Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Nov 16 2013

ISS CubeSats Deploy Tuesday and Wednesday

Pico Dragon CubeSat - Image credit VNSC

Pico Dragon CubeSat – Image credit VNSC

Four CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). Three of them, Pico Dragon, ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-2 will be deployed on Tuesday, November 19, and the fourth Cubesat, TechEdSat-3p, will be deployed Wednesday.

The CubeSats:
• Pico Dragon developed by the Việt Nam National Satellite Center (VNSC), University of Tokyo and IHI aerospace. 437.250 MHz CW beacon and 437.365 MHz 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 telemetry.
• ArduSat-1 developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.000 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
• ArduSat-X developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.345 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink .
• TechEdSat-3 developed by interns at the NASA Ames Research Center. 437.465 MHz 1200 bps packet radio beacon transmitting 1 watt to 1/4 wave monopole. It plans to test an Iridium Satphone modem and has a deployment mechanism to de-orbit in 10 days.

They are 1U in size (10*10*10 cm) except for TechEdSat-3 which is 3U (30*10*10 cm).

As well as the ISS deployment next week also sees two mass launches of satellites on Minotaur-1 and Dnepr rockets. In total 37 satellites carrying amateur radio payloads are expected to be deployed next week. The frequencies of these satellites can be seen at
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

NASA http://www.nasa.gov/content/expedition-38-wraps-up-first-week-on-station/

Australian Foundation licensee Jonathan Oxer VK3FADO talks about the ArduSat satellites that he helped develop in this video
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/09/15/eevblog-ardusat-arduino-cubesat/

Nov 15 2013

Brazilian APRS Balloon Launches Sunday

PV8AA_placa_gpsThe Liga de Amadores Brasileiros De Rádio Emissão will launch an APRS balloon PV8AA-11 on Sunday, November 17 at 1000 UT. It is expected to reach at altitude of 23 km and will transmit on 144.300 MHz CW and 145.570 MHz packet.

Radiosonde PV8AA – 11
PWR : 500mW
Antenna 1/4 wave .
Battery: Lithium Polymer 7.2V x 1.7 – Test duration : 11h
QRG Coordinates: 144.300 MHz CW Telemetry : 145.570 MHz Packet

Elevation data , internal and external temperature , battery voltage , number of transmission and satellite – GPS .
Balloon : 1m30cm/350gramas . Holds average of 3 cubic meters of Gas
Experiment : 315 grams + parachute rope : 75gramas
Maximum anticipated altitude : 23 km, rate of climb and descent : 5-6 m / s approx .

Local Release : 2 ° 50 45N 60 ° 41 56 W – Facilities EMA – BV .

Monitoring by SITE http://www.aprs.fi/ PV8AA – 11

Listener Report please send to : pv8aa at hotmail.com or pv8dx at arrl.net

Nov 15 2013

KySat-2: Calling all radio hams and space enthusiasts!

Archive image of KySat-1

Archive image of KySat-1

The KySat-2 CubeSat is scheduled for launch as part of the ORS-3/ELaNa-4 mission on November 20 at 00:30 UT.

To help track KySat-2, we have setup a web page to assist radio amateurs. To help decode packets from KySat-2, we have developed software radio amateurs can download and install.  Both are available here: http://ssl.engineering.uky.edu/amateur-radio-operators/

Initially, the software will support receive-only operation, but after spacecraft checkout, it is intended that the software will also support limited commanding.

We have also created an Advanced Satellite Orbit Tracking Tool to visualize KySat-2’s orbit in real-time: http://k2asot.engr.uky.edu/

For more information on general information on KySat-2, visit: http://kysat2.engr.uky.edu/ and http://kentuckyspace.com/

We appreciate any and all support!

Jason Rexroat KK4AJE
Space Systems Lab, University of Kentucky
Email: jason.rexroat at uky.edu

KySat-2 and other CubeSats launch November 20
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/12/kysat-2-in-november-cubesat-launch/

Frequency list for the three November amateur radio satellite deployments
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

Nov 15 2013

FUNcube-1 Dashboard – New Version

FUNcube-1 last test dashboard frame

FUNcube-1 last test dashboard frame

Many thanks for the feedback received so far!

A couple of issues have come to light and have been corrected in this latest version.

Fixes:
#181 Folder selection doesn’t
#175 Recognise dongles after start-up
#180 Autotune needs a nudge

To download this latest version of the FUNcube Dashboard and the supporting documentation go to

http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/

which is being kept right up-to-date.

Nov 15 2013

Happy 39th Birthday AO-7 !

OSCAR 7 in Space

OSCAR 7 in Space

On the AMSAT bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) Paul Stoetzer, N8HM reminds us that November 15 is the 39th birthday of the AMSAT-OSCAR-7 (AO-7) satellite which incredibly is still operational after so many years in space. A tribute to the engineering abilities of radio amateurs.

OSCAR 7 amateur radio satelliteHappy Birthday to AO-7! Launched on 11/15/1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Continued congratulations to all those involved in the design, building, launch, and operations of this satellite. It’s an amazing achievement that, other than the batteries, most of the circuitry continues to function normally 39 years after launch. Here’s to
hopefully many more years of service to the amateur community!

