Tag Archives: PocketQube

Jan 2 2014

UK ‘DIY space kit shop’ on Yahoo News

Tom Walkinshaw Founder and CEO of Alba Orbital

Tom Walkinshaw Founder and CEO of Alba Orbital

Yahoo News have published an interview with entrepreneur Tom Walkinshaw, 24, who is opening a ‘DIY space kit shop’.

He hopes it will start a new, “DIY space race” with satellites available for as little as £12,000 ($18,000) which rises to £20,000 ($30,000) when you include the cost of launch into orbit.

“We never used to have PC’s in every University/School, but now a classroom without them is unthinkable,” Walkinshaw told Yahoo News this week.

“Just last month the first high school got their satellite into orbit – Imagine the economic and technological multiplier effect if every University and High School followed in their footsteps. You could do it for less than the cost of a teacher/lecturer for a year.”

Read the Yahoo interview at
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/the-diy-space-race–british-“satellite-shop”-opens—selling-spacecraft-for-£12-000–112223414.html

PocketQube Shop http://www.pocketqubeshop.com/

Dec 9 2013

$50SAT team seek help from radio hams

Yaesu handheld and $50SAT a 1.5U PocketQube

Yaesu handheld and $50SAT a 1.5U PocketQube

The $50SAT team is asking for help in capturing telemetry from the amateur radio 1.5U PocketQube satellite $50SAT on 437.505 MHz (+/-9 kHz Doppler shift) CW.

$50SAT Boards

$50SAT Boards

We are trying to determine the charging characteristics of the power system. The three team members all live above 40 degrees north and the satellite does not warm up enough during nighttime N-S passes to allow charging to begin. None of us are usually around during the daytime S-N passes and we would particularly appreciate telemetry reports when the satellite is in daylight.

Any form of report is welcome: decode of the fast Morse (120 WPM), RTTY demod, audio recording or I/Q capture from a FUNcube or RTL dongle would be greatly appreciated.

A link to a detailed description of the communications package can be found on the $50SAT website, http://www.50dollarsat.info/. The last distribution of Keps from AMSAT contain good elements for $50SAT.

$50SAT a 1.5U PocketQube

$50SAT a 1.5U PocketQube

$50SAT is one of the smallest amateur radio satellites ever launched at 5x5x7.5 cm and weighs only 210 grams. Transmitter power is just 100 mW.

Thanks,
Howie DeFelice AB2S
Email: howied231<at>hotmail.com

$50SAT has been a collaborative education project between Professor Bob Twiggs, KE6QMD, Morehead State University and three other radio amateurs, Howie DeFelice, AB2S, Michael Kirkhart, KD8QBA, and Stuart Robinson, GW7HPW.

The $50SAT team plan to make all the software and hardware designs freely available to anyone who wants them for personal or educational use. For further information see the $50SAT Dropbox at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l3919wtfiywk2gf/-HxyXNsIr8

There is a discussion group for $50SAT at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/50dollarsat/conversations/topics

50DollarSat http://www.50dollarsat.info/

HOPE RFM22B FSK transceiver http://www.hoperf.com/rf/module/fsk/RFM22B.htm

PICAXE-40X2 microcontroller http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/PICAXE-Chips/PICAXE-40X2-microcontroller/

Revolution Education http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/

$50SAT Eagle2 PocketQube Operational
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/22/50sat-eagle2-pocketqube-operational/

Dnepr satellites https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Dec 1 2013

Video: Commanding the WREN SSTV PocketQube

WREN - Image credit Stadoko

WREN – Image credit Stadoko

The WREN Team have released a video showing you how to use the WREN Decoder/Commander App.

The tiny PocketQube satellite WREN is just 5x5x5 cm yet is equipped with a camera for Slow Scan TV (SSTV) using the Martin-1 format, a gyro, a magnetic field sensor, momentum wheels and pulsed plasma microthrusters. The camera has an image processing system which can find the position of the Sun and the Earth automatically.

The WREN Decoder/Commander App uses the RTS pin of the com port to trigger TX of the radio (we use an ICOM 910h) for commanding. Decoder and Commander in one package.

Watch How to use the Decoder/Commander to send commands to Pocketqube Satellite WREN

The SSTV PocketQube WREN is currently in a mode where it beacons on 437.405 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for 1.6 seconds then listens for 6 minutes on that frequency for any commands. If none are received it goes to sleep for 2 minutes before transmitting the beacon again.

WREN spectral view after ACTIVATE/HK command

WREN spectral view after ACTIVATE/HK command

Because the beacon is so infrequent the approach currently being used is to send commands to WREN on 437.405 MHz whenever you think it is in range.

