Tag Archives: International Space Station

Aug 3 2013

HamTV transmitter launched to ISS

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

Front panel of the HamTV transmitter

On Saturday, August 3 at 1948 UT the Japanese HTV-4 cargo vessel was successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS). On-board were the HamTV transmitter and four CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads.

PicoDragon CubeSat - Image credit VNSC

PicoDragon CubeSat – Image credit VNSC

The CubeSats will be deployed from the ISS by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) between October 2013 and March 2014, they are:
•    PicoDragon a 1U CubeSat developed by Vietnam National Satellite Center (VNSC), University of Tokyo and IHI aerospace. 437.250 MHz CW beacon and 437.365 MHz 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 telemetry.
•    ArduSat-1 developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.325 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
•    ArduSat-X developed by NanoSatisfi. 437.345 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink .
•    TechEdSat-3 developed by interns at the NASA Ames Research Center. 437.465 MHz 1200 bps packet radio beacon transmitting 1 watt to 1/4 wave monopole. It plans to test an Iridium Satphone modem and has a deployment mechanism to de-orbit in 10 days.

They are 1U in size (10*10*10 cm) except for TechEdSat-3 which is 3U (30*10*10 cm).

The company NanoRack has announced it is sending 36 Units of CubeSats to the ISS (believed to be 26 separate CubeSats, some 2U or 3U in size). At the time of writing it is believed they will be going on a later cargo vessel.

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

The HamTV transmitter is the culmination of over ten years work to establish an amateur radio TV transmitter on the ISS. It will use patch antennas fixed on the Meteorite Debris Panels (MDP) protecting the hull of the ISS Columbus module. These antennas were installed while Columbus was being constructed. A fund-raising campaign took place during 2005-7 to raise over 65,000 Euros for the antennas. Individual radio amateurs from around the world donated generously as did several organisations such as AMSAT-UK and the RSGB.

The transmitter will be installed in the Columbus module in the coming months. It can transmit DVB-S signals on 2422.0 MHz or 2437.0 MHz at either 1.3 Msps or 2.3 Msps with 10 watts of RF output.

The main mission of HamTV is to perform contacts between the astronauts on the ISS and school students, not only by voice as now, but also by unidirectional video from the ISS to the ground.

In addition to school contacts the equipment is capable of transmitting other pre-recorded video up to 24 hours a day to allow ground stations tuning.

HamVideo is the name of the onboard DATV S-band transmitter. HamTV is the name of the complete system, comprising DATV downlink and VHF voice uplink. Kaiser Italia SRL was the prime-contractor for the design and development of the flight and ground segment http://www.kayser.it/index.php/exploration-2/ham-tv

Read the HamTV overview paper at http://tinyurl.com/HamTVoverview

HamTV Link Budget http://www.amsat.it/Amsat-Italia_HamTV.pdf

HamTV on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Hamtvproject

ARISS DATV Antennas Installed on Columbus http://www.ariss-eu.org/columbus.htm

ArduSat for UK Schools
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/13/ardusat-for-uk-schools/

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

Spaceflight story – Japan’s HTV-4 launches supplies and science to the ISS
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/08/japans-htv-4-launches-supplies-scienceiss/

HTV-4 launch - Image credit JAXA

Jul 31 2013

Radio Ham’s Leaky Spacesuit

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

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

In edition 683 of Jonathan’s Space Report (JSR) Jonathan McDowell provides the history of the spacesuit of radio amateur Luca Parmitano KF5KDP which developed a water leak inside the helmet during a spacewalk on July 9, 2013. The spacewalk was abandoned and he was assisted back to the International Space Station (ISS) by Chris Cassidy KF5KDR.

The suit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP used for the extravehicular activity (EVA) was EMU 3011. It had three previous station tours, here is its flight history:
Flight 1  STS-79    1996 Sep 16-1996 Sep 25  (Apt, not used)
Flight 2  STS-83    1997 Apr  4-1997 Apr  8  (Spacelab, Gernhardt, not used)
Flight 3  STS-94    1997 Jul  1-1997 Jul 17  (Spacelab, Gernhardt, not used)
Flight 4  STS-91    1998 Jun  2-1998 Jun 12  (Chang, not used)
Flight 5  STS-95    1998 Oct 29-1998 Nov  7  (Robinson, not used)
Flight 6  STS-96    1999 May 27-1999 Jun  6  (Barry, 1 EVA)
Flight 7  STS-101    2000 May 19-2000 May 29  (Horowitz, not used)
Flight 8  STS-106    2000 Sep  8-2000 Sep 20  (Backup, not used)
Flight 9  STS-97    2000 Dec  1-2000 Dec 11  (Tanner, 3 EVA)
Flight 10 STS-100    2001 Apr 19-2001 Jul 25 (ISS tour, Hadfield (2), down on 104)
Flight 11 STS-109    2002 Mar  1-2002 Mar 12  (HST, Massimino(2))
Flight 12 STS-111    2002 Jun  5-2005 Aug  9 (ISS tour, Sellers (3),Pettit(2), down on 114)
Flight 13 STS-126    2008 Nov 15-2009 Nov 27 (ISS tour, down on 129, not used)
Flight 14 STS-132    2010 May 14-present    (ISS tour; Williams (1), Hoshide (2), Parmitano(2))

