Tag Archives: Amateur Radio

Feb 11 2012

AMSAT Fox-1 CubeSat selected for NASA ELaNa launch collaboration

AMSAT FOX

AMSAT FOX

Project ELaNa, NASA’s ‘Educational Launch of NanoSat’ managed by the  Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center, announced on February 10 that the AMSAT Fox-1 CubeSat has been selected to join the program.

NASA will work with AMSAT in a collaborative agreement where NASA  will cover the integration and launch costs of satellites deemed to have merit in support of their strategic and educational goals.

Watch for full details to be published in the AMSAT Journal.

AMSAT teamed with the ARRL to write and deliver the 159 page educational proposal to NASA. Letters documenting the importance of AMSAT’s satellites in the education programs at the ARRL and also at the Clay Center for Science and Technology at the Dexter and Southfield schools in Brookline, MA, were important parts of our proposal.

AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW said,
“The ELaNA Launch opportunity marks AMSAT’s return to space after the conclusion of the successful ARISSat-1/KEDR flight. We need to get the flight Fox-1, along with an operational flight backup satellite, built, integrated, tested, and delivered. Our ability to provide a spacecraft and get it launched is dependent upon the active support of our donors who wish to see Fox-1 fly.”

AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX noted this will provide a launch opportunity for AMSAT’s next generation of FM repeater satellites with features and operation beyond the experience of AO-51. AMSAT’s Fox-1 Engineering Team is making progress developing the advanced satellite that will provide these features:

• Fox-1 is designed to operate in sunlight without batteries once the battery system fails. This applies lessons learned from AO-51 and ARISSat-1 operations.

• In case of IHU failure Fox-1 will continue to operate its FM repeater in a basic, ‘zombie sat’ mode, so that the repeater remains on-the-air.

• Fox-1 is designed as the immediate replacement for AO-51. Its U/V (Mode B) transponder will make it even easier to work with modest equipment.

• From the ground user’s perspective, the same FM amateur radio equipment used for AO-51 may be used for Fox-1.

• Extending the design, Fox-2 will benefit from the development work of Fox-1 by adding more sophisticated power management and Software Defined Transponder (SDX) communications systems.

The Fox-1 Project presents an opportunity to literally put your callsign on the Fox hardware. AMSAT is looking for major donations to help underwrite the cost of solar cells/panels, one of the more significant expenses of the project.

These solar cells are needed for the flight unit as well as for the a flight spare. As Fox-1 will have solar cells on all six sides of the spacecraft and given the relatively small surface area available on each side (at most 4″ by 4″ per side), AMSAT needs to invest in high efficiency solar cells to gain as much power as possible to operate the spacecraft.

Several opportunities to make your donation to keep amateur radio in space include:
• Call Martha at the AMSAT Office +1-888-FB AMSAT (1-888-322-6728)
• Paypal donation widget on the main page at: http://www.amsat.org
• Paypal donation widget for Project Fox at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/
• You can also go to the Paypal site and send your donation to martha@amsat.org
• The AMSAT Store: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/categories.php

Project Fox web site provide a good overview of the technical progress of the new satellite: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/

Thanks to AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX and AMSAT’s Project Fox Engineering team for the above information.

Feb 10 2012

13cm Threat in Sweden

The 2300-2450 MHz band in Sweden is under threat. As part of the consultation process the Swedish national society, SSA, has submitted it’s response to the regulator, the PTS.

SSA argues that the amateur service should remain in the 2.3 GHz band. Wideband digital systems are becoming less sensitive to narrowband signals, which improves the possibilities for band-sharing.

SSA believes that communication with amateur satellites in the band 2400-2450 MHz should continue to be permitted. SSA is requesting to meet the PTS to discuss the technological basis for continuing the amateur service in the band.

Read the full response in Google English at http://tinyurl.com/SSA2300MHzResponse

SSA in Google English http://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA

January 2012 – Sweden loses 13cm amateur radio band
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2012/sweden_loses_13cm_amateur_radio_band.htm

Feb 10 2012

CubeSats on the Vega qualification flight

In this video Roger Walker, Head of education projects unit, ESA, talks about the CubeSats that will be on the first launch of the Vega rocket, planned to take place between 10:00 and 12:00 UT on Monday, February 13.

The video shows the integration of the CubeSats in the P-POD deployment system and includes some interviews with ESA’s experts and European students involved in the programme. Over 250 students were involved in the development of the seven amateur radio CubeSats.

Watch CubeSats on the Vega qualification flight

Frequencies and URLs for the student amateur radio satellites on Vega can be seen at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

Feb 9 2012

ISS APRS Balloon to Launch Saturday

BLT-28 Katy to Nanjing

BLT-28 Katy to Nanjing

A group of amateur radio operators aims to establish a world record for distance by flying an unmanned, helium-filled balloon from Katy, Texas, across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean then on to Nanjing, China.

During the trans-Atlantic crossing, when out of range of shore based stations, the balloon’s APRS beacon will operate on the International Space Station (ISS) packet digipeater frequency of 145.825 MHz.

