Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Mar 2 2014

Free Online Course — Space Systems Engineering 101

Earthrise viewed from lunar orbit prior to landing - Image Credit NASA

Space Systems Engineering 101, a new massive open online course from NASA and the Saylor Foundation, launches on March 3, 2014. The six-week general-audience course is free to the public and provides a unique opportunity to learn from and alongside NASA’s engineers. Students who participate can earn a free certificate.

The course will feature lectures from NASA scientists and engineers and Google Plus Hangouts with NASA personnel. Winners of an optional project competition will receive a chance to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

For more information and to register for the course, visit
http://www.saylor.org/2014/02/blog-announcement-space-systems-engineering-course-starts-march-3rd/

Questions about this opportunity should be directed to
http://www.saylor.org/feedback/

Source: ANS

Mar 1 2014

Satellite TLE Lottery Begins

Deployment of Amateur Radio CubeSats from ISS 2014-02-28-0730

Deployment of Amateur Radio CubeSats from ISS 2014-02-28-0730

The last two days in February saw satellite deployments from the JAXA H-IIA F23 mission and the ISS which between them released 12 satellites carrying amateur radio payloads along with a number of commercial and research satellites.

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch February 27, 2014 at 1837 UT Credit NASA/Bill Ingalls

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch February 27, 2014 at 1837 UT Credit NASA/Bill Ingalls

After a launch the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) issue the Keplerian Two Line Element Set which can be used to determine the position and velocity of the associated satellite. CelesTrak make this information available and the file for launches in the past 30 days is available here.

After a new launch this file will list the ID’s of the objects that NORAD have detected. These objects can be parts of the rocket body as well as the satellites. The challenge in the days after launch is to work out which object ID’s correspond to which satellites.

In 2012 Mike Rupprecht DK3WN developed a simple solution to this perennial problem by using an SDR-IQ receiver and a bit of software.

In the case of Masat-1 he chose a high elevation pass (89 deg) where the Doppler shift should be significant and recorded the complete pass with his SDR-IQ without Doppler correction. With some software he simulated the entire pass with different TLE’s.

He then chose the TLE that best matched the doppler shift of the audio signal.

Read Mike’s full article with pictures on his website at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=26038

TLEsKeplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs or ‘Keps’):
• New satellites launched in past 30 days http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
• CubeSats http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt
• Experimental satellites http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/x-comm.txt
• Engineering satellites http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/engineering.txt
• Amateur radio satellites http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/keps/current/nasa.all

NORAD Two-Line Element Set Format http://celestrak.com/NORAD/documentation/tle-fmt.asp

Free satellite tracking software https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Adding new satellites to SatPC32 and Gpredict https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/23/adding-new-satellites-to-satpc32/

ISS CubeSats deployment https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/20/iss-cubesat-deployments-to-resume-february-25/

JAXA H-IIA F23 launch https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/23/launch-of-japanese-amateur-radio-satellites/

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch Frequency Chart by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch Frequency Chart by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

Feb 28 2014

M6CME to give Keynote Presentation at IWD STEM Conference

It's ONLY Rocket Science Cover - Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME

It’s ONLY Rocket Science Cover – Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME

Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME, author of It’s ONLY Rocket Science, will be giving the keynote presentation at the International Women’s Day (IWD) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) conference in Chester.

The evening event, which is free of charge, takes place at the University of Chester Riverside Innovation Centre (RIC) seminar room on Friday, March 7 at 6pm.

Lucy M6CME is a Fellow of both the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Royal Astronomical Society. Her book “It’s ONLY Rocket Science” is widely respected in both the space industry and in education.

Download the event leaflet

Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME http://www.lucyrogers.com/

International Women’s Day March 8 http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

STEMettes http://stemettes.org/

Feb 28 2014

Free UK CubeSat Workshop

Dr Chris Bridges M6OBC and STRaND-1

Dr Chris Bridges M6OBC and STRaND-1

The UK CubeSat Workshop, planned for Tuesday, May 13, 2014, will include presentations on the amateur radio satellites FUNcube-1 and UKube-1.

