Tag Archives: Goonhilly

Aug 24 2019

144-146 MHz WebSDR at Goonhilly

Goonhilly 144 MHz WebSDR

Goonhilly 144 MHz WebSDR

The AMSAT-UK and BATC 144-146 MHz Web-based Software Defined Radio installation at Goonhilly is now available. The WebSDR uses the standard FUNcube TLM Receive Antenna that can be purchased from the AMSAT-UK Online Store.

WebSDR Antenna top right

WebSDR Antenna top right

This is being provided in collaboration with Goonhilly Earth Station where it is kindly hosted alongside the existing receiving equipment for the amateur radio transponders on the Qatar-Oscar-100 (QO-100 / Es’hail-2) geostationary satellite.

It shares the same Turnstile antenna that is used for the reception of the AO73, EO88 & JO97 CubeSats.

Being located in the far South West of the UK, it is anticipated the SDR will be useful for early Acquisition of Signal (AOS) of 144 MHz downlinks from amateur satellites and the International Space Station (ISS). Additionally it can be used for reception of tropospheric signals from the south – the Spanish beacon ED1ZAG on 144.403 MHz has been already been heard on the system.

The new 144 MHz band WebSDR is available at https://vhf-goonhilly.batc.org.uk/

The AMSAT-UK / BATC 10 GHz WebSDR for QO-100 is still available at https://eshail.batc.org.uk/

AMSAT-UK: https://amsat-uk.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmsatUK
Facebook: https://facebook.com/AmsatUK
YouTube: https://youtube.com/AmsatUK

BATC: https://batc.org.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/batconline
Live event streaming: https://batc.org.uk/live/

Jul 8 2018

434 MHz balloon launch from Goonhilly

Goonhilly GHY-1 "Arthur"

Goonhilly GHY-1 “Arthur”

Phil M0DNY is planning to launch a high altitude balloon or two on Tuesday, July 10 from the Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard in Cornwall, nearby to the Marconi Wireless Testing Station.

Any help with tracking would be greatly appreciated!

We’re currently undecided between morning or late-afternoon. If we go for morning then we may also launch a second later near-identical balloon later in the day. 5m/s ascent, ~35km burst.

Two Trackers:

• Callsign: 1900 (year of construction of the Marconi Wireless Station)
– Calling Beacon: 433.650MHz.100 LoRa Mode 5
– Telemetry: 434.300 MHz LoRa 20.8K SF10 4/5 Explicit

• Callsign: 1901 (year of first over-the-horizon transmission received at the Wireless Station, from the Isle of Wight)
– 434.100 MHz USB RTTY 50bd 7n2 480Hz

I’ll post updates in #highaltitude on the day when I can.

For tuning in on the pi-in-the-sky LoRa gateway, the config you need is:

CallingTimeout=60
frequency_<x>=433.650
mode_<x>=5
AFC_<x>=y

Thanks, Phil M0DNY

The 434.100 MHz FSK RTTY balloon signal should be receivable across most of the British Isles using a radio capable of SSB reception in 434 MHz. Online tracking at https://tracker.habhub.org/

No radio? Use the SUWS online radio to receive signals from 434 MHz High Altitude Balloons when they are range of London (select USB mode) http://farnham-sdr.com/

Links to #highaltitude IRC chat, UKHAS mailing list, Online Radio and Tracking information at
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/balloons/

Jan 6 2018

BBC TV to show Michael Portillo moonbounce

Noel Matthews G8GTZ, Michael Portillo, Brian Coleman G4NNS, Matthew Crosby Chief Scientist Goonhilly, Ian Jones CEO Goonhilly and Tim Fern G4LOH at Goonhilly in June 2017

Noel Matthews G8GTZ, Michael Portillo, Brian Coleman G4NNS, Matthew Crosby Chief Scientist Goonhilly, Ian Jones CEO Goonhilly and Tim Fern G4LOH at Goonhilly in June 2017

BBC TV’s Great British Railway Journeys is expected to show former MP for Enfield Southgate, Michael Portillo, using 5.6 GHz amateur radio to bounce a signal off the surface of the moon.

In 2017, a team led by Noel Matthews G8GTZ and Brian Coleman G4NNS made several visits to Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall to use the 32 metre GHY6 dish for 3.4 GHz and 5.760 GHz Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) operation. During one of the visits, Michael Portillo and the Great British Railway Journeys team visited and filmed a sequence including EME operation.