EMU 3011 incorporates the PLSS 1011 backpack – this contains most of the systems and you can think of it as the core of the suit considered as its own spaceship, with the other components as a relatively inert bubble containing the human occupant. Before the EMU 3000 series nomenclature was adopted, PLSS 1011 flew multiple times:

Flight  1 STS 61-B  1985 Nov 27-1985 Dec  3  EMU 1070/PLSS 1011 (Spring, 1 EVA)
Flight  2 STS-26R    1988 Sep 29-1988 Oct  3  EMU 1090/PLSS 1011 (Lounge, not used)
Flight  3 STS-27R    1988 Dec  2-1988 Dec  6  EMU 1090/PLSS 1011 (Ross, not used)
Flight  4 STS-29R    1989 Mar 13-1989 Mar 18  EMU 1090/PLSS 1011 (Springer, not used)
Flight  5 STS-28R    1989 Aug  8-1989 Aug 13  EMU 1098/PLSS 1011 (Brown, not used)
Flight  6 STS-36    1990 Feb 28-1990 Mar  4  EMU 2008/PLSS 1011 (Thout, not used)
Flight  7 STS-41    1990 Oct  6-1990 Oct 10  EMU 2008/PLSS 1011 (Akers, not used)
Flight  8 STS-39    1991 Apr 28-1991 May  6  EMU 2008/PLSS 1011 (Harbaugh, not used)
Flight  9 STS-48    1991 Sep 12-1991 Sep 18  EMU 2008/PLSS 1011 (Buchli, not used)
Flight 10 STS-46    1992 Jul 31-1992 Aug  8  EMU 2021/PLSS 1011 (Chang, not used)
Flight 11 STS-73    1995 Oct 20-1995 Nov  5  EMU 2034/PLSS 1011 (Coleman, not used)

So, this PLSS has flown a total of 25 times in space over 28 years – although of course there’s a bit of a “grandfather’s axe” paradox involved as it’s not clear how many of the original components remain.

Jonathan’s Space Report (JSR): http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html

In this video NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy KF5KDR shows where water leaked

NASA press release http://www.nasa.gov/content/tuesday-spacewalk-ended-early/

NBC news report http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/52492923

Jul 12 2013

Signal strengths of the two ISS ham radio stations

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

Henk Hamoen PA3GUO used his AMSAT-UK FUNcube Dongle Software Defined Radio (FCD SDR) to show the variations in signal strength between the two amateur radio stations on-board the International Space Station (ISS).

Expedition 5 flight engineer Peggy Whitson KC5ZTD holds one of the two amateur radio antennas in the Unity node on the ISS. The antennas were installed during a spacewalk scheduled on August 22, 2002

Expedition 5 flight engineer Peggy Whitson KC5ZTD holds one of the two ISS amateur radio antennas installed on the Russian Service Module August 22, 2002

The amateur radio station in the Russian Service Module uses a Kenwood D700 transceiver which is understood be on its lowest power setting of 5 watts output and feeds a whip antenna on the Module. When acting as a packet radio digipeater it transmits data on 145.825 MHz.

A second amateur radio station in the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus Module is usually used for voice communication. It comprises Ericsson handheld transceivers believed to be capable of 5 watts output to a whip antenna on the exterior of the module. When the radio hams on-board the ISS talk to other radio amateurs on Earth they transmit on 145.800 MHz.

Both stations use 5 kHz deviation FM (25 kHz channel spacing).

FUNcube Dongle Software Defined Radio

FUNcube Dongle Software Defined Radio

Henk PA3GUO writes:

FCD SDR recording of ARISS Italy school contact with astronauts onboard the ISS. Purpose is to show the signal strengths of the 2 transceivers onboard ISS: Ericsson Voice transceiver (left) and Kenwood data transceiver (right). At time 11:54z [2013-06-29] my antenna had to turn 180 degrees, signal is lost for a while. Remarkable: at the beginning voice TX signal is strong, even a bit stronger as data TX signal. At the end of the pass data keeps strong, voice fully drops into the noise. Seems the antenna of the Voice [ESA Columbus Module] transceiver is somewhat (more) shielded by the ISS exterior (e.g. solar panels).

29 June 2013, school contact Italy with International Space Station
Frequency: 145.800 + 145.825 MHz
Antenna: 6 elements + 15 meters Aircell coaxial cables
Receiver: FCD SDR + SSB pre-amp (mounted next to the FCD SDR)
Software: HDSDR (SDR receiver) + SatControlFCD (DK3WN freq control)

Watch ARISS Italy ISS SDR recording (speech and data spectrum)

Russian Service Module amateur radio antennas http://knts.tsniimash.ru/shadow/en/FAQ.aspx
Also see http://www.marexmg.org/hardware/antennas.html

Astronaut Radio Amateurs http://www.w5rrr.org/astros.html

PA3GUO website http://www.pa3guo.com/

Jul 2 2013

ISS Ham Radio Slow Scan TV Active

ISS Slow Scan TV received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

ISS Slow Scan TV received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

The Slow Scan TV (SSTV) experiment MAI-75 on the International Space Station (ISS) was active on July 2-3, on 145.800 MHz FM.

The Russian ham radio call sign is RS0ISS. Two Russian hams, Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, are aboard the ISS as part of the Expedition 36 crew.

On July 2, Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD received the picture opposite and on July 3, Joshua Nelson KB1TCI at the International Space University (ISU) GENSO ground station received the picture below.

All you need to do to receive the SSTV pictures from the space station is to  connected the audio output of a scanner or amateur rig via a simple interface to the soundcard on a Windows PC or an Apple iOS device, and tune in to 145.800 MHz FM. You can even receive pictures by holding an iPhone next to the radio’s loudspeaker.

ATV-4 SSTV image received by Joshua Nelson KB1TCI at ISU GENSO ground station

SSTV image of ATV-4 received by Joshua Nelson KB1TCI at the ISU GENSO ground station

The ISS puts out a strong signal on 145.800 MHz FM and a 2m handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it. The FM transmission uses 5 kHz deviation which is standard in much of the world.

Many FM rigs in the UK can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters so select the wider deviation. Handhelds all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

On Windows PC’s the free application MMSSTV can be used to decode the signal, on Apple iOS devices you can use the SSTV app. The ISS Fan Club website will show you when the space station is in range.

For more on Slow Scan Television SSTV, see this article SSTV – The Basics.

ISS SSTV picture of ATV-4 received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

ISS SSTV picture of ATV-4 received by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD

How to be successful with the ISS Slow Scan Television (SSTV) imaging system
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtoisssstv.html

Information on the MAI-75 SSTV experiment
http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html

IZ8BLY Vox Recoder, enables you to record the signals from the ISS on 145.800 MHz while you’re away at work http://antoninoporcino.xoom.it/VoxRecorder/

ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) Blog and Gallery http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.co.uk/

Watch this video showing MMSSTV receceiving a SSTV picture  November 9, 2012

For the latest status of amateur radio activity on the ISS and real time tracking see http://www.issfanclub.com/

Jun 14 2013

AMSAT ARISS Program Status

International Space Station ISS with shuttle Endeavour 2011-05-23Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and AMSAT VP for Human Spaceflight Programs presents an update on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program.

The presentation was given at the 2013 Dayton Hamvention. Frank takes a quick look at 30 years of amateur radio on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, some changes at NASA that are affecting ARISS, and finishes with how you can become involved.

Watch AMSAT ARISS Program Status, by Frank KA3HDO – 2013 Dayton Hamvention

ARISS http://www.ariss.org/

Jun 3 2013

UK’s SpaceKate Wins ‘Most Inspiring App’ – International Space Apps Challenge

SpaceKate T-10 AppThe App produced by broadcast journalist Kate Arkless Gray a.k.a. SpaceKate has won the Most Inspiring App category of the International Space Apps Challange.

Radio amateur and former ISS Commander and Chris Hadfield VA3OOG said about the App “Cool idea! A 10-minute alarm would be perfect”.

The app was initially produced over a busy weekend at Space Apps London and consequently won a place in the international judging. The small team, which consists of Kate Arkless Gray, João Neves, Ketan Majmudar and Dario Lofish have continued to develop the app and provisionally hope to launch it in July. Getting the app into the hands of the astronauts may take a little more time, but that is the aim.

Read more about SpaceKate’s T-10 App
http://spacekate.com/2013/t-10-wins-most-inspiring-app-international-space-apps-challenge/

SpaceKate on Twitter https://twitter.com/SpaceKate

SpaceKate on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceKate/116068865117993

SpaceKate: The time we took on Unilever – and won!
http://spacekate.com/2013/the-time-we-took-on-unliever-and-won/

International Space Apps Challange http://spaceappschallenge.org/