Tag Archives: International Space Station

Aug 22 2013

Ham Video transmitter onboard ISS Columbus module

International Space Station ISS with shuttle Endeavour 2011-05-23

How a DATV transmitter on S-band is being added to the ARISS equipment onboard the International Space Station has been related in an announcement recently circulated and available at

http://www.ariss-eu.org/HamVideo.pdf

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

The ARISS Ham Video transmitter is presently onboard Columbus. The transmitter was delivered by Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-4, which launched August 4 and docked 5 days later.

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP / IR0ISS reported that the bags are stored in Columbus. There are two bags: one for the transmitter, the other for the power, camera and antenna cables.

Installation will be done by US astronaut Michael Hopkins KF5LJG who has been trained for the commissioning of the Ham Video equipment.The commissioning is planned later in the year, possibly end October when there are favourable passes over Italy. Indeed, the tests transmissions for the commissioning of the onboard equipment will be received by the ground station of the “Centro di Geodesia Spaziale” of the Italian Space Agency, located in Matera, Southern Italy.

A basic amateur radio station that should be able to receive HamTV from ISS - Image AMSAT-Italia

A basic amateur radio station that should be able to receive HamTV from ISS – Image AMSAT-Italia

We will report in due time on the commissioning procedure which will involve a series of tests to be performed during 3 or 4 ISS passes.

Possibly, the Ham Video transmitter will transmit continuously between the commissioning steps offering amateur ground stations the opportunity to test and tune their receiving equipment. The transmissions will be performed in automatic mode, without requiring crew time. The camera, which runs on a battery, will not be used and the ground stations will receive a black image.

Meanwhile, commissioning is being prepared steadily. The kick-off meeting took place November 2012 at ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre, located in Noordwijk the Netherlands.  Detailed procedures are examined and finalized during weekly ESA/ARISS teleconferences. A preliminary EST (Experiment Sequence Test) is planned August 28-29. The test will involve the ARISS ground station IK1SLD, located in Casale Monferrato in Northern Italy.

One of the Columbus Module 2.4 / 1.2 GHz Antennas

One of the Columbus Module 2.4 / 1.2 GHz Antennas

IK1SLD, which is an ARISS telebridge station often used for educational ARISS school contacts on VHF, has been upgraded for S-band reception. Ham Video manufacturer Kayser Italia has delivered a 1.2 meter dish, a down converter and precision tracking motors, which are part of the ESA funded equipment. For the EST, the station will receive a DATV signal from a local low power S-band test transmitter. The decoded signal will be webstreamed to the BATC server. The British Amateur Television Club offers ARISS free access to their server. ESA examiners will connect to the BATC server and evaluate the reception. Test transmissions at IK1SLD will cover the different frequencies and symbol rates available on the Ham Video transmitter.

Web streaming will take advantage of the special software developed by Jean Pierre Courjaud, F6DZP. References are available in the HamVideo.pdf.

When the Ham Video transmitter will become operational, it will be used for ARISS educational school contacts. Video will be for downlink only. Uplink will be VHF FM audio. The Ericsson transceiver onboard Columbus will be used for reception onboard. This cross band and double mode operation is called Ham TV. Ham Video is the name of the DATV transmitter.

73,

Gaston Bertels – ON4WF
ARISS-Europe chairman
This Bulletin is available from the frontpage of http://www.ariss-eu.org/

Aug 21 2013

Radio ham describes “nearly drowning” during space walk

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP / IR0ISS on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013 - Image credit ESA

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP / IR0ISS
on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013 – Image credit ESA

“I can’t even be sure that the next time I breathe I will fill my lungs with air and not liquid”

These are the words of Luca Parmitano KF5KDP / IR0ISS describing his recent space walk during which his spacesuit leaked.

Read his blog – EVA 23: exploring the frontier
http://blogs.esa.int/luca-parmitano/2013/08/20/eva-23-exploring-the-frontier/

Radio Ham’s Leaky Spacesuit
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/07/31/radio-hams-leaky-spacesuit/

Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP talks about his ham radio contacts
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/14/astronaut-luca-parmitano-kf5kdp-talks-about-his-ham-radio-contacts/

Huffington Post – Astronaut Luca Parmitano Recounts Nearly Drowning During Spacewalk
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/luca-parmitano-spacewalk-drowning_n_3786645.html

Aug 20 2013

Radio ham VK3FADO in The Age newspaper

ArduSatThe Age newspaper reports on Jonathan Oxer VK3FADO who has been developing the ArduSat CubeSats which carry amateur radio payloads

The article, by Ben Grubb, says for the past 10 months, Jon VK3FADO has been involved in designing and building two crowd-funded micro-satellites that will allow anyone to conduct their own space experiments.

Named ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X, the low-cost, miniature satellites are aboard the International Space Station ready to be put into orbit between October and March 2014.

Read the full article at
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/to-let-your-own-tiny-piece-of-space-young-einsteins-welcome-20130819-2s7bh.html

ArduSat Open Source Ham Radio CubeSats
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/09/ardusat-open-source-ham-radio-cubesats/

Aug 14 2013

Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP talks about his ham radio contacts

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013 - Image credit ESA

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013 – Image credit ESA

On his ESA blog astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP talks about his ham radio contacts from the International Space Station.