For more information about the lead-up to and the launch of AO-7, as well as the first years of operation, see the 1974-1981 AMSAT
Newsletters on KA9Q’s website:

http://www.ka9q.net/AMSAT-Newsletter-1974.pdf

http://www.ka9q.net/newsletters.html

N4HY has a wonderful gallery of photos from the construction and launch of AO-7 on his Smugmug page:

http://n4hy.smugmug.com/AMSAT/AMSAT-Oscar-7

73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Washington, DC (FM18)

Pat Gowen G3IOR in radio shack circa 1975

Pat Gowen G3IOR in radio shack circa 1975

The amateur radio satellite AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched by a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on November 15, 1974 and provided many years of service until it went silent from battery failure in mid 1981.

For 21 years nothing more was heard until June 21, 2002 when Pat Gowen G3IOR came across a beacon sending slow 8 -10 wpm CW on 145.973.8 MHz. It sounded like old OSCAR satellite telemetry, it had the familiar HI HI followed by a string of numbers in groups of three. After monitoring by many radio amateurs it turned out to be OSCAR-7, and it seemed to have come back from the dead.

Pat’s email to the AMSAT Bulletin Board announcing his discovery can be seen at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/200206/msg00525.html

It is believed that in 1981 the batteries failed short-circuit, however, in 2002 they became open-circuit enabling the satellite to run again from the solar panels. Since that day OSCAR 7 has been operational when in sunlight and provided radio amateurs with many long distance (DX) SSB/CW contacts.

Remember when working OSCAR 7 use the least uplink power possible to minimize your downlink power usage, and maximize the number of simultaneous contacts supported in the passband.

A BBC News report Radio ham finds lost satellite about the reception of OSCAR 7 by Dave Rowan G4CUO can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2149381.stm

Video of 2E0HTS Working the OSCAR-7 Satellite https://amsat-uk.org/2012/01/26/2e0hts-working-the-oscar-7-satellite/

OSCAR-7 http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1031

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

Nov 14 2013

Czech Statocaching APRS ham radio balloon

Dropion Releasing Stratocache Radio SeedsStratocaching which launches Saturday, November 16 at 0800 UT (144.800 MHz FM APRS) aims to combine amateur radio stratospheric balloons with the popular pastime of Geocaching.

We would like to announce our first experimental flight STRATOCACHING as a result of  cooperation between Žádná věda association and Stsproject.net.
Launch Date: November 16, 2013
Launch Time: 8:00 UTC
Launch Location: Czech Hydrometeorological Institute Prague, Czech Republic
Stratocaching is a unique idea combining launch of a stratospheric balloon with a geocaching game. The Czech association Žádná věda (meaning Not a Rocket Science) with a cooperation of Stsproject.net is going to launch a special ballon set with a gondola called Dropion that includes 12 flying modules with GPS trackers called Stratocache. The modules (an imitation of maple seed design) will be released in the stratosphere and after they fall somewhere in the Czech republic (hopefully!), a geocaching hunt for Stratocaches will be started. The project has attracted many fans (there are 60.000 active geocachers in the Czech Republic) – and currently 11.000 „stratocachers“ registered for this  game.
Specifications:
·         Balloon Hwoyee: 3000g filled with helium
·         Total weight of payload: 3000g
·         Chute: Sperachute 72“
·         Estimated Ascent/ descent: 5-6 m/s up, 4 m/s down
·         Dropion: 1800g, made of styrodur, design inspired by nature (the name originally come from „drop- onion“)
·         Stratocache: 93 g, 40cm long, falls down rotating as a maple pod (2,5 m/s), with a GPS tracker Meitrack MT90 (replaced battery pack – Energizer Lithium)
·         Radioseed: 2 of the 12 „maple seeds“ bear a different tracking technology: RTTY+CW tracker
·         Electronic systems: APRS tracker, RTTY+CW tracker, Arduino computer, pyrotechnic system for releasing Stratocaches and balloon cutoff, IP video stream module (IP camera Axis M2014, PoE injector router Microtic), video recording module (GoPro Hero 3)
·         Altitude: the launch of Stratocaches and the balloon trajectory will be limited by a flight plan programmed in Arduino computer based on the wheather conditions (maximal altitude 30.000). The aim is to end the flight within the borders of the Czech Republic
Trackers onboard:
DROPION:
Callsign: OK1OMX – UKHAS RTTY 300Bd, 7N2, 450 Hz shift, freq 437.650 MHz, SSB/USB

OK1OMX-11 – APRS, freq 144.8 MHz

RADIOSEEDS:
Seed1 – UKHAS RTTY 300Bd, 7N2, 450 Hz shift, freq 437.670 MHz, SSB/USB
Seed2 – UKHAS RTTY 300Bd, 7N2, 450 Hz shift, freq 437.690 MHz, SSB/USB
All the trackers are using CW ID with HAM callsign  in between rtty sentences. Seed1 and Seed2 trackers will transmit in CW altitude and locator also.
Best regards,
Ivan Sobička