Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Mar 29 2012

Around the World 28 MHz Balloon Launched

A long duration balloon mission that is using 6 Party Balloons to carry a 50 gram amateur radio 28.223 MHz CW beacon is hoping to go around the world.

The ballon was released at 2330 UT (1930 EDT) March 29, from Annapolis in Maryland and started its journey heading SE at 6 knots. By 0300 UT, March 30, it had reached a speed of 60 MPH (96 km/h).

It has no APRS, just the 28.223 MHz 100 milliwatt CW telemetry system and it is hoped to locate it by signal strength and beam headings only.

The mission is to give an insight into constant-pressure balloons and especially the use of common mylar party balloons as a fixed volume envelope. Unfortunately, these balloons have a high mass and so the theoretical maximum altitude no matter how many balloons are used is only about 26,000 feet and that is with no payload other than the fixed balloon mass.

The payload weighs about 50 grams. The team are targeting 6 party balloons 3′ in diameter which should give a float altitude around 16,000 feet.

The Telemetry will be in CW on 28.223 MHz (USB DIAL) and will contain Battery voltage, inside and outside temperatures, and surface luminosity of the ocean/clouds. It has no GPS. The team will rely entirely on DF bearings and signal reports.

EMAIL DF reports to W3ADO@homeside.to Be sure to include:
Your LAT/LONG
Time of observation
Quality of heading (subjective 1 to 10)
The CW string copied

If you have APRS you can uplink your beam heading via APRS.

Since the balloon is only flying at 16,000 feet or so it will be vulnerable to weather. The battery is expected to have a lifetime of about 10 days.

Further information including details of CW telemetry at http://aprs.org/balloons.html

Mar 28 2012

ESA – CubeSats satellite operations update

Members of XaTcobeo team at ground station

Members of the XaTcobeo CubeSat team at the ground station

ESA have issued an update on the amateur radio CubeSats that were launched on February 13.

Since the launch ESA’s Education Office has maintained frequent contacts with the student teams to follow the progress of their satellite operations.

For each team, this is the first hands-on experience of operating an orbiting satellite, and some of them have had to deal with some challenging difficulties.

Read the ESA report at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEM2KRGY50H_0.html

Mar 28 2012

Student CubeSats BEESAT-2 and BEESAT-3

BEESAT-1 Engineering Qualification Model

BEESAT-1 Engineering Qualification Model

Two CubeSats, built by students at the Technical University of Berlin, are expected to launch in the 4th quarter of 2012 from Baikonour into a 575km circular 65 degree orbit.

BEESAT-2 is a 1U cubesat project intended to test a reaction wheel and an Attitude Determination and Control (ADC) system. Will also carry an experimental camera.

BEESAT-3 is a 1U cubesat project intended to test a transmitter using commercial S Band frequencies outside the amateur satellite service.

Up- and downlink of both of these CubeSats is established by half-duplex GMSK modulated narrow-band radio at 436.000 MHz. The standard data rate is 4800 bps but can be switched to 9800 bps for increased channel capacity at higher elevations. Each transmission at the higher data rate is announced by a small 4800 bps header to allow for adaptive receiver re-configuration. The modem device used is the CML CMX909b.

For more information see http://tinyurl.com/TUB-BEESAT

IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination pages hosted by AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

Mar 28 2012

HumSAT-D CubeSat

HumSAT Mission Concept

HumSAT Mission Concept

HumSAT-D is a 1U CubeSat mission developed by the University of Vigo. It is planning to use MSK telemetry and a CW beacon on UHF. The main mission is educational: to provide a hands-on experience to the students in the complete process of developing a space mission.

The other goal is to demonstrate the validity of the concept of HumSAT. A new subsystem to collect data from sensors located on the ground, store on-board and transmit it to ground stations will be developed and validated in orbit.

Universities and amateurs are invited to develop their own sensors compatible with HumSAT.

HumSAT-D is planning a launch from Russia into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at 700km.

HumSAT System

The main purpose of the HumSAT system is the development of a satellite-based system for connecting a set of users with a network of worldwide distributed sensors which they have previously deployed.