Thanet Radio and Electronics Club member Patrick Kirkden M0ZPK was the first person in the UK to achieve a confirmed reception of WREN.

Hope you can catch WREN and have fun commanding it.

WREN Decoder/Commander App Download https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pvzyr01216dab1k/uf4MQWEn5y

WREN on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/StaDoKo

WREN a Ham Radio Slow Scan TV PocketQube Satellite https://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/24/wren-a-ham-radio-sstv-pocketqube/

Commands for WREN SSTV Released https://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/28/commands-for-wren-sstv-released/

Satellite Tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Nov 28 2013

Commands for WREN SSTV Released

WREN - Image credit Stadoko

WREN – Image credit Stadoko

It is believed that the SSTV PocketQube WREN is currently in a mode where it beacons on 437.405 MHz for 1.6 seconds then listens for 6 minutes on that frequency for any commands. If none are received it goes to sleep for 2 minutes before transmitting the beacon again.

The WREN team have released the following information on their Facebook page to enable radio amateurs to activate the WREN SSTV transmitter.

BASIC COMMANDS

Commands to WREN are sent by toggling the carrier [of a FM transmitter]:
Carrier on/off: 1=long, 0=short, leave a noticeable silence between the bits.

• Activate/HK: 110011
• wait until answer [should be within 2 seconds]
• Camera ON: 11111
• wait until answer
• Snapshot & Thumbnail receive: 110
• decoder should display thumbnail picture 12*14 pixel can repeat this command until something useable appears
• SSTV send: 110100
• martin-1 SSTV picture comes… in 320×240 pixels color

Wren should answer to the commands within two seconds.
Wait always at least two seconds after having received data before sending to WREN

Notice:
Send the Activate/HK command first, else WREN won´t react to other commands.
When camera is OFF, a snapshot or SSTV command will send WREN into sleep mode. ALWAYS SWITCH CAMERA ON FIRST BEFORE SENDING CAMERA COMMANDS.
WREN´s housekeeping data will show the status of camera power (ON or OFF).

PS: A preliminary commanding software will come soon.
Special wishes for PTT control? VOX, RS232-RTS Pin etc ?

The Telemetry Decoder and an Audio File of the beacon are available at http://we.tl/TkWEuhIlnF

Hope you can catch WREN and have fun commanding it.

Cheers, Paul

WREN on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/StaDoKo

WREN a Ham Radio Slow Scan TV PocketQube Satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/24/wren-a-ham-radio-sstv-pocketqube/

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Nov 27 2013

WREN heard on 437.405 MHz

UB4UAD screenshot of WREN signal received Nov 26, 2013 at 06:47:13 UT

UB4UAD screenshot of WREN signal received Nov 26, 2013 at 06:47:13 UT

Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD may have received the first signal from the WREN PocketQube on 437.405 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler).

The WREN team would welcome any further reports. The length of the AFSK-modulated beacon is 1.6 seconds.

The Telemetry Decoder and an Audio File of the beacon are available at http://we.tl/TkWEuhIlnF

Dmitry was using these TLEs:

WREN
1 99922U 13066G 13326.48861818 -.00000055 00000-0 00000+0 0 75
2 99922 097.8066 039.1177 0023760 211.9046 148.0730 14.86334042 151

Source: Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD http://ub4uad.ru/?p=2917

UB4UAD site in Google English http://tinyurl.com/UB4UAD

WREN on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/StaDoKo

WREN a Ham Radio Slow Scan TV PocketQube Satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/24/wren-a-ham-radio-sstv-pocketqube/

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/

Nov 26 2013

WREN 437.405 MHz – Help Needed !

WREN - Image credit Stadoko

WREN – Image credit Stadoko

The WREN team report that they have had no confirmed reception of the signal from their SSTV PocketQube satellite which was launched on November 21.

These are the TLEs the team are currently using for WREN:

WREN2
1 10000U 00000 13325.30958333 .00066391 00000-0 78737-2 0 00001
2 10000 097.8055 037.9628 0031909 207.6761 327.4099 14.84238859000010

WREN is transmitting nominally on 437.405 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift). The length of the beacon is 1.6 seconds. The beacon is AFSK-modulated. At the following link you can download the Telemetry Decoder and an Audio File of the beacon in order to get an idea how it sounds:

http://we.tl/TkWEuhIlnF

The team say:

“We need help from every Amateur radio operator and Ground station operator we can get”

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/StaDoKo

WREN a Ham Radio Slow Scan TV PocketQube Satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/24/wren-a-ham-radio-sstv-pocketqube/

Dnepr Yasny launch https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/dnepr-november-2013/