Tag Archives: radio

Apr 5 2013

Ted Cooke-Yarborough 1918-2013

Ted Cooke-Yarborough in front of the Harwell Dekatron 61 years after he designed it . Photgraph by john Robertson used with the permission of the The National Museum of Computing http://www.tnmoc.org/

Ted Cooke-Yarborough in front of the Harwell Dekatron 61 years after he designed it. Photograph by John Robertson used with the permission of The National Museum of Computing http://www.tnmoc.org/

Ted Cooke-Yarborough passed away on January 10, 2013 aged 94. He was the lead designer of one of the world’s early computers and a pioneer in radar, transistorisation and electronics.

By the age of eleven he had built his first wireless receiver and at Canford School in Dorset he was a member of the Wireless Society that developed portable short-wave transmitter-receivers for two-way communication in the school grounds – the enterprising society sold two of them to the Yeovil fire brigade.

In 1946 he joined UK Atomic Energy programme to work on nuclear instrumentation and soon after his transfer to Harwell in 1948 supervised the design, construction and commissioning of the Harwell Dekatron computer working with co-designers Dick Barnes and Gurney Thomas.

The obituary published in The Telegraph mentions the Bagful receiver. Graham Shirville G3VZV says “I admit to being biased by having been at Malvern in the 60’s but the development of a scanning radio with built in recording device 70 years before we had FUNcube Dongles, laptops and IQ signals is pretty amazing to me”.

Read the National Museum of Computing obituary
http://www.tnmoc.org/news/notes-museum/ted-cooke-yarborough-1918-2013

Read The Telegraph obituary
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/9972656/Ted-Cooke-Yarborough.html

The National Museum of Computing http://www.tnmoc.org/

Feb 22 2013

STRaND-1 smartphone CubeSat mounted on PSLV rocket

Panoramic view of SARAL and smaller satellites including STRaND-1 attached to the PSLV C20 - Image credit ISRO

Panoramic view of SARAL and smaller satellites including STRaND-1 attached to the PSLV C20 – Image credit ISRO

The STRaND-1 build and test phase took just 3 months

The STRaND-1 build and test phase took just 3 months

The launch rehearsal of PSLV-C20 with the primary satellite SARAL and six other satellites has been completed satisfactorily at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. Mission Readiness Review and meeting of Launch Authorisation Board are scheduled on Feb 22, 2013.

STRaND-1 is a joint mission between Surrey Space Centre at University of Surrey and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). There will be an amateur radio AX.25 packet radio 9k6 bps downlink on 437.568 MHz and the launch is expected to take place on Feb 25.

STRaND-1 information and videos http://www.amsat-uk.org/?page_id=12196

STRaND-1 telemetry format http://www.amsat-uk.org/?page_id=12875

Other satellites on the same launch http://www.amsat-uk.org/?p=12180

ISRO PSLV-C20 status http://www.isro.org/pslv-c20/c20-status.aspx

Feb 19 2013

JAMSAT 2013 Symposium in Tokyo

tokyo

JAMSAT announces their 2013 Symposium to be held in Tokyo on March 9  to March 10. The Symposium will be held at the National Museum of  Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) – 7F Conference Room CR2. All amateur radio satellite operators are welcome to attend.

The Symposium schdule will be:

March 9 • 14:30 – 17:00 Papers and Technical Presentations • 17:30 – 19:30 Dinner Party

March 10 • 10:00 – 13:00 Papers and Technical Presentations

The list of technical topics includes: • Problem of 1.2GHz Band License • Interference with QZSS Satellite • FitSAT Report • JAMSAT Activities • Progress in Transponder and 38.4Kbps Transmitter • Noise Environment at 2.4GHz Band • Progress in Nippon University Cubesat “NEXUS” • Introduction to AMSAT-NA FOX-Project • SDR and Satellite Communication

Openings remain available for the addition of last minute presentations on topics pertaining to amateur radio in space. If you are interested in making a presentation please contact madoguchi@jamsat.or.jp or ja3gep@jamsat.or.jp

Information on the Museum meeting location can be accessed on-line: http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/

ANS, Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP of JAMSAT

Via http://www.southgatearc.org/index.htm

Feb 17 2013

ShindaiSat to carry Optical LED Morse Code Beacon

ShindaiSatShindaiSat is a 20 kg spacecraft approx 300 by 300 by 350 mm which is planning to use bright LEDs for Space to Earth optical communication using Morse code.

There will be an AX.25 packet radio telemetry beacon and a low power CW beacon. Downlink frequencies of 437.305 and 437.485 MHz have been coordinated by the IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel.

It is expected to launch into a 400km 65 degree orbit from Japan in 2013.

ShindaiSat website in Google English

Feb 10 2013

Amateur Radio on ISS switches to Ericsson after Kenwood problems

ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space StationAfter experiencing issues with the Kenwood D700 on two consecutive school contacts, ARISS will use the Ericsson radio on the Columbus module for ARISS contacts until problems with D700 are resolved.

According to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT’s Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs, “…for some reason, our signals from the Service Module Kenwood D700 radio are much diminished.  Our contact with Israel last Sunday [February 3]  had low audio levels, with good signals only near TCA.  Our contact [February 8] with the Hospital for Sick Children was even worse.  Only one student was able to talk to Chris Hadfield [VA3OOG] before we lost the signal.”

Continue reading →

Feb 7 2013

STRaND-1 Smartphone CubeSat to launch end of February

STRaND-1 and team - image credit SSTL

STRaND-1 and team – Image credit SSTL

The BBC report that the world’s first “smartphone-sat” STRaND-1 is ready to launch at the end of February. The satellite was built in Guildford by volunteers from the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in their spare time. It is planned to be launched on February 25 into a 785 km orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the PSLV-CA (PSLV-C20) rocket.

Dr Chris Bridges working on STRaