Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Aug 24 2022

AMSAT-EA satellites to launch

GENESIS-J and GENESIS-G satellites

GENESIS-J and GENESIS-G satellites

Felix EA4GQS reports Spain’s latest amateur radio satellites to launch will be GENESIS-G and GENESIS-J on September 11

The AMSAT Bulletin Board post says:

This is to confirm that the launch of our new GENESIS-G and GENESIS-J satellites with Firefly will take place, if all goes well, on September 11, with the launch window starting at 3 PM Pacific Time (22h GMT), from Vanderberg. The expected orbit altitude is 300 km with an inclination of 137 degrees.

As many of you know, this will be the second attempt of Firefly to reach orbit after the first attempt made in September 2021 and which had to be aborted after two minutes of flight, causing our previous GENESIS-N and GENESIS-L to be lost, among others.

These new GENESIS have a more powerful on-board computer than their predecessors and updated software that allows FM voice repeater functionality, AFSK/FSK non-regenerative repeater up to 2400 bps, FSK regenerative repeater up to 50 bps, CW, digitized voice pre-recorded FM and FSK telemetry at 50 bps. The correct retransmission of AX25 / APRS frames over FM up to 2400 bps has been verified in the laboratory.

A small drawback we still have is the antenna deployment mechanism, that is the first version that was made and requires a plenty charged battery. The satellites have been stored for several months, so it is a weak point. Hopefully it will work.

These satellites also have the names of ASTROLAND-1 and ASTROLAND-2 to say thanks to the sponsorship of the project by the Astroland Planetary Agency. We also thank the private companies and Universities that helped in the project.

As on the previous occasion, two experimental propellants are flown, although this time they are from the Madrid company IENAI Space and, unlike the previous GENESIS mission, they use a liquid ionic fuel. Only the one from GENESIS-J is functional. The one from GENESIS-G carries the electronics but without the fuel.

The frequencies coordinated with IARU are the following:

GENESIS-G/ASTROLAND-1
145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM2SAT callsign

GENESIS-J/ASTROLAND-2
145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with AM3SAT callsign

We encourage all of you to try to receive their first transmissions once the first keplerians are available.

This flight will be streamed by Everyday Astronaut: https://everydayastronaut.com/

More information on the Firefly website: https://firefly.com/alpha-flight-2-to-the-black/

73, Felix EA4GQS – AMSAT EA team

AMSAT Bulletin Board http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Aug 16 2022

BBC TV feature 8-year-old’s ISS amateur radio contact

Isabella Payne being interviewed by BBC TVs Josie Hannett

Isabella Payne being interviewed by BBC TVs Josie Hannett

On Tuesday, August 16, BBC TV’s Josie Hannett interviewed 8-year-old Isabella Payne about her amateur radio contact with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS on the International Space Station.

On August 2, Isabella, a member of Hilderstone Radio Society G0HRS, used her Dad’s amateur radio station M0LMK to make contact with Kjell who was using the ISS amateur station, callsign NA1SS.  Isabella has been involved in several amateur radio events and hopes to have her own amateur radio licence soon.

The BBC News item was broadcast in the show BBC South East Today at 1830 BST (1730 GMT) on Tuesday, August 16. It is available on the web fast forward to 15:25 into the show at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001b8bk/south-east-today-evening-news-16082022

BBC South East on Instagram: A dream come true for eight-year-old Isabella!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChU0oenDiD6/

You can read the BBC News item at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-62563215

Isabella was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday, August 16, at 1740 BST (1640 GMT) and BBC Radio Kent on August 17 at 0820 BST (0720 GMT).

CNN interview conducted Wednesday, August 17
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/17/uk/girl-iss-amateur-radio-scn-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

Press coverage of eight-year-old’s ISS ham radio contact
https://amsat-uk.org/2022/08/11/press-report-8-year-olds-iss-contact/

ISS astronaut’s favorite ham radio contact
https://amsat-uk.org/2022/08/03/iss-astronauts-favorite-ham-radio-contact/

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Free UK amateur radio Online Training course https://essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/

Aug 11 2022

Press coverage of eight-year-old’s ISS ham radio contact

Isabella's picture being viewed by Kjell on the ISS

Isabella’s picture being viewed by Kjell on the ISS

Kent’s Isle of Thanet News reports on the amateur radio contact between 8-year-old Isabella Payne and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS on the International Space Station.

In the Isle of Thanet News, Kathy Bailes, writes:

A Broadstairs eight-year-old has chatted with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station and a recording of the conversation will feature on the NASA website.

Isabella Payne spoke to Astronaut Kjell Lindgren as the ISS flew overhead last week.

The youngster was with dad Matthew [M0LMK] who is a license holding amateur radio enthusiast and tutor. He and Isabella are both members of Hilderstone Radio Society.

Matthew said: “Isabella has been a member of the radio club ever since she was born and has been playing with the radio since she was six. Because I have the full licence she can sit on my knee and use the radio to speak to people as long as I am controlling it. Everyone at the club can do that. She has been involved in a few radio events, Children On The Air events, and will hopefully go for her own licence soon.

