Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Oct 5 2012

ISS Amateur Radio CubeSats Deployed

Kibo Robot Arm CubeSat Deployment

Kibo Robot Arm CubeSat Deployment – Image Credit JAXA

On October 4, 2012 five CubeSats were successfully deployed from the International Space Station (ISS). The first pod containing RAIKO and WE-WISH was deployed at 1437 UT while the second pod containing FITSAT-1, F-1 and TechEdSat deployed at 1544 UT. Pictures can be seen at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10804

October 4 was also the 55th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite Sputnik 1. Videos of Sputnik are here.

Four of the CubeSats carry Amateur Radio payloads, they are TechEdSat, F-1, FITSAT-1, and WE-WISH. As of Oct 5, 1015 UT signals had been reported from WE-WISH and FITSAT-1 as well as weak signal reports for TechEdSat.

ISS CubeSat Frequency Chart – Image Credit Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

Continue reading →

Oct 4 2012

Euroluna Google Lunar X-Prize Quarterly Update

Euroluna

Original design of the Euroluna Romit3 Lunar Rover – Image courtesy of Andrew Collis/X-Prize Foundation

The President of Euroluna, Palle Haastrup OZ1HIA, provides an update on the progress of the Euroluna Google Lunar X-Prize team who are aiming to land a rover on the Moon.

Their first amateur radio spacecraft Romit-1 is a 2U CubeSat that will transmit on 437.505 MHz using 1200 bps AX.25 packet radio. It will be fitted with an Ion Motor and if everything goes well it should, after a year, be able to raise its orbit from 310 km to 700 km.

Continue reading →

Oct 4 2012

AMSAT-India Launch YouTube Channel

AMSAT-India have launched their own YouTube channel. Current videos include an update on the activities and future plans for Amateur Radio satellites from India and a presentation on telemetry decoding.

Continue reading →

Oct 3 2012

FUNcube Dongle Pro+ LF/MF/HF/VHF/UHF Software Defined Radio Video

FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Software Defined Radio

FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Software Defined Radio

The FUNcube Dongle Pro+ SDR is a complete redesign of the original FUNcube Dongle with many performance improvements and additional features.

It covers LF, MF, HF, VHF, UHF and L Band (coverage is 150kHz-240MHz and 420MHz to 1.9GHz), and has an increased frequency span of 192kHz.

Continue reading →

Oct 3 2012

Join AMSAT-UK

AMSAT-UK is a non-profit volunteer organisation for those interested in amateur radio space communications.

AMSAT-UK produces a quarterly newsletter OSCAR News and its members are involved in designing, building and operating amateur radio satellites.

Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in amateur radio satellites or space activities, including the International Space Station (ISS).

The Membership year lasts for 12 months starting on January 1 each year.

If you join after July 31 of any particular year, then you will receive complimentary membership for the whole of the following year, i.e. join on Oct 3, 2012, and you have nothing to pay until Dec 31, 2013.

Now is a very good time to join.

AMSAT-UK_FUNcube_Mission_PatchThere are two rates:
UK
Rest of the World (Overseas)

These separate rates go to offset the extra postage costs involved in mailing our quarterly publication, “Oscar News”, to different parts of the World. Sample copy at http://www.amsat-uk.org/on_193_final.pdf

Join AMSAT-UK using PayPal, Debit or Credit card at
http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html

Sep 30 2012

EQUiSat Optical Beacon CubeSat

EQUiSat – Image Credit Brown University

Students at the Ivy League Brown University are developing an amateur radio satellite EQUiSat.

It will carry a Xenon Flash Tube (XFT) subsystem to act as an Optical Beacon that should be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth. The Radio Beacon is planned to operate in the 435-438 MHz band.

Continue reading →