I set the radio to the ‘random’ contacts frequency, and without knowing what to expect, I put on the headphones. Physically, the International Space Station was still many kilometres away from the coastlines of Europe, but our horizon stretches out beneath us for thousands of kilometres and the various European ground stations could already see us. My ears were immediately overwhelmed by a cacophony of unidentifiable sounds and noises, voices, screeching and white noise. Then suddenly, a voice surfaced above the other sounds; it was a young man, in my mind barely more than a boy. He was calling the ISS American radio call sign (NA1SS) and repeating his own call sign. I was taken aback by the emotion that rose in me as I tried to reply to the call, using the Italian call sign (IR0ISS). But my excitement was nothing compared to the sheer astonishment and disbelief I heard in that voice, thousands of kilometres away. Speaking English with a beautiful Portuguese accent, the radio operator on the other side of the signal only managed to say a few words – “I don’t know what to say… This is a dream come true for me!” – before our conversation was interrupted and buried by swarms of other calls.

Read the blog at http://blogs.esa.int/luca-parmitano/2013/08/13/message-in-a-bottle/

Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP making ham radio contacts
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/12/astronaut-luca-parmitano-kf5kdp-making-ham-radio-contacts/

Aug 12 2013

Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP making ham radio contacts

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013- Image credit ESA

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP on Expedition 36 EVA July 9, 2013- Image credit ESA

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP has been making random voice contacts from the International Space Station (ISS) to other radio amateurs on Earth on 145.800 MHz.

When the astronauts put out a CQ call, in range of Europe and Africa, they transmit on 145.800 MHz FM but operate “split” listening for replies 600 kHz lower on 145.200 MHz. If you are lucky and hear them calling CQ just remember to activate your rigs repeater shift to ensure you reply on the correct frequency. You should never transmit on 145.800 MHz.

The International Space Station is traveling around the Earth at over 28,000 Km/h. This high speed makes radio signals appear to shift in frequency, a phenomenon called Doppler Shift.

This Doppler shift will cause the ISS transmit frequency of 145.800 MHz to look as if it is 3.5 kHz higher in frequency, 145.8035, when ISS is approaching your location. During the 10 minute pass the frequency will move lower shifting a total of 7 kHz down to 145.7965 as the ISS goes out of range. To get maximum signal you ideally need a radio that tunes in 1 kHz or smaller steps to follow the shift but in practice acceptable results are obtained with the radio left on 145.800 MHz.

In the UK we use narrow 2.5 kHz deviation FM but the ISS transmits using the wider 5 kHz deviation used in much of the world. Most rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation filters so select the wider filter. Hand-held rigs all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

You can receive the ISS outdoors using a 2 metre hand-held with its helical antenna but a 1/4 wave whip will give far better results.

For the current status of the amateur radio stations on the ISS see http://www.issfanclub.com/

Cor PD0RKC reports “On Monday, August 5, 2013 I had a short contact with Luca, anyone made an audio recording? Please send it to my e-mail address see QRZ.com. Thanks in advance!”

Aug 9 2013

ArduSat Open Source Ham Radio CubeSats

ArduSat

Australian Foundation radio amateur Jonathan Oxer VK3FADO is one of the designers of the two CubeSats ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X which arrived at the ISS on Friday, August 9 UT.

The Arduino-powered satellites were transported to the International Space Station by the Japanese HTV-4 cargo vessel along with the PicoDragon and TechEdSat-3 CubeSats and the HamTV transmitter.

The ArduSat’s will be deployed from the ISS by the Kibo robot arm sometime between October 2013 and March 2014. They are expected to have a lifetime of 7 months before burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.

An article in The Register by Simon Sharwood says

Jonathan Oxer, one of the satellites’ designers, says serious science is one aim of the project, its main goal is “ is to inspire hobbyists and school students to learn about space technology, beginning with simple experiments using cheap Arduino boards in their classroom and then seamlessly transitioning to running those same experiments in space on a real satellite.”

That experience, he hopes, will see them take pursue studies in technical fields and over time address skills shortages.

Oxer hopes to release designs for the ASPPM.

“The design of the payload will also be released under the TAPR Open Hardware License, as soon as I have a clear path to do it without falling afoul of the laws restricting international arms trade [ITAR],” he told The Reg. “That’s actually quite a problem because satellite technology is classified as a weapon, no matter what its purpose is.”

Read the full Register article Open source ‘Cubesat’ set to soar at
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/09/arduino_powered_cubesats_arrive_at_iss_on_saturday/

Watch a video of Jon Oxer VK3FADO talking about the ArduSat CubeSats at
http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/08/08/179222/jon-oxer-talks-about-the-ardusats-that-are-on-the-way-to-iss-video

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) were introduced by the US Federal Government. ITAR threatens US radio amateurs with up to six figure fines or jail if they talk to non-US citizens about certain aspects of their amateur satellite hobby. These draconian regulations have stopped cooperation on amateur satellite projects between US hams and the rest of the world.

Read AMSAT Wants Amateur Radio Satellites Off US Munitions List
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/07/31/amsat-wants-amateur-radio-satellites-off-us-munitions-list/

The amateur radio group TAPR developed the TAPR Open Hardware License (“OHL”) to provide a framework for hardware projects that is similar to the one used for Open Source software  http://www.tapr.org/OHL

Among the other radio amateurs who’ve been working on ArduSat are Jeroen Cappaert KK6BLQ and Joel Spark KK6ANB, both hold the USA equivalent of UK and Australian Foundation licences.

ArduSat Arduino CubeSat Technical Details https://amsat-uk.org/2012/06/20/ardusat-arduino-cubesat-technical-details/

HamTV transmitter launched to ISS https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/03/hamtv-transmitter-launched-to-iss/

Kibo Robot Arm CubeSat Deployment

Kibo Robot Arm CubeSat Deployment