FUNcube-1 Deployed !!!

FUNcube team celebrate with champagneThe Dnepr carrying FUNcube-1 and 18 other satellites carrying amateur radio payloads successfully launched at 07:10:11 UT on Thursday, November 21. Approximately 8 minutes later, FUNcube-1 was deployed from the upper stage of the Dnepr rocket.

FUNcube Team Monitor Launch

FUNcube Team Monitor Launch

About 10 minutes after separation, telemetry was successfully been received, decoded using the Dashboard App, and uploaded to the data warehouse by ZS1LS (at 07:37) and ZS6BMN in South Africa.  There was a huge cheer at Bletchley Park and the FUNcube-1 Project team toasted the successful launch .

All main parameters on FUNcube look nominal; temp, battery voltage, solar panel charging rate, etc and the data received so far is available in the Data Warehouse.  The team are already seeing some superb examples of the data that will be fundamental to the educational aspect of FUNcube – thank you to all stations around the world for your efforts so far.

ZACUBE-1, FUNcube-1 and HiNCube in the deployment pod - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

ZACUBE-1, FUNcube-1 and HiNCube in the deployment pod – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

The first signals from FUNcube-1 were heard in the UK on the first visible pass at 3 degrees above the horizon and Mike Willis, G0MJW, became the first UK station to receive and decode the telemetry from FUNcube-1 – congratulations Mike.

For the first two orbits FUNcube-1 was in Safe mode with the beacon transmitting low power just 30 mW. FUNcube-1 was then commanded into Educational mode which increased the power to 300 mW. This enabled it to be copied on a SSB handheld with whip antenna.

The FUNcube team encourage all stations to continue to receive the telemetry and upload it to the Data Warehouse as we monitor the spacecraft and continue with the early operations tasks.

Satellites on Dnepr launch November 21, 2013 - Image credit Nader Omer ST2NH

Satellites on Dnepr launch November 21, 2013 – Image credit Nader Omer ST2NH

These satellites were heard during the morning passes:
• FUNcube-1
• ZACUBE-1
• Delfi-n3xt
• Triton-1
• CubeBug-2
• UWE3 9k6
• HumSat-D

One of the satellites on the launch UniSat-5 will deploy a number of additional satellites. Among them should be the CubeSats PUCP-SAT-1, HumSat-, Icube-1 and the PocketQubes Wren, Eagle-1 (BeakerSat), Eagle-2 ($50Sat), QB-Scout1. PUCP-SAT-1 intends to subsequently release a further satellite Pocket-PUCP.

UniSat-5 with labelsAs well as UniSat-5 and its associated CubeSats and PocketQubes these amateur radio satellites were also on the launch:
HinCube
FUNcube-1
ZAcube-1
First-MOVE
UWE-3
Velox-PII
CubeBug-2
Triton-1
Delfi-n3Xt
GOMX-1

Dnepr Launch Frequency Chart by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

Frequency list for amateur radio satellite deployments in November
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

Mass Amateur Radio Satellite Launch November 21
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/08/mass-amateur-radio-satellite-launch-november-21/

Download the FUNcube-1 Dashboard App
http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/

FUNcube-1 Data Warehouse http://funcube.org.uk/ground-segment/the-data-warehouse/

A live video stream was run from the Bletchley Park station on the BATC website at http://batc.tv/streams/funcube1

The first FUNcube-1 telemetry data

The first FUNcube-1 telemetry data

FUNcube-1 Bletchley Park monitoring station ready for launch

FUNcube-1 Monitoring Station at the NRC Bletchley Park

FUNcube-1 Monitoring Station at the NRC Bletchley Park

FUNcube team members spent Wednesday, November 20, setting up and testing the satellite monitoring station at the RSGB National Radio Centre (NRC) in Bletchley Park.

All members of the FUNcube development team (except Gerard Albers, who has had to stay Holland) are now assembled at National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park ready for the launch early tomorrow morning.

We have spent the day adding satellite equipment to the existing excellent demonstration station. As part of our testing, we made a couple of QSOs via VO-52, one with UR3CTB and another with OH5LK. Earlier in the day, we also confirmed that we could receive signals from a low elevation pass of the same satellite. So we are poised for an early start tomorrow morning.

WiMo Satellite Antennas at the NRC Bletchley Park

WiMo Satellite Antennas at the NRC Bletchley Park

The launch of FUNcube-1 is planned for Thursday, November 20, at 07:10:11 UT on a Dnepr from Dombarovsky near Yasny in the Russian Federation.

