Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Apr 5 2021

Contests on QO-100 allowed in time for Yuri Gagarin contest

AMSAT QO-100 NB Transponder BandplanOn April 4, AMSAT-DL announced the opening of the QO-100 NB satellite transponder to general contest operation in the upper mixed-mode range. This weekend (April 10-11) will see the Yuri Gagarin contest.

The contest area on the QO-100 geostationary satellite NB transponder for both CW and SSB is:

Uplink area 2400.370 – 2400.490 MHz
Downlink area 10489.870 – 10489.990 MHz

Of course, the usual QO-100 NB transponder guidelines also apply here. Therefore, the bandwidth should still be limited to 2.7 kHz and the transmitting power should be reduced to the necessary level, i.e. only as much power as necessary should be used.

Read the AMSAT-DL announcement at https://amsat-dl.org/en/contests-on-qo-100-allowed/

The Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest 2021 is dedicated to the memory of Yuri Gagarin, who realized the first human flight to space, on April 12, 1961.

It runs from 2100 GMT on April 10 until 2100 GMT on April 11, 2021, and the categories include:
• SAT Single operator – Satellite QSOs
• SAT-GS Single operator – Geostationary Satellite QSOs

Contest rules are at http://gc.qst.ru/en/section/32

Mar 27 2021

More than a million UVQSat telemetry frames received

AMSAT-Francophone Logo

AMSAT-F have issued an update on the UVQSat CubeSat, they plan to conduct further test on the FM transponder.

In a post to the AMSAT Bulletin Board the AMSAT-F President Christophe Mercier says:

More than 1,200,000 frames have been received on the AMSAT-F experimental database this week https://amsat.electrolab.fr/

It is possible to visualize the data via an online Dashboard:
https://amsat.electrolab.fr/grafana/d/ujwd-SaMz/uvsqsat?orgId=1

These data were collected by more than 50 stations in the world via the UVSQsat decoder software. The software allows to send the data to the AMSAT-F and Satnogs databases. The continuous reception of telemetry is valuable to the project team that is piloting the satellite.

Although the downloading of large amounts of data is done over Europe, this also took place over Japan with the help of Japanese radio amateurs.

It is noted that a new version of the UVSQSAT Decoder software is available with new features (new ASCII telemetry decoded, performance improvement,..)

The commissioning phase has been successfully completed. Now the UVSQsat project team with Radioclub F6KRK and AMSAT-Francophone will conduct further tests on the transponder to ensure that it can be operated over a period of several days without taking any risk to the satellite.

For this we are looking for volunteer radio amateurs to participate in these tests on all continents. If you are interested contact AMSAT-Francophone, email amsatf<at>amsat-f.org

73
Christophe Mercier
AMSAT-F president
https://amsat-f.org/

    Mar 22 2021

    Soyuz‑2.1a launch – Amateur radio satellites deployed

    Soyuz 2.1a Launch March 22, 2021 - Credit GK Launch Services

    Soyuz 2.1a Launch March 22, 2021 – Credit GK Launch Services

    The Soyuz‑2.1a LV was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on March 22, 2021. The following satellites, operating in frequency bands allocated to the amateur satellite service have been coordinated by the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel:

    • Beesat‑5
    • Beesat‑6
    • Beesat‑7
    • Beesat‑8
    • FEES
    • SMOG
    • GRBAlpha
    • KSU_Cubesat
    • DIY‑1
    • STECCO
    • CubeSX-HSE
    • CubeSX-Sirius-HSE
    • Orbicraft-Zorkiy
    • NanoSatC-BR2

    Operating in frequency bands allocated to the amateur satellite service without IARU frequency coordination is KMSL. Additional satellites may follow.

    Operating in frequency bands allocated to the amateur satellite service while the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel has declined coordination are UNISAT‑7 and WildTrackCube-Simba.