The South Texas Balloon Launch Team will release the balloon at 3 pm CST (2100 UT) Saturday, February 11.

The balloon payload package weighs only about 150 grams and contains a high altitude GPS tracking system and a 144 MHz FM APRS amateur radio transmitter. To conserve weight and battery life, no camera equipment will be on board. The maximum altitude is expected to be above 30 km, with horizontal speeds between 160 and 240 km per hour. The balloon size will increase from about 1.5 metres to about 11.8 metres at maximum elevation. Recovery of the payload package is not expected.

Individuals may follow the balloon’s progress on the Internet by logging onto APRS tracking site, filling in the “Track callsign:” field with “kt5tk-11” and changing the “Show last:” field to 24 hours.

The APRS telemetry transmitter is frequency agile to cope with different APRS standards across the globe. The frequencies used will be:
USA = 144.390 MHz FM
mid-Atlantic = 145.825 MHz (International Space Station packet digipeater frequency)
Europe = 144.800 MHz FM

APRS tracking site http://aprs.fi/

Read the Katy Times story at
http://katytimes.com/news/article_b2683a60-527e-11e1-bca4-001871e3ce6c.html

BLT-28 The Flight of the Orient Express http://www.w5acm.net/b28.html

South Texas Balloon Launch Team http://www.w5acm.net/

QRP APRS to the ISS http://www.uk.amsat.org/3838 

Qtmm AFSK1200 soundcard modem software for decoding packet radio, APRS and telemetry from amateur radio satellites http://www.uk.amsat.org/4313

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) http://www.aprs.org/

Link to UZ7HO Soundmodem 1200 bps packet and other APRS software http://wa8lmf.net/miscinfo/

Feb 8 2012

1st Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop

The 1st Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop takes palce in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 29-30, 2012.

iCubeSat, the Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop, will address the technical challenges, opportunities, and practicalities of space exploration with CubeSats. The workshop will provide a unique environment for open practical collaboration between academic researchers, industry professionals, policy makers, and students developing this new and rapidly growing field.

Talks and round tables will focus on three themes: technology, science, and open collaboration.

Keynote speakers

Technology: Mason Peck, NASA, Chief Technologist
Science: Sara Seager, MIT, Professor of Physics and Planetary Science

The program will also include unconference sessions to provide additional opportunities to engage with the interplanetary CubeSat community and potential collaborators. Talks and supporting material will be streamed and posted on the conference website. A lively social program in and around summertime Boston will be arranged for participants and their guests.

Further information on the event website http://icubesat.wordpress.com/

Feb 8 2012

Astronaut Janice Voss KC5BTK – SK

Astronaut Janice Voss KC5BTK - SK

Astronaut Janice Voss KC5BTK - SK

NASA astronaut Janice Voss, KC5BTK, of Houston, Texas, passed away on February 7 from cancer. She was 55. One of only six women who have flown in space five times, Voss’ career was highlighted by her work and dedication to scientific payloads and exploration. Voss participated in making ham radio contacts from space via the Space Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), the precursor to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.

“As the payload commander of two space shuttle missions, Janice was responsible for paving the way for experiments that we now perform on a daily basis on the International Space Station,” said Peggy Whitson, Chief of the Astronaut Office. “By improving the way scientists are able to analyze their data and establishing the experimental methods and hardware necessary to perform these unique experiments, Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be the site of discoveries that we haven’t even imagined. During the last few years, Janice continued to lead our office’s efforts to provide the best possible procedures to crews operating experiments on the station today. Even more than Janice’s professional contributions, we will miss her positive outlook on the world and her determination to make all things better.”

Voss began her career with NASA in 1973 while a student at Purdue University. She returned to NASA in 1977 to work as an instructor, teaching entry guidance and navigation to space shuttle crews. After completing her PhD in 1987, she worked within the aerospace industry until she was selected as an astronaut in 1990.

Voss’ first spaceflight mission was STS-57 in 1993, the first flight of the SPACEHAB module. She next flew on STS-63 in 1995, a mission to the Mir space station and third flight of SPACEHAB. She also flew as a payload commander on STS-83 in 1997 with the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL), but the mission was cut short due to problems with one of the orbiter’s three fuel power generation units. Voss, the crew and MSL flew again as the STS-94 MSL-1 Spacelab mission, which focused on materials and combustion science research in microgravity.

Her last mission was STS-99 in 2000, a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which mapped more than 47 million square miles of the Earth’s land surface. In total, Voss spent more than 49 days in space, traveling 18.8 million miles in 779 Earth orbits.

From 2004-2007, Voss served as the science director for the Kepler spacecraft at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Designed to search for Earth-size planets orbiting distant stars, Kepler was launched in March 2009; to date, it has confirmed 61 exoplanets and identified more than 2000 planetary candidates. Voss most recently served as the payloads lead of the Astronaut Office’s Station Branch.

Thanks to NASA , AMSAT and ARRL for the information.