Read full story by Kathy Bailes and listen to the recording on the Isle of Thanet News site at
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2022/08/10/broadstairs-eight-year-old-to-feature-on-nasa-website-after-radio-chat-with-iss-astronaut/
https://twitter.com/IsleThanetNews/status/1557404614076530688

Matthew M0LMK tweeted about the picture shown above:
“Isabella has been having an email exchange with the @NASA #ISS team, you know, as you do! She sent a photo for their publicity team and asked for it to be sent onto @astro_kjell. Here’s what she got in return…”
https://twitter.com/m0lmk/status/1556976125359919105

ISS astronaut’s favourite ham radio contact
https://amsat-uk.org/2022/08/03/iss-astronauts-favorite-ham-radio-contact/

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Free UK amateur radio Online Training course https://essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/

Aug 3 2022

ISS astronaut’s favorite ham radio contact

Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS

Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS, who is on the International Space Station, describes his amateur radio contact with 8-year-old Isabella from Kent, UK, as his favorite so far.

He tweeted:
I’ve had a lot of fun using the #ARISS amateur radio station #NA1SS on the @Space_Station to talk with ham radio operators all over the world. I’ve even (unofficially) worked stations on all continents! But this may be my favorite contact so far. Thanks Isabella and @m0lmk !
https://twitter.com/astro_kjell/status/1554592817024040960

Matt M0LMK had tweeted:
April 23, 2016. A 2 year old sat on my knee and watched the students of Wellesley House school chat with @astro_timpeake, an event I helped organise. Today she got her chance. Thank you so much @astro_kjell, you have changed her world. #iss #NASA #ARISS
https://twitter.com/m0lmk/status/1554561621640585224

A recording of the contact is at
https://www.m0lmk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Isabella_ISS_Contact_02-08-22.mp3

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

Aug 2 2022

QSL cards and award for receiving SWSU satellites

CubeSat released from the ISS

CubeSat released from the ISS

On July 21 ten amateur radio CubeSats built by students at the Southwestern State University were deployed from the ISS. QSL cards and a diploma are available for receiving the SSTV, APRS and Voice messages

On his website Dmitry Pashkov R4UAB reports:

Small spacecraft (ICA), created on the YUZGU-55 platform, have been operating in real space flight for more than ten days. The cyclogram of work includes the transmission of voice messages, telemetry, call sign and SSTV images.

In view of the great interest in the space experiment “Radioskaf”, which is aimed at popularizing space research, Southwestern State University will be happy to send a QSL card to all radio amateurs who have successfully conducted a communication session with satellites.

To receive a QSL card, you need to send information: call sign, location, session date and time, carrier frequency, modulation type (APRS, FM-Voice, Robot36) and the result of a successful session (audio sample, telemetry text and image). The data is sent in the form of Applications for QSL. In the return letter you will receive the address where you need to send the card.

To obtain a diploma, you need to take 10 different SSTV images and voice messages, as well as decode 10 APRS telemetry messages (AFSK 1142 baud format) from any of the satellites, and apply for a Diploma

Satellite frequencies:

437.0000 MHz — SWSU-55 #8 — RS6S
437.0125 MHz — KETs#2 — RS12S
437.0250 MHz — KETs#1 — RS9S
437.0500 MHz — SWSU-55 #1 & R-390 #1 — RS10S
437.0750 MHz — SWSU-55 #2 — RS11S
437.0750 MHz — SWSU-55 #3 — RS1S
437.0870 MHz — SWSU-55 #4 — RS2S
437.0870 MHz — SWSU-55 #6 — RS4S
437.1000 MHz — SWSU-55 #5 — RS3S
437.1125 MHz — SWSU-55 #7 & R-390 #2 — RS5S

Source R4UAB
https://r4uab.ru/2022/08/02/diplomnaya-programma-mka-yuzgu-55/
https://twitter.com/R4UAB

Nader Omer ST2NH describes how to receive the satellites at
https://twitter.com/st2nh/status/1554223850329718785

Ten amateur radio CubeSats deployed from ISS
https://amsat-uk.org/2022/07/21/ten-amateur-radio-cubesats-deployed-from-iss/

Jul 30 2022

EU WRC23 agenda items consultation and RNSS/23cm band study

The Chair of IARU Region 1 Spectrum and Regulatory Liaison Committee, Barry Lewis G4SJH, reports on the response to the EU WRC-23 consultation and the CEPT RNSS/23cm band study.

On the IARU-R1 site he writes:

In a collaboration between the IARU-R1 Spectrum and Regulatory Liaison Committee (SRLC) and the Political Relations Committee (PRC) an IARU Region 1 response has been provided to the European Union consultation on the WRC23 agenda items.

All the agenda items of interest to the IARU are covered with particular attention paid to the AI9.1b issue on the GALILEO / 23cm band amateur service coexistence. This is an important messaging activity and the IARU response again underlines the IARU view that with only two cases of interference recorded globally, the potential for interference is being over-stated and that any regulatory solutions should be proportionate, realistic and appropriate and should not hinder the future development of amateur services. The IARU would be pleased if member societies could share these same views with their national regulators.

The full IARU R1 response can be found at
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Response-to-EU-WRC23-Consultation_submitted.pdf

The PRC/SRLC is also developing a response to the European Commission Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) on the same topics.

Secondly the CEPT project team SE40 that is carrying out the CEPT studies on the RNSS/23cm band topic met during the week 25 – 28th July 2022. The IARU provided a contribution and participated in the meeting supported by USKA. Good progress was made but further work continues to be required to finalise the conclusions from the studies. The IARU continues to be concerned about the lack of consideration being given to the low probability of interference and more work is needed on this aspect. A summary report can be found at
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IARU-Report_SE40_77.pdf

Source IARU Region 1 https://iaru-r1.org/