    Further information including the IARU coordinated frequencies at http://amsat.org.uk/iaru/

    Mar 12 2021

    Amateur radio satellites deploy March 14

    BIRDS-4 Satellite DeploymentEight satellites, all coordinated by the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel, are planned to be deployed from the International Space Station on Sunday, March 14.

    ISS CubeSat deployment on March 14, 2021 - image by astronaut Soichi Noguchi KD5TVP

    ISS CubeSat deployment on March 14, 2021 – image by astronaut Soichi Noguchi KD5TVP

    The deployment should be streamed live on YouTube, watch from 09:15 GMT [UPDATE deployment now expected after 10:30 GMT]
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLltILh8SLw

    The CubeSats being deployed are:
    • OPUSAT-II
    • GuaraniSat‑1 (BIRDS‑4)
    • Maya‑2 (BIRDS‑4)
    • Tsuru (BIRDS‑4)
    • RSP-01
    • WARP-01
    • TAUSAT‑1
    • STARS-EC

    It is understood the BIRDS-4 satellites are carrying digipeaters and TAUSAT‑1 has an FM transponder. Further information including the IARU coordinated frequencies are at http://amsat.org.uk/iaru/

     

    Mar 7 2021

    First contact via UVSQ-Sat FM transponder

    Michel Mahé F4DEY at the LATMOS Ground Station - Credit UVSQ-Sat

    Michel Mahé F4DEY at the LATMOS Ground Station – Credit UVSQ-Sat

    On Friday, March 5, 2021, the first contact was made via the FM transponder on the UVSQ-Sat CubeSat.

    Michel Mahé F4DEY of the F6KRK Radio Club carried out the transponder test from the LATMOS ground station. The first contact was with Peter Goodhall 2M0SQL in Elgin.

    After the contact Michel tweeted “Very happy to have been able to operate the Latmos station and do #F6KRKR/P validate the transponder #UVSQSat “on #space” after validation of the satellite at the Lab of #Latmos in October 2020!”

    Peter tweeted “Fantastic to be QSO #1 on UVSQ-SATs FM transponder wish the @uvsqsat good luck in their commissioning and it being available more often :)”

    UVSQ-Sat
    http://uvsq-sat.projet.latmos.ipsl.fr/?ong=Ham-Radio
    https://twitter.com/uvsqsat

    Michel Mahé F4DEY https://twitter.com/F4DEY_78

    Peter Goodhall 2M0SQL
    https://www.2m0sql.com/
    https://twitter.com/2m0sql

    Feb 23 2021

    23cm band in the spotlight with regulators

    RNSS - Credit IARU Region 1

    RNSS – Credit IARU Region 1

    The Chair of IARU Region 1 Spectrum Affairs, Barry Lewis G4SJH, reports on the meeting of the ITU‑R Working Party 4C (WP4C) on February 15-19 which discussed the amateur radio allocation at 1240-1300 MHz.

    On the IARU Region 1 site he writes:

    During the week February 15–19, the preparatory work for WRC-23 agenda item 9.1b continued in ITU‑R Working Party 4C (WP4C). The WRC agenda item has initiated technical studies on coexistence between the radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) and the amateur services in the 23cm band. As usual, the IARU participated in the meeting and delivered key information on amateur activities in this important microwave band. This information is vital to ensure the amateur services are realistically represented in the studies as they move forward.

    It remains vital that national amateur communities present their views on the importance of this band to their national regulators in a consolidated and consistent manner.

    To assist with this the IARU-R1 is developing supporting material that member societies can refer to when addressing the topic with their national regulator.

    The work on this topic will continue throughout the year and beyond both in ITU‑R and in the regional telecommunications organisations and the IARU is committed to ensure every organisation understands the amateur position on this important microwave band.

    Source IARU-R1 https://www.iaru-r1.org/2021/23cm-band-in-the-spotlight-with-regulators/

    The ITU‑R WP4C Summary Meeting Report notes “The only administration that can be considered supportive towards proper treatment of the Amateur Services in this work is Germany”, read the report at https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Report-from-WP4C_Feb-2021.docx