Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Mar 10 2014

OSCAR-11 30th Birthday Report

UOSAT-2 - OSCAR-11

UOSAT-2 – OSCAR-11

OSCAR-11 (AKA UoSAT-2 and UO-11) celebrated its 30th birthday in space on 01 March! It was designed, built and launched within a period of six months, using commercially available ‘off the shelf’ components (COTS). Once again, congratulations to Professor Sir Martin Sweeting G3YJO, his team at the University of Surrey and the groups of radio amateurs who also contributed to the project.

This report covers the period from 01 January 2013 to 05 March 2014. During this time there have been no significant changes apart from the gradual drift of the on-board clock. There was also an advance of one day in the displayed date. This was caused by a known leap year problem in the date chip, which has always existed since launch. Owing to the large accumulated time/date error 29 February 2012 on the satellite occurred in January 2013 on Earth!  The satellite has been transmitting on a regular cycle of 10.35 days on followed by 10.35 days off.

Good copy has been obtained obtained from decoded telemetry frames and many reports have been posted on the DCARR general satellite status website http://oscar.dcarr.org/

UOSAT_OSCAR-11The satellite continues to be subjected to eclipses during each orbit, resulting in weaker signals at those times. During the winter in the UK the evening passes were in the Earth’s shadow, and very weak signals have been received, which could not be demodulated and could be only detected with the receiver in CW mode . As the longer daylight hours of summer approach, the evening passes in the UK should gradually become clear of eclipses, resulting in stronger signals. Eclipses are expected to continue until 2019.

The on-board clock gained 98 seconds during the 14 month reporting period, which is comparable with the 60 seconds gain per year when the satellite was launched. There is however a large accumulated error of 307.54090 days slow. This was caused mainly by the clock stopping during eclipses, when there was also an unknown drain on the power supply. The units of the least significant digit correspond approximately to seconds (0.86 seconds actually).

UOSAT 2 / OSCAR-11 with Dave Brock UoS kneeling Christine Sweeting G6APF and Neville Bean G8NOB

UOSAT 2 / OSCAR-11 with Dave Brock UoS kneeling Christine Sweeting G6APF and Neville Bean G8NOB

At the present time, while OSCAR-11 is operating in a predictable way, please DO NOT send reports or files by e-mail. However, could all listeners continue to enter their reports on the general satellite status website http://oscar.dcarr.org/ . This is a very convenient and easy to use facility, which shows the current status of all the amateur satellites, and is of use to everyone. Reports around the expected times of switch-on and switch-off are of special interest, especially for times 13:00 to 18:00 and 22:00 to 08:00 UTC, to when the satellite is out-of-range in the UK .

The VHF beacon frequency is 145.826 MHz.  AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry. The satellite is operating in the default mode, controlled by the watchdog timer, with a cycle time of 20.7 days. 10.35 days on followed by 10.35 days off.

An extended version of this report is available on my website, and new listeners to OSCAR-11 should read this for
further information. The URL is http://www.g3cwv.co.uk/oscar11.htm

Martin Sweeting G3YJO testing the UO-11 digitalker

Martin Sweeting G3YJO testing the UOSAT-2 UO-11 digitalker

This page contains links to the report, a short audio clip to help you identify the satellite and a file of recent telemetry received. The website also contains an archive of news & telemetry data which is updated from time to time, and details about using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is also software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry.

The easiest way to check whether OSCAR-11 is operational is to look at the General Satellite Status website
http://oscar.dcarr.org/index.php .

If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT159.CWV, to
prevent duplication.

73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx@amsat.org (please replace the x’s by g3cwv)

OSCAR-11 / UOSAT-2 Celebrates 30 Years in Orbit
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/05/oscar-11-uosat-2-celebrates-30-years-in-orbit/

OSCAR-11 page on the DK3WN satellite blog at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?cat=47

SSTL Blog – Happy 30th Birthday to UOSAT-2
http://www.sstl.co.uk/Blog/March-2014/Happy-30th-Birthday-to-UoSAT-2-

OSCAR-9 and OSCAR-11 TV News Reports
https://amsat-uk.org/2011/10/30/oscar-9-and-oscar-11-tv-news-reports/

BBC Micro ASTRID UoSAT receiver and AMSAT-UK Software Library
https://amsat-uk.org/2011/12/11/bbc-micro-and-amsat-uk-software-library/

Mar 9 2014

A chat with Bob Twiggs KE6QMD, father of the CubeSat

First-MOVE_Students_with_Bob_Twiggs_KE6QMD_2560

First-MOVE CubeSat students with Bob Twiggs KE6QMD

Radio amateur Bob Twiggs KE6QMD is interviewed by Stephen Clark in Spaceflight Now.

Read the interview at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1403/08cubesats/

The team behind the recently launched $50sat PocketQube programmed the satellite’s FM CW beacon to send “TNX KE6QMD” to thank their mentor Bob Twiggs KE6QMD.

$50sat Ham Radio Challenge
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/february/$50sat_ham_radio_challenge.htm

Mar 9 2014

Radio amateurs receive NASA ISEE-3 / ICE Spacecraft

Radio amateurs have received signals over a distance of 43 million km from the NASA ISEE-3 / ICE deep space probe which was retired from service in 1997.

AMSAT-DL have released this statement:

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

On March 1st and 2nd, 2014 radio amateurs were able to detect the beacon signal from the retired NASA deep space probe ICE (International Cometary Explorer) at the Bochum Observatory (Germany). After some changes to the ground equipment and aligning the receive antenna to the predicted position in the sky, the beacon signal could positively be identified due to its frequency, the position in the sky and the frequency shift due to the radial velocity (Doppler shift).

For this detection the 20m radio telescope from the Bochum Observatory was used. In 2003, AMSAT-DL converted this former industrial monument into a fully functional groundstation for deep space probes. Since 2009 the facility is being used by volunteers almost full time as ground receive station for data from the STEREO mission with its two spaceprobes monitoring the sun from different viewing angles.

The International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) was launched in 1978 and became the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, measuring the interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and the Sun. It was the first spacecraft to detect the stream of particles (“solar wind”) approaching Earth. In 1982, the spacecraft was renamed the “International Cometary Explorer” (ICE) and diverted to the Moon, where its gravitational pull placed ICE on a heliocentric orbit. In 1985, the comet Giacobini-Zinner was visited (the first time a comet had been encountered by a spacecraft), followed by observation of Halley’s Comet in 1986.

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

While the instrumentation on board was still functional and fuel for more trajectory maneuvers was available, support for the ICE mission was terminated in 1997, though the spacecraft transmitter was left on. It was last detected by the NASA Deep Space Network in 2008. Its orbit however results in the spacecraft returning to Earth-Moon space in August of 2014. A small propulsive maneuver and lunar flyby could allow ICE to be directed into an Earth-Sun L1 halo orbit and perhaps resume a science mission, depending on instrument health. However in February 2014 a NASA study determined that the required resources to contact the spacecraft were not available anymore and due to budgetary constraints no further contact attempts were planned. In light of the recent observations and the available facilities in Bochum, additional studies about the economic feasibility to add a suitable uplink are being done.

We would like to thank Jeremy Bauman from KinetX Aerospace (Tempe AZ, USA) for providing the ICE trajectory solution which was essential in finding the spacecraft and Jon D. Giorgini from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena CA, USA) for his support.

AMSAT-DL
Dr. Achim Vollhardt DH2VA
email: ICEteam at amsat-dl.org

ISEE-3 ICE spacecraft signal spectrum March 2, 2014 at 1822 UT

ISEE-3 ICE spacecraft signal spectrum recorded on March 2, 2014 at 1822 UT using the 20m dish antenna of Bochum Observatory, Germany. Range 43M km, azimuth 230°, elevation 49°. Average of 2 spectra spanning 2.1 seconds. With a bin bandwidth of 1.6 Hz, the SNR of 15.8 dB equates to a CNR of 17.8 dB. Indicated frequency is relative to the programmed center frequency of 2217.5 MHz of the measurement equipment.

The satellite carries Redundant S-band transponders, each with 5 Watt RF output but it is now only transmitting a carrier signal. The following information is from the ISEE-3/ICE Telecommunications Summary http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf

Transponder A:
2090.66 MHz RHCP uplink, command or ranging
2270.40 MHz RHCP downlink, telemetry or ranging

Transponder B:
2041.95 MHz LHCP uplink, command
2217.50 MHz LHCP downlink, telemetry

Transmit antenna: medium gain with dual inputs for simultaneous right and left hand circular polarization downlink, 8 rows of 4 elements, 7 dBi, ±6° beamwidth, multibeam, electronically steerable, four lobe, omni directional coverage in azimuth

Receive antenna: 2042 MHz, intermediate gain, 1 row of 4 elements, 0 dBi, ±45° beamwidth

Read the Planetary Society ISEE-3/ICE post at
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/02070836-isee-3.html

ISEE-3/ICE Telecommunications Summary
http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf

ISEE-3/ICE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ISEE3returns

Can Radio Hams Receive NASA’s ISEE-3/ICE ?
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/07/can-radio-hams-receive-nasas-isee-3ice/

Mar 9 2014

LitSat-1 Transponder Test Successful

LitSat-1 CubeSat

LitSat-1 CubeSat

The 435/145 MHz SSB/CW linear transponder on the Lithuanian  amateur radio CubeSat LitSat-1, call sign LY1LS, was successfully tested on Sunday, March 9.

LitSat-1 was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, February 28 at 0730 UT by astronaut Koichi Wakata KC5ZTA.

Listen to the recording made by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=42732

LitSat-1 Transponder - Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

LitSat-1 Transponder – Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

LitSat-1 frequencies:

Inverting linear transponder for SSB/CW communications
• Uplink 435.135-435.165 MHz
• Downlink 145.935-145.965 MHz

The team list a CW beacon but it appears the beacon was not active during the test.

AX.25 packet radio transceiver
• Uplink 435.550 MHz
• Downlink 145.850 MHz

LitSat-1 uses a modified version of the LE005-R2 CubeSat linear transponder developed by William Leijenaar PE1RAH http://www.leijenaarelectronics.nl/leijenaar_electronics_009.htm

Facebook LitSat-1 Lituanica80 https://www.facebook.com/Lituanica80

LitSat-1 Palydovas https://www.facebook.com/palydovas

President Congratulates Lithuanian Amateur Radio CubeSat Builders
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/12/president-congratulates-amateur-radio-cubesat-builders/

Mar 8 2014

Satellite TLE Object ID’s

TLEsNico Janssen PA0DLO reports the process of producing Object ID’s for newly launched satellites has changed recently.

Writing on the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) he says:

It seems that the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) has changed some of their policies lately. After the launch of multiple small satellites late last year it took a long time to get them all identified. Apparently they don’t want to leave all the TBAs in their database for a long time, so now they use a different approach: they randomly assign the names of all satellites of a launch to the observed objects and then wait for reactions from the users of the satellites to see if the assignments are correct.

This is how e.g. the Cubesats, that recently were launched from the ISS, got ‘identified’ only a few days after their launch. So of course now we find that some identifications are wrong.

Doppler measurements clearly show that the following IDs are correct:
Object 39568, 1998-067EM, is LitSat 1
Object 39569, 1998-067EN, is LituanicaSat 1.

I am trying to get these corrected.

In the past the policy was to assign the ‘A’ object to the main payload of a launch. Secundary payloads, like Cubesats, would then get ‘B’, ‘C’, etc. So if the main payload initially was linked to the wrong TLE set, this required some swapping of TLE sets some time after the launch. Now they have decided to prevent this confusion by simply leaving the main payload assigned to another object than ‘A’ if required. Therefore the GPM satellite now is assigned to 2014-009C and this will not change anymore.

Satellite TLE Lottery Begins https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/01/satellite-tle-lottery-begins/

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

Mar 8 2014

ISS HamTV Success

ISS HamTV screenshot by Stefan VE4NSA March 8, 2014

ISS HamTV screenshot by Stefan VE4NSA March 8, 2014

On Saturday, March 8 test transmissions were made on 2422.0 MHz using the HamTV equipment on the International Space Station (ISS).

BATC Webstream of ISS HamTV by Stefan VE4NSA March 8, 2014

BATC Webstream of ISS HamTV by Stefan VE4NSA March 8, 2014

The Digital TV signal was successfully received and web streamed to a global audience via the Britsh Amateur Television Club (BATC) server at http://batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=4 There were four live web streams each from different receivers.

The HamTV transmitter is the culmination of over ten years work by dedicated volunteers to establish an amateur radio TV transmitter on the ISS. It uses patch antennas fixed on the Meteorite Debris Panels (MDP) protecting the hull of the ISS Columbus module. These antennas were installed while the Columbus module was being constructed. A fund-raising campaign took place during 2005-7 to raise over 65,000 Euros for the antennas. Individual radio amateurs from around the world donated generously as did several organisations including AMSAT-UK and the RSGB.

The main mission of HamTV is to perform contacts between the astronauts on the ISS and school students, not only by voice as now, but also by unidirectional video from the ISS to the ground.

Watch HamTV Commissioning received from IK1SLD Telebridge Station Casale Monferrato, Italy

HamVideo is the name of the onboard DATV S-band transmitter. HamTV is the name of the complete system, comprising DATV downlink and VHF voice uplink. Kaiser Italia SRL was the prime-contractor for the design and development of the flight and ground segment http://www.kayser.it/index.php/exploration-2/ham-tv

Watch HAM TV commissioning, VLBI Control Room – ASI Matera, Italy – March 8, 2014

Read the HamTV overview by Gaston Bertels ON4WF http://tinyurl.com/HamTVoverview

Join the ISS HamTV Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HamTV

Webstream of the TV transmissions http://batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=4

ARISS-EU HamTV Bulletins http://www.ariss-eu.org/

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

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter