Tag Archives: Ham Radio

Jun 16 2015

International Space Colloquium at Guildford

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch Rev4 20100609The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on July 24-26 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK.

Among the speakers will be:
• Peter Guelzow DB2OS with an update on AMSAT-DL projects, including the Phase 4 satellite
• Chris Brunskill, formerly of Surrey Space Centre (SSC), now working at the Space Catapult at the Harwell Campus. He will be presenting an extremely novel project aimed at schools and education
• It is hoped the BATC will be able to demonstrate live Digital TV reception from the International Space Station, using the Ham TV system
• Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA, from AMSAT North America will be attending, and presenting the latest news of the FOX satellite(s) due for launch later this year, and also on their Phase 4 project

The Colloquium is open to all, admittance on the Saturday and Sunday is £10 each day. Further information is at https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/

Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF with ISS HamTV Transmitter

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF with the HamTV transmitter in the ISS Columbus module

Jun 15 2015

Help needed to receive NanosatC-BR1

NanosatC-BR1 Engineering Model – Image CRS/CCR/INPE-MCT, UFSM

NanosatC-BR1 Engineering Model – Image CRS/CCR/INPE-MCT, UFSM

The first Brazilian CubeSat, NanosatC-BR1, is experiencing battery issues for the last several months and it now seldom emits a beacon in CW on 145.865 MHz.

For some time, Paulo PV8DX, was able to detect a beacon signal when the satellite was over the Caribbean sea during daylight. But now, no more signals have been detected.

We would like to request assistance from hams in the northern hemisphere to see if NanosatC-BR1 is still transmitting any signals.

Any help will be much appreciated.

73, Edson PY2SDR
Email: ewpereira<at>gmail.com

NanosatC-Br 1 https://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/23/brazilian-cubesat-nanosatc-br-1/

Jun 11 2015

Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF back on Earth

Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF back on Earth June 11, 2015

Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF back on Earth June 11, 2015

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF along with Anton Shkaplerov and Terry Virts landed safely on Thursday, June 11 in Kazakhstan after a three-hour ride in their Soyuz spacecraft. They left the International Space Station (ISS) at 1020 UT in a Soyuz TMA-15M landing by parachute on the Kazakh steppe at 1344 UT.

Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF with ISS HamTV Transmitter

Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF with ISS HamTV Transmitter

Samantha is the seventh ESA astronaut and the first female ESA astronaut to complete a long-duration mission in space. She set new records for longest single time in space for an ESA astronaut and female astronauts in general.

She set a new record for single mission duration by a female astronaut with 199 days in space on her first flight, surpassing the previous record of 195 days set by Sunita Williams KD5PLB as a flight engineer on Expeditions 14 and 15 from December 2006 to June 2007.

Samantha carried out a number of ARISS amateur radio school contacts and was involved in the Blank Test Transmissions from the new ISS HamTV digital television system on 2395 MHz which were received by radio amateurs around the world.

Take a Panoramic Tour of the ISS Columbus Module, look out for the HamTV transmitter
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station/Highlights/International_Space_Station_panoramic_tour

Anatoly Zak http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_soyuz_tma15m.html#landing
ESA http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Futura/ESA_astronaut_Samantha_Cristoforetti_back_on_Earth
NASA http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/expedition-43-crew-departs-space-station-lands-safely-in-kazakhstan

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://ariss.org/

Jun 11 2015

FUNcube at Goonhilly

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

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

On Thursday, June 11, BBC TV News featured radio amateur Dr Chris Bridges 2E0OBC who was explaining about the FUNcube-1 CubeSat and FUNcube Dongle SDR at the Goonhilly Space Operations training event.

Twenty-four delegates from across Europe and the United States are at Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall to learn about satellite communications, and how to control orbiting spacecraft.

The four-day course, which runs until Friday, June 12, is aimed at giving science graduates with an interest in working in the space industry a first-hand idea of operating satellites. Staff said they believed it was the only course of its type in Europe teaching how to operate such equipment.

Chris 2E0OBC appears at 0:33 into the BBC TV report. Watch the video at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33090284

Space missions course at Goonhilly takes off http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-33087598

Goonhilly Space Mission Operations 2015 event http://spaceops.uk/

AMSAT-UK
Web https://amsat-uk.org/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK
Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK
Flickr https://flickr.com/groups/AmsatUK
YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK
FUNcube http://FUNcube.org.uk/
Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube
Join us at https://amsat-uk.org/new-members/join-now/

Jun 9 2015

The Generation of VLF Emissions by Meteors

VLF Pulses and Meteor Echos on the same Screen - Credit Dr David Morgan 2W0CXV

VLF Pulses and Meteor Echos on the same screen – Credit Dr David Morgan 2W0CXV

Radio amateur Dr David Morgan 2W0CXV has published an article about the possibility of the generation of Very Low Frequency (VLF) emissions in the range 1 to 10 kHz by an ionised meteor trail. He used a FUNcube Dongle SDR as part of the equipment for his experiments.

This article reviews the interesting, but not widely known, possibility that an ionised meteor trail can generate Very Low Frequency (VLF) emissions in the range 1 to 10 kHz. The work of several academic authors is referenced to describe the phenomenon and explore the physical mechanism that may be involved.

In this article he discusses the possibility of amateur radio astronomers being able to detect meteor radar echoes and simultaneous Very Low Frequency (VLF) signals in an attempt to establish a causal connection.

Download the article from
http://www.britastro.org/radio/downloads/The_Generation_of_VLF_Emissions_by_Meteors.pdf

Join the BAA-RAG Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baa-rag

BAA Radio Astronomy Group http://www.britastro.org/radio/

Radio Astronomy and SDR Dongles https://amsat-uk.org/2015/02/12/radio-astronomy-and-sdr-dongles/

AMSAT-UK
Web https://amsat-uk.org/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK
Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK
Flickr https://flickr.com/groups/AmsatUK
YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK
FUNcube http://FUNcube.org.uk/
Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube
Join us at https://amsat-uk.org/new-members/join-now/

Jun 9 2015

Picture confirms Solar Sail deployment

LightSail Solar Sail Deployed

LightSail Solar Sail Deployed

An image taken by the LightSail CubeSat and downloaded on 437.435 MHz 9600 bps AX.25 packet radio has confirmed the deployment of its Solar Sail.

LightSail Altitude

LightSail Altitude

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” @BillNye tweeted – This just in: a complete image of ‪#‎LightSail‬ in space! The future of space travel…

The sail started deploying at 1947 UT on June 7, 2015. It is expected that LightSail’s orbit will now decay rapidly resulting in the satellite burning up in the atmosphere in a matter of days.

If you wish to try catching a glimpse of LightSail as it soars across the sky there are viewing tips at
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2015/20150607-lightsail-deployment-initiatied.html

See a graph of the declining altitude

For the latest information read Jason’s blog on the Planetary Society website or follow him on Twitter
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/
http://twitter.com/@jasonrdavis

LightSail http://sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol

Bill Nye Boosts Science Guys and Girls: ‘Kids Are Natural Scientists’ on NBCNews.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/bill-nye-boosts-future-science-guys-girls-kids-are-natural-n370706