A live video stream from the Bletchley Park station is at http://batc.tv/streams/funcube1

CPUT in South Africa have said there will be live TV coverage of the launch at http://live.cput.ac.za/live.html

Preliminary Keplerian Two-Line Elements (TLEs):
FUNCUBE-1
1 99991U 00000    13325.30956308  .00000106  00000-0  10000-3 0 00010
2 99991 097.7956 038.2570 0059925 198.5190 336.5388 14.77841394000015

Satellite tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Follow the FUNcube-1 launch day chat on the #funcube1 IRC channel

Follow the Dnepr CubeSat launch day chat on the #cubesat IRC channel

FUNcube-1 Launch Day Mug

FUNcube-1 Launch Day Mug

FUNcube information sheets:
•  FUNcube Project Information Leaflet
•  FUNcube Educational Outreach Leaflet

FUNcube Handbook v1.3

FUNcube website http://www.funcube.org.uk/

Forum for Question and Answers on FUNcube Satellite and Dashboard App
https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

FUNcube Yahoo Group https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

Minotaur-1 Deploys CubeSats

Minotaur-1 Launch from Wallops Flight Facility

Minotaur-1 Launch from Wallops Flight Facility

A large number of CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads were launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., on Nov. 19, 2013 at 0115 UT. In total 29 satellites were on the rocket of which 12 operate in Amateur Satellite Service frequencies.

Radio amateurs from around the world have reported receiving signals from the satellites.

Frequency Chart by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

For the latest news check the DK3WN satellite blog http://www.dk3wn.info/p/

Also see the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

Follow the launch day chat on the #cubesat IRC channel see
http://www.cubesat.org/index.php/collaborate/ground-operators

Minotaur-1 Launch: Keplerian Two-Line Elements (TLEs)
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/19/minotaur-1-launch-keplerian-two-line-elements-tles/

Doppler.sqf data at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=38470

Satellite tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Frequency list for amateur radio satellite deployments in November
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

Live TV coverage of launches https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/17/tv-coverage-of-two-ham-radio-sat-launches/

Triton-1 Update

Triton-1 CubeSat Pic1As you may be aware, on November 21 at 07:10 UT a Dnepr launch vehicle will lift off from Yasny Launch Base, Russia, carrying a number of payloads.

One of them is the Triton-1 satellite, a 3-unit cubesat developed by ISIS – Innovative Solutions In Space from Delft, The Netherlands. Note that the Triton-2 satellite is not on this launch, its launch date  is to be determined at this stage. Triton-2 will be similar to Triton-1,  the main difference being that it will also carry an S-band downlink and associated mode US transponder.

Triton-1 CubeSat Pic2Triton-1 is a satellite which will serve as a test bed for an experimental receiver, designed to receive Automatic Identification System (AIS) messages from ships. During the first three months after launch, the plan is to characterize the AIS receiver in orbit. After approximately three months of experimenting, we intend to activate a single channel FM to DSB mode UV transponder (similar to AO-16’s transponder). The exact transponder uplink frequency in the 435-438 MHz band will be announced at that time as well.

Triton-1 CubeSat Pic3We have created an amateur radio information page which contains all information related to its downlink signals at:

http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/

We intend to publish regular status updates on the AMSAT-BB as well as on the aforementioned page.

Kind regards on behalf of the Triton-1 team,

Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ

Help Track ISS CubeSats

ISS CubeSats Deploying

ISS CubeSats Deploying

Astronaut Koichi Wakata KC5ZTA deployed the CubeSats ArduSat-1, ArduSat-X along with Pico Dragon from the International Space Station at 1218 UT on Tuesday, November 19.

An exploded view of the ArduSat (1U configuration)

An exploded view of the ArduSat (1U configuration)

Pico Dragon was developed by the Việt Nam National Satellite Center (VNSC), University of Tokyo and IHI aerospace. It has a 437.250 MHz CW beacon and 437.365 MHz 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 telemetry.

Mineo Wakita JE9PEL has received the CW signal from Việt Nam’s Pico Dragon CubeSat but nothing was heard from ArduSat-1 or ArduSat-X.

Listen to the recording of the PicoDragon CW beacon made at 16:08-16:17 UTC, 19 Nov 2013, Ele 28 S-E-EN, 437.250MHz CW
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/31119pic.mp3

The Pico Dragon beacon has been reported as appearing about 3 kHz high of the expected frequency.

Edward BX1AD reports hearing ArduSat-1: I heard ArduSat-1 CW (FM-modulated 800Hz tone) on 437.000 MHz during the pass 01:51 – 02:00 UT Nov. 20, decoded as following:
WG9XFC-1 D16
WG9XFC-1 E16
WG9XFC-1 A7.27

Watch the launch of PicoDragon and the ArduSat CubeSats

The ArduSat team have released the following information:

If you’re a radio amateur and would like to help out the ArduSat team, you can listen for our Morse beacons and send them to us! This beacon gives us important information – like battery voltage and lets us know that the satellites are still alive!

