Tag Archives: CubeSat

Oct 14 2014

FUNcube Whole Orbit Data available for download

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

From the early planning stage of the project we decided that we would make telemetry information from the AO-73 (FUNcube-1) CubeSat available to end users.

Since deployment the FUNcube Data Warehouse has displayed the latest data:
• Reatime
• Whole Orbit
• High Precision
• Fitter Messages
and of course the upload rankings. Additionally we have made available small csv files for WOD and HiRes.

Starting October 14, we will be making all captured WOD available as weekly csv files.

Please see: http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/wod.html?satelliteId=2 for the link to the downloads page. It currently up to 26/6/2014 (32 files)

The files are on average:
• 9706 lines (expected 10080) ~ 96.3% capture
• 905 KB

We will play catch up over the next few days and then automate the process.

It it really intended for consumption by an analytical suite such as MatLab, or a DIY one, in a language of your choosing. However, it can be simply graphed in Excel or Open Office Calc.

Feedback would be appreciated.

Enjoy!

73 Dave, G4DPZ

Data Warehouse – Telemetry Archive http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/

Dashboard App – Telemetry Decoder http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/

Oct 5 2014

6th European CubeSat Symposium

Swiss Space Systems S3

Swiss Space Systems S3

The 6th European CubeSat Symposium will take place from October 14-16, 2014 at Estavayer-le-Lac in Switzerland.

The Symposium has attracted more than 100 abstracts submitted from 31 different countries. Von Karman Institute and Swiss Space Systems are proud to support the CubeSat community by coorganising this leading CubeSat event in Europe, for the first time in Switzerland.

Von Karman Institute continues to act as the coordinator of the World’s most ambitious CubeSat Project QB50, whereas Swiss Space Systems is designing an innovative launcher specifically for small satellites to bring the launch costs to 25% of today’s market value.

The symposium abstracts are available at
https://www.cubesatsymposium.eu/download/BookOfAbstracts_6th_European_Cubesatsymposium_2014.pdf

6th European CubeSat Symposium https://www.cubesatsymposium.eu/

Sep 28 2014

First FUNcube 73 on 73 Award Issued

First 73 on 73 Award issued to Wyatt Dirks AC0RA

First 73 on 73 Award issued to Wyatt Dirks AC0RA

Paul Stoetzer N8HM reports the first AO-73 (FUNcube-1) 73 on 73 Award has been issued to Wyatt Dirks AC0RA.

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

The award aims to promote activity on AO-73 satellite. The requirements are straight-forward:

1. Work 73 unique stations on AO-73.
2. Contacts must be made on or after September 1, 2014.
3. There are no geographic restrictions on your operating location.

Congratulations to Wyatt Dirks, AC0RA, for claiming 73 on 73 Award #1. He has submitted a list with a total of 74 unique calls worked on AO-73 since September 1.

It’s been great to hear all the activity on the satellite over the last few weeks. I look forward to hearing and working many more stations, especially after the end of Daylight Saving Time makes the evening passes a bit earlier!

73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

Full details of the award at https://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/18/73-on-73-award-announcement/

Sep 17 2014

Postage stamp features amateur radio satellites

LituanicaSAT-1 and LitSat-1 postage stamp

A new Lithuanian postage stamp features the amateur radio satellites LituanicaSAT-1 and LitSat-1.

The two CubeSats were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on January 9, 2014 and deployed from the ISS on February 28. LituanicaSAT-1 carried a FM transponder and a camera while LitSat-1 had a linear (SSB/CW) transponder developed by by William Leijenaar PE1RAH.

LitSat-1 was the lighter satellite and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burnt up on May 23, the heavier LituanicaSAT-1 remained in orbit until July 28.

Watch a presentation on LituanicaSAT-1 given by Gintautas Sulskus to the 2014 AMSAT-UK Colloquium in Guildford https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/presentation-videos/

LituanicaSAT-1 https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/26/president-tests-lituanicasat-1-fm-transponder/

LitSat-1 https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/litsat-1-transponder-test-successful/

Sep 16 2014

ESTCube-1 Solar Sail Experiment

ESTCube-1 at press conference in Tallinn before shipping January 21, 2013 - Image credit University of Tartu

ESTCube-1 at press conference in Tallinn before shipping January 21, 2013 – Image credit University of Tartu

I’m glad to announce that after more than a year of preparations on Tuesday, September 16, 2014, the team are starting to deploy the electric solar sail tether on-board ESTCube-1.

The process of burning the tether end-mass and spool locks and reeling out the first few centimeters of tether will start during the 09.06 – 09.19Z pass over Estonia.  This is a high pass and should be visible over most of the Europe.

The next good passes listed below (all in UTC) will be used to download images the telemetry logs and the images:
10.43 – 10.56
18.39 – 18.51
20.15 – 20.28

ESTCube-1 image of Estonia and its neighbours

ESTCube-1 image of Estonia and its neighbours

During the locks release process and after reeling the tether out some centimeters, images will be taken.

The other shorter passes during the day will be used to download the experiment data as quickly as possible (in Estonia, all daily passes are visible, but lowest ones are just couple of degrees above the northern horizon).

If everything is OK with the tether, additional unreeling will take place in coming days.

If you are interested in receiving ESTCube-1 during those exciting passes, the UZ7HO 9600 bps packet softmodem and an Online Telemetry Decoder by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN can be used. But basically any 9600 bps G3RUH TNC or decoder can be used to receive ESTCube-1.

We are looking forward to receiving your reports on the address es5e AT estcube DOT eu, and we would really appreciate if you would also send received data in live, using Mike’s decoder.

With best wishes,
Tõnis Eenmäe
de ES5TF

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/estcube

ESTCube-1 Online Telemetry Decoder by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN
http://www.dk3wn.info/files/estcube_online.zip

Sep 1 2014

73 on 73 Award Update

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

Paul Stoetzer N8HM provides an update on the 73 on 73 Award for contacts made via the amateur radio satellite AO-73 (FUNcube-1).

Just a reminder that the award period for the 73 on 73 Award begins at 0000Z on September 1st, so begin keeping track of the unique callsigns that you work on AO-73. When you reach 73 unique callsigns in your log, email me at n8hm@arrl.net with a list of calls, date, and time worked (in GMT) and your mailing address. I hope to have a website up soon with an example of what the award will look like.

Some tips for working AO-73:

– Keep in mind the frequency drift on the transponder. The offset needed on your transmit frequency is usually from +10 kHz to +16 kHz. This can vary throughout the pass, requiring frequency adjustments if using computer control. Many find manually tuning the uplink to maintain a constant downlink to work better than computer control.

– I usually start a pass by trying to find myself come into the top edge of the passband (145.970 MHz). To do this, I usually start transmitting around 435.135 MHz and tuning up slowly until I can hear myself enter the passband. Then I can move around the transponder easily. Remember to tune your uplink to maintain an constant downlink frequency (the opposite of FO-29).

– Keep power output down. The transponder has a very sensitive receiver and a very active AGC circuit. Excessive uplink power will not make your signal louder – it will only reduce that available for others on the transponder. With a clear view of the horizon, 5 watts to an Arrow or Elk is plenty for horizon to horizon coverage. Very slightly more might be necessary if you are beaming through trees or other obstructions, but try to keep power to 25-40 watts ERP.

Good luck! Who will claim the 73 on 73 Award #1?

73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv)

73 on 73 Award Announcement
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/18/73-on-73-award-announcement/

AO-73 https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/funcube-cubesat/

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