Tag Archives: FIT

Jun 29 2013

FITSAT-1 Ham Radio CubeSat to De-orbit by July 4 – Reports Requested

The five ISS CubeSats Altitude compared with ARISSat-1 - chart by Masa JN1GKZ

The five ISS CubeSats Altitude compared with ARISSat-1 – chart by Masa JN1GKZ

It is expected that the amateur radio CubeSat FITSAT-1, built by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, will re-enter the Earths atmosphere and burn-up by Thursday, July 4.

FITSAT-1 QSL card GW1FKY - Front

FITSAT-1 QSL card received by Ken Eaton GW1FKY

FITSAT-1 and four other CubeSats were deployed from the Internatonal Space Station (ISS) on October 4, 2012. Three of them, WE-WISH, TechEdSat and F-1 have already de-orbited. All of the CubeSats were 1U in size (10x10x10 cm, 1-1.2 kg) except for RAIKO which is a 2U CubeSat twice the size and mass (20x10x10 cm, 2 kg).

Masahiro Arai JN1GKZ has produced a chart showing the decline in altitude of the five CubeSats and compares them with the far larger ARISSat-1 satellite deployed from the ISS on August 3, 2011.

As well as the CW telemetry beacon on 437.250 MHz FITSAT-1 also has a 1200 bps AX.25 packet radio transmitter on 437.445 MHz,  a high-speed (115.2 kbps) data transmitter on 5840.0 MHz and has flashed Morse code to observers on Earth using an LED array.

Takushi Tanaka JA6AVG requests that radio amateurs listen out for the CW telemetry beacon of FITSAT-1 on 437.250 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) during the last few days. Reception reports should be emailed to: tanaka at fit.ac.jp

FITSAT-1 website http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml

Further information and pictures of the CubeSats are at
https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/techedsat-f-1-fitsat-1-we-wish/

Free satellite tracking software:
• SimpleSat Look Down http://www.tomdoyle.org/SimpleSatLookDown/
• Gpredict http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/
• Orbitron http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=9051

Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ for CubeSats are at http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt

Amateur Radio CubeSats TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 pass the ISS solar panels

TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 pass the ISS solar panels shortly after deployment

Jan 7 2013

More Optical Beacon Tests From FITSAT-1

(C) Tsuyoshi Watanabe Ebina City, Kanagawa Japan 1:24:23-1:24:25JST, 12 Dec 2012
Takahashi e160, Diameter short focus telescope 16cm (F=530mm, F3.3)
Nikon D800E, ISO12800, 2 seconds exposure

Further transmissions from the optical LED beacon on the amateur radio CubeSat FITSAT-1 are planned for January 10-15. Weather permitting the satellite beacon should be visible using binoculars.

2013, Flashing LED Schedule (times GMT):
10th Jan. 23:57:30 – 23:59:30  New Delhi India        (10Hz Green 2min)
11th Jan. 13:52:30 – 13:54:30  San Francisco USA  (10Hz Green 2min)
12th Jan. 22:00:30 – 22:02:30  Bangalore India        (10Hz Green 2min)
13th Jan. 14:41:30 – 14:43:30  Melbourne Australia (10Hz Red     2min)
14th Jan. 11:03:30 – 11:05:30  Oklahoma USA         (10Hz Green 2min)
15th Jan. 22:27:30 – 22:29:30  Wulumuqi China       (10Hz Green 2min)

The FITSAT-1 CubeSat was developed by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology (FIT) in Japan. As well as the optical LED experiment the satellite carries several amateur radio payloads: a CW beacon on 437.250 MHz, a telemetry beacon on 437.445 MHz and a high-speed data downlink on 5840.0 MHz.

Information on how to see the optical beacon signal can be found on the Visual SAT-Flare Tracker 3D site at
http://www.satflare.com/track.php?q=fitsat#MAP

FITSAT-1 website http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml

FITSAT-1 Optical Beacon video
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2012/fitsat1_optical_beacon_video.htm

Further information and pictures of FITSAT-1 and the other CubeSats deployed from the ISS on October 4, 2012 is at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?page_id=10967

Dec 12 2012

UK Radio Amateur Receives FITSAT-1 QSL Card

FITSAT-1 QSL card GW1FKY - FrontAMSAT-UK member Ken Eaton GW1FKY reports that he has received a QSL card confirming his reception of FITSAT-1.

On December 13 at 22:10:30 GMT FITSAT-1 will be using its optical LED beacon to flash a message in Morse Code over the British Isles and Europe which, cloud permitting, should be visible using binoculars. Further information is at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11815

Dec 12 2012

FITSAT-1 Successfully Flashes Morse Code from Space

(C) Tsuyoshi Watanabe Ebina City, Kanagawa Japan 1:24:23-1:24:25JST, 12 Dec 2012
Takahashi e160, Diameter short focus telescope 16cm (F=530mm, F3.3)
Nikon D800E, ISO12800, 2 seconds exposure

A test of the FITSAT-1 LED optical beacon that took place on December 11 GMT over Japan was successful.

On December 13 at 22:10:30 GMT FITSAT-1 will be using its optical LED beacon to flash a message in Morse Code over the British Isles and Europe which, cloud permitting, should be visible using binoculars. Further information is at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11815

Continue reading →

Dec 9 2012

FITSAT-1 LEDs to Flash Morse Code over USA and Europe

Artistic impression of FITSAT-1 signaling in Morse code

On December 12-13 FITSAT-1 will be using its optical LED beacon to flash a message in Morse Code over the USA and the British Isles/Europe which should be visible using binoculars.

Continue reading →

Nov 12 2012

Amateur Radio Satellite to Flash Morse Code on Christmas Eve

FITSAT-1 plans to use LED’s to signal in Morse code

On Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) the Japanese students who built FITSAT-1 are planning to active the satellite’s LED optical array and flash a message in Morse code to Earth. The Morse message may be visible to the unaided eye.

According to Takushi Tanaka JA6AVG the students plan to start testing the optical system at the end of November.

The FITSAT-1 CubeSat was developed by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology (FIT) in Japan. In addition to the LED array it also has a CW beacon on 437.250 MHz, a data link on 437.445 MHz and a 5840.0 MHz data downlink.

Further FITSAT-1 information at http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml

CubeSats deployed from International Space Station http://www.uk.amsat.org/?page_id=10967