In 2011 the RSGB awarded Paul the prestigious Louis Varney Cup for Advances in Space Communication, which was presented to him at the Telford Hamfest.
Over the years Paul has worked hard promoting and encouraging the use of amateur radio satellites and perfecting the art of a portable ground station.
Amateur radio satellite communications can be achieved using very simple equipment. You don’t need high power or massive antennas. If you want to find out more about this fascinating part of the hobby make sure you get to Paul’s talk.
The meeting starts at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 21 at Little Wenlock Village Hall, Malthouse Bank, Little Wenlock, Telford, TF6 5BG.
Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ provides an update regarding the attendance by ISIS at the World Radiocommunication Conference.
At the conference, ISIS has managed to write a last-minute resolution which was submitted by a group of countries, led by The Netherlands. The aim of this resolution is to propose an agenda item for the next WRC (2015), which proposes to conduct studies to identify the spectrum needs of nano-and picosatellites, and furthermore to study the associated regulatory constraints. After the discussions at the WRC, the resolution got partially accepted by the conference (only the regulatory aspects will be studied), and not for the WRC-2015 but for the WRC after that, which will be in 2018. The provisional final acts of WRC2012 has been published, I quote:
“2.2 to consider the appropriate regulatory procedures for notifying satellite networks needed to facilitate the deployment and operation of nano- and picosatellites, in accordance with Resolution COM6/10 (WRC-12); ”
This is very good news, and could mean that the ITU notification process for nano and picosatellites can become greatly simplified in the future. We first of all would like to thank all the supporting administrations for their support and would like to invite the community to, through their administrations, participate in the studies, so that the outcome will be as much as possible line with the needs of the community.
We will continue to work on this subject and keep you updated through these lists and at the various small / nano / picosatellite conferences and workshops.
The students who developed the amateur radio satellite MO-72 (Masat-1) have announced that new telemetry decode software is available.
Changes in this new release include:
– “Offline” label removed, the status of the automatic packet reporting is displayed
– Battery voltage constant (on the EPS panel) updated
– Now you can change between 626/1250 bps decoding on the Packets panel
– On the frequency waterfall now you can see tracks for the 0, CW and 1. The decoder is the most sensitive if the signal is in the middle of the highlighted track
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact has been planned with participants at 1° Circolo Didattico Nicola Fornelli, Bitonto, Italy on 24 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:01 UTC.
The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and IZ7RTN. The contact should be audible over Italy and most of Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.800 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.
1° Circolo Didattico “N. Fornelli” Bitonto is an educational primary school, placed in the centre of the pleasant town of Bitonto, Apulia, south of Italy, the “olive town” famous all over the world. This is the oldest elementary school in Bitonto, an architectural building in the centre of the city. In the primary school there are 810 students. There are 4 nursery schools with 415 pupils. The school has large open spaces, a gym, a library with about 6000 books and 4 laboratories.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What do you feel when you float weightlessly in the Space Station?
2. What is the temperature outside the ISS?
3. How can you avoid collisions with meteoroids or space debris?
4. On board the Space Station, is there a system to recycle oxygen?
5. How long is the rehabilitation to the Earth’s gravity when returning on Earth?
6. What feelings do you experience living for such a long mission surrounded by the immensity of space, do you feel privileged?
7. What inspired you to become an astronaut?
8. What temperature are tolerable by a space suit?
9. What kind of studies did you attend to become an astronaut?
10. What is the most difficult task for the commander of the International Space Station?
11. What kind of experiments are currently underway aboard the ISS?
12. Which part of our planet are you looking at right now?
13. During the day do you have free time?
14. Do you feel safe on board the ISS?
15. Who would you like to dedicate this experience in space?
16. How would your life change after this adventure in space?
17. Are you in contact with your family and how do you communicate with them?
18. What is the future for space exploration?
19. In your opinion is life possible in the universe?
20. Do you believe that it is possible to create a human colony on the Moon?
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.
OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO reports,
“Congratulations on the successful launch of the MaSat-1 Cubesat that the team at Budapest University of Technology and Economics have been responsible for designing, building and testing.
“Since you have met all of the requirements for being issued an OSCAR number, including coordination through IARU and requesting an OSCAR number, I, under authority vested in me by the President of AMSAT-NA, do hereby name MaSat-1 as MagyarSat-OSCAR-72 or MO-72.”
Bill concludes, “I, and all at AMSAT-NA wish MagyarSat-OSCAR-72 great success in fulfilling all of its mission objectives.”
The first Vega, flight VV01, lifted off at 1000 UT Monday, February 13 from the ESA Spaceport at Kourou in the Caribbean carrying eight student built amateur radio satellites and the LARES Laser Relativity Satellite into orbit.
LARES was put into a 1435 by 1452 km 69.5 degree inclination orbit, while the orbit of the amateur radio satellites is 310 by 1441 km.
At 1153 UT Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA reported hearing signals from the satellites as they went past Florida. Signals were first heard in the United Kingdom at around 1207 UT.
In Germany Mike Repprecht DK3WN copied the satellites at an elevation of just 3 degress at 1209 UT, see http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?cat=83
In Sudan Nader ST2NH received signals from AlmaSat-1 and Masat-1.
KO4MA Screenshot of Vega CubeSats
As of Monday evening signals had been reported from AlmaSat-1, Goliat, Masat-1, PW-Sat, UniCubeSat and XaTcobeo.
All the Vega amateur radio satellite project teams used the IARU amateur satellite frequency coordination panel service. A benefit of IARU coordination was that all the different UHF satellite signals could be simultaneously captured within the typical 192 kHz bandwidth of a modern Software Defined Radio (SDR).
PW-Sat is the only satellite with a downlink in the 145 MHz band. Its 1200bps BPSK signal on 145.900 MHz is receiveable with an SSB radio and an omni-directional antenna.
When PW-Sat has finished its primary scientific mission it will be reconfigured as a 435/145 MHz FM to DSB transponder for general amateur radio communications. The FM to Double Sideband transponder was first pioneered by amateurs on the satellite AO-16.
PW-Sat carries a deployable drag augmentation device known as the tail. The main objective of this experiment is to test the concept of using atmospheric drag to deorbit the satellite. It is hoped to be able to remove the satellite from orbit at a predicted time, about one year after launch.
The other amateur radio satellites have downlinks in 437 MHz. A small 430 MHz band Yagi antenna may be used to receive the signals. They are expected to have a lifetime of 3-4 years depending on the atmospheric drag which is higher at sunspot maximum.
This video shows the eliptical 310 by 1441 km orbit of the satellites.
The prelimary TLEs, used by tracking software to predict the orbits, were generated by a team lead by Paolo Tortora at the University of Bologna in Italy. They proved to be accurate with the satellites appearing at the expected time.
Student amateur radio satellite downlink frequencies:
(Worst case Doppler shift during pass +/-9 kHz at 437 MHz and +/- 3 kHz at 145 MHz)
+ AlmaSat-1 437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK, 2407.850 MHz
+ E-St@r 437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK
+ Goliat 437.485 MHz 1200 bpx AFSK
+ Masat-1 437.345 MHz 625/1250 bps GFSK, CW
+ PW-Sat 145.900 MHz 1200 bps BPSK AX25, CW
+ Robusta 437.325 MHz? (website says now 437.350 MHz) 1200 bps FM telemetry – one data burst of 20 secs every 1 min
+ UniCubeSat 437.305 MHz 9600 bps FSK
+ XaTcobeo 437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25
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.
AMSAT-UK 
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