/