The show will be broadcast on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 6:30pm on BBC2.

Described as “Going to the moon by way of the Cornish Riviera” the sequence will show Michael talking to Brian G4NNS and operating his station under supervision to “talk to the moon” and hear his echos coming back.

The BBC description reads:

Steered by his early 20th-century Bradshaw’s railway guide, Michael Portillo boldly goes to the moon by way of the Cornish Riviera Express! On the trail of an historic achievement made at the dawn of the Edwardian era, he investigates the first radio signal to be sent across the Atlantic. In Plymouth, Michael uncovers what happened to surviving crew members of the most famous ocean liner in history, the Titanic. And at Fowey, he rediscovers a lost literary figure known as Q, who immortalised the town in his novels.

The show will be available online for 30 days from January 12 at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m8kc2

GB6GHY – Hello Moon, this is Goonhilly calling!
https://amsat-uk.org/2017/08/27/gb6ghy-hello-moon-this-is-goonhilly-calling/

This was not Michael Portillo’s first encounter with amateur radio, in 2014 he send Morse code at Chelmsford, Essex under the guidance of Peter Watkins M0BHY
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/january/michael_portillo_sends_morse_code.htm

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Find a UK amateur radio training course https://thersgb.org/services/coursefinder/

Nov 12 2015

HamTV on the ISS – Goonhilly update

While at Goonhilly Graham Shirville G3VZV received ISS HamTV on 2395 MHz with a 60cm dish

While at Goonhilly Graham Shirville G3VZV received ISS HamTV on 2395 MHz with a 60cm dish

Noel Matthews G8GTZ of the BATC provides an update on the amateur radio ground station at Goonhilly which will receive video from the ISS during the mission of Tim Peake KG5BVI.

Some of you may remember the presentation Graham Shirville G3VZV, gave at CAT15 subtitled “Tim Peake on a TV near you”.

Some of you may have also noticed a new station on the Tutioune map located at Goonhilly in Cornwall.

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly - Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly – Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

This station is using a 3.8 m dish is being loaned to the ARISS project by Satellite Catapult, and will be used to track the ISS and provide real time video during the schools contacts scheduled for early next year. This dish is almost in the shadow of the 29 metre dish built in 1962 to receive the first transatlantic television signals from the Telstar-1 spacecraft.

At the beginning of  November, we (G8GTZ, M0AEU and G3VZV) installed a PC with mini-tutioune software and a DB6NT downconverter to receive the ISS on the dish – It was no surprise that during the tests, we received video for 8.5 minute during one pass and had an MER of 30 dB 🙂

Currently the dish is not tracking the ISS but will be doing so in the near future and will be dedicated to this task for the next 6 months 🙂 In the mean time, the dish is pointing up at 90 degrees (zenith) but the receiver is connected and we received 25 seconds of blank video (visible on the TT monitor page) this morning when the ISS flew over the top of the dish!

There will be a full article on the ARISS Tim Peake project in the next CQ-TV along with pictures of the Goonhilly site.

Whilst we were at Goonhilly last week, Graham could not resist seeing if it was possible to receive the HamTV signal using only a handheld 60cms dish and the Tutioune software – much to the team’s surprise Graham was successful and this was the first reception of the ISS at Goonhilly as the equipment had was yet to be installed on the ground station dish!

Watch CAT15 HamTV on the ISS by Graham Shirville G3VZV

Local and Goonhilly Dishcams with map showing position of ISS at https://principia.ariss.org/dashboard/

Tutioune map
http://www.vivadatv.org/tutioune.php?what=map&sid=26af759a4ad0cf89cb0f0e59c1cd46c2

HamTV https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/hamtv-on-the-iss/

Satellite Catapult https://sa.catapult.org.uk/

British Amateur Television Club (BATC) http://batc.org.uk/
Twitter https://twitter.com/BATCOnline

Oct 28 2015

Young people build antennas at Goonhilly

Young people build antennas at GoonhillyYear 11 students have been spending a week’s work experience at Goonhilly Earth Station learning about radio and satellite receivers. They researched and built a low-cost receiver using the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Software Defined Radio.

Watch the video How to listen to the International Space Station

Goonhilly Earth Station http://www.goonhilly.org/

FUNcube Dongle Pro+ SDR http://FUNcubeDongle.com/