The initial TLE for AS-1 and AS-X will be the same as the ISS until they put some distance between each other and are assigned their own Noad IDs.
TLE for ISS: http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/stations.txt  (What is a TLE?)

Both satellites will have a Morse beacon (FM-modulated 800Hz tones) that is transmitted at 20 WPM every two or three minutes on 437.000 MHz. The beacon will be structured in the following format:

ArduSat-1, ArduSat-X and PicoDragon deploy from the ISS

ArduSat-1, ArduSat-X and PicoDragon deploy from the ISS

ArduSat-1 beacon: Battery voltage (uint16_t), RX_counter (number of received valid data packets, uint32_t), TX_counter (number of sent valid data packets, uint32_t), “WG9XFC-1″

ArduSat-X beacon: Battery voltage (uint16_t), RX_counter (number of received valid data packets, uint32_t), TX_counter (number of sent valid data packets, uint32_t), “WG9XFC-X”
Submitting a beacon packet:

You can submit a beacon as plain text to nanosatisfi@gmail.com – be sure to put the word “packet” in the subject line so that we can parse it quickly.

Submitting audio:
You can submit audio as an email attachment. Send an email to nanosatisfi@gmail.com – with the audio file as an attachment.

PicoDragon CubeSat - Image credit VNSC

PicoDragon CubeSat – Image credit VNSC

ArduSat https://ardusat.org/

Source: http://www.nanosatisfi.com/2013/11/help-track-ardusat-1x/

ISS CubeSats Deploy Tuesday and Wednesday
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/16/iss-cubesats-deploy-tuesday-and-wednesday/

Frequencies of amateur radio satellites launching in November
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

Live TV coverage of satellite launches
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/17/tv-coverage-of-two-ham-radio-sat-launches/

ISS CubeSats a few minutes after deployment

ISS CubeSats a few minutes after deployment

Minotaur-1 Launch: Keplerian Two-Line Elements (TLEs)

Cape-2 CubeSat - University of Louisiana

Cape-2 CubeSat – University of Louisiana

These are the preliminary Keplerian Two-Line Elements (TLEs) for the beaconing CubeSats on the ORS-3 Minotaur-1 launch from the Wallops Flight Facility assuming a liftoff time of 2013-11-20 00:30:00 UT.

The P-POD position designation in the TLE name can be looked up on the website. http://cubesat.org/index.php/missions/upcoming-launches/135-ors3-launch-alert

Doppler.sqf data at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=38470

Follow the launch day chat on the #cubesat IRC channel see http://www.cubesat.org/index.php/collaborate/ground-operators

Also check the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

Frequency Chart by Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

TLe’s for launch November 21 at 0115 UT:

ORS3-2.2A
1 99900U 00000    13324.06792882 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0005
2 99900  40.5215 249.9769 0002852 187.8940 351.5057 15.19723466000006
ORS3-2.3A
1 99901U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0007
2 99901  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000009
ORS3-2.3B
1 99902U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0008
2 99902  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000000
ORS3-2.3C
1 99903U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0009
2 99903  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000001
ORS3-2.5A
1 99904U 00000    13324.06862326 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0000
2 99904  40.5214 249.9768 0003075 205.2431 337.9664 15.19728651000009
ORS3-2.5B
1 99905U 00000    13324.06862326 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0001
2 99905  40.5214 249.9768 0003075 205.2431 337.9664 15.19728651000000
ORS3-2.5C
1 99906U 00000    13324.06862326 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0002
2 99906  40.5214 249.9768 0003075 205.2431 337.9664 15.19728651000001
ORS3-2.6A
1 99907U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0003
2 99907  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000005
ORS3-2.6B
1 99908U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0004
2 99908  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000006
ORS3-2.6C
1 99909U 00000    13324.06827604 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0005
2 99909  40.5215 249.9769 0002954 196.7779 344.5267 15.19722048000007
ORS3-2.7A
1 99910U 00000    13324.06792882 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0006
2 99910  40.5215 249.9769 0002852 187.8940 351.5057 15.19723466000007
ORS3-2.7B
1 99911U 00000    13324.06792882 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0007
2 99911  40.5215 249.9769 0002852 187.8940 351.5057 15.19723466000008
ORS3-2.7C
1 99912U 00000    13324.06792882 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0008
2 99912  40.5215 249.9769 0002852 187.8940 351.5057 15.19723466000009

For mapping to satellite name and doppler.sqf data see http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=38470

Archive image of KySat-1

Archive image of KySat-1

Help needed with the CAPE II satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/18/help-needed-with-the-cape-ii-satellite/

KySat-2: Calling all radio hams and space enthusiasts!
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/15/kysat-2-calling-all-radio-hams/

Satellite tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Frequency list for amateur radio satellite deployments in November
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/

Live TV coverage of launches https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/17/tv-coverage-of-two-ham-radio-sat-launches/