Sensors will be responsible for acquiring user data and for transmitting it to the satellites through an standard radio interface (SSI interface, definition of this interface is published here). Users will be able to define their own sensors, for monitoring different types of parameters; for example, water temperature or wind speed.

For retrieving data from the satellites, the GENSO network of ground stations will be one of the core components of the data distribution system. Several universities from different ESA member states, Japan and USA are coperating in this project, whose second release (R2) is expected to provide the functionalities that the HumSAT system will require. For more information about the GENSO project, please visit the www.genso.org website.

Once data has been transported by HumSAT satellites, authorized users will be able to access it through an Internet connection. Several security restrictions shall be applied for guaranteeing a correct access to the data gathered.

HumSAT http://www.humsat.org/

HumSAT: example for international cooperation in small satellite missions
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/bst/ISU-SSP2011/Small-Sats-_v1-Graz-26-07-2011-ISU.pdf

IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination pages hosted by AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

Mar 28 2012

Next ISS School contact -St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Australia

Space station
Space station

 

03 April at 08:15 UTC

St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Canberra, Australia – Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX

Telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia will call NA1SS at approximately 08:15 UTC.

 

St Anthony’s School is located in the suburb of Wanniassa, which is part of the central region of the Tuggeranong Valley in the Australian Capital Territory. Currently the school has an enrolment of 528 students with generally three classes in each of 7 Year levels from Kindergarten (the first year of primary school in the ACT) to Year 6. Our average class size is 1 teacher to 26 students. We have a strong Integrated Unit of Inquiry programs that primarily focus on authentic experiences that the ARISS program would facilitate.

 

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What is the most interesting thing you have ever seen out of the Space Station window?
2. What do you love most about outer space and miss about home?
3. What are the challenges you face in zero gravity?
4. If someone is injured, what do you do?
5. What is your job in outer space?
6. Is there enough light in space or do you need to use special glasses?
7. I live really close to Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station. Is Tidbinbilla involved with this mission?
8. How long can you stay in space before it effects your health?
9. I know you can see the Great Wall of China, but can you see any other interesting landmarks on Earth?
10. What do you do in space to entertain yourself?

As always, the ISS will be audible to anyone listening in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.

*Note* – for telebridge contacts, the ground station will NOT be near the school that is contacting the ISS.

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS will be turned off prior to the beginning of the contact. It will be returned to service as quickly as possible.

 ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries. ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters’ interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS programme is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada). Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Mar 28 2012

Next ISS School contact -St Anthony's Parish Primary School, Australia

Space station
Space station

 

03 April at 08:15 UTC

St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Canberra, Australia – Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX

Telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia will call NA1SS at approximately 08:15 UTC.

 

St Anthony’s School is located in the suburb of Wanniassa, which is part of the central region of the Tuggeranong Valley in the Australian Capital Territory. Currently the school has an enrolment of 528 students with generally three classes in each of 7 Year levels from Kindergarten (the first year of primary school in the ACT) to Year 6. Our average class size is 1 teacher to 26 students. We have a strong Integrated Unit of Inquiry programs that primarily focus on authentic experiences that the ARISS program would facilitate.

 

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What is the most interesting thing you have ever seen out of the Space Station window?
2. What do you love most about outer space and miss about home?
3. What are the challenges you face in zero gravity?
4. If someone is injured, what do you do?
5. What is your job in outer space?
6. Is there enough light in space or do you need to use special glasses?
7. I live really close to Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station. Is Tidbinbilla involved with this mission?
8. How long can you stay in space before it effects your health?
9. I know you can see the Great Wall of China, but can you see any other interesting landmarks on Earth?
10. What do you do in space to entertain yourself?

As always, the ISS will be audible to anyone listening in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.

*Note* – for telebridge contacts, the ground station will NOT be near the school that is contacting the ISS.

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS will be turned off prior to the beginning of the contact. It will be returned to service as quickly as possible.

 ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries. ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters’ interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS programme is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada). Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012