The free workshop will take place at the Satellite Applications Catapult, Electron Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell OX11 0QR.

Twenty eight Flock1 CubeSats from Planet Labs Inc. were successfully deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) in February. Planet Labs UK Manager Matt Waldram will give a presentation FLOCK 1: Commercialising CubeSat Applications.

Graham Shirville G3VZV will be giving a presentation on FUNcube-1 titled CubeSats as Educational Tools and there will be a live FUNcube-1 contact using the SatCatapult VHF/UHF Groundstation.

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receiving the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards for UKube-1

Chris Bridges M6OBC will cover the Recommendations & Progression from the 2013 UK CubeSat Workshop while Steve Greenland will talk about the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1. This is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2014 and carries a 435/145 MHz linear transponder.

The workshop will also feature a tour of the SatCatapult Mission Operations Centre and Groundstation.

Don’t miss out on this premier CubeSat event, register at http://www.cubesatforum.org.uk/wordpress/2014-uk-cubesat-workshop/

uk-space-agency-logo-rgb-121v2.ashxIf you are interested in PocketQubes, CubeSats or Nanosats make sure you register on the UK CubeSat Forum. Note: you don’t have to be based in the UK to register. http://www.cubesatforum.org.uk/

UK CubeSat Forum established https://amsat-uk.org/2013/12/19/announcing-the-uk-cubesat-forum/

Satellite Applications Catapult https://sa.catapult.org.uk/

Feb 28 2014

ISS Amateur Radio CubeSats Deployed

SDR image of the LituanicaSAT-1 beacon taken by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

SDR image of the LituanicaSAT-1 beacon taken by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

On Friday, February 28, 2014 at 0730 UT astronaut Koichi Wakata KC5ZTA deployed a batch of amateur radio CubeSats from the International Space Station (ISS).

Deployment of Amateur Radio CubeSats from ISS 2014-02-28-0730

Deployment of Amateur Radio CubeSats from ISS 2014-02-28-0730

LituanicaSAT-1, LitSat-1, ArduSat-2 (2U), UAPSAT and the 915 MHz SkyCube were successfully ejected from a NanoRacks deployment pod.

At 0855 UT Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD received the LituanicaSAT-1 beacon. and received LitSat-1 at 1030 UT.

At 1022 UT Mike Rupprecht DK3WN received LitSat-1. Mike had heard UAPSAT at 0845 UT.

There is another amateur radio Cubesat still on the ISS, the Peruvian Chasqui-1 which was launched to the space station on February 5, 2014. It is understood that Chasqui 1 is scheduled to be hand-deployed during a future Russian Extravehicular Activity (EVA).

Frequency information at https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/20/iss-cubesat-deployments-to-resume-february-25/

UB4UAD website in Google English http://tinyurl.com/UB4UAD

DK3WN satellite blog http://www.dk3wn.info/p/

SDR image of the LitSat-1 beacon taken by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

SDR image of the LitSat-1 beacon taken by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

Feb 27 2014

Successful launch of Japanese satellites

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch February 27, 2014 at1837 UT Credit NASA/Bill Ingalls

JAXA H-IIA F23 Launch February 27, 2014 at1837 UT Credit NASA/Bill Ingalls

On Thursday, February 27 at 1837 UT a cluster of Japanese amateur radio satellites were launched from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center.

At 1948 UT Francisco Jimenez-Martin Sanchez EA1JM received the 437.325 CW (A1A) beacon from the ARTSAT1:INVADER CubeSat.

Also on the first pass at 1952 UT Jan van Gils PE0SAT received
OPUSat
STARS-II (comprises Mother and Daughter satellites)
TelkyoSat-3
ShindaiSat-1
ARTSat1:INVADER

The student team that developed the ITF-1 CubeSat would appreciate any reports of their satellite on 437.525 MHz FM Morse code, see
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/26/itf-1-cubesat-team-request-reports/

Frequencies and further information on these satellites is at
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/23/launch-of-japanese-amateur-radio-satellites/

DK3WN satellite blog http://www.dk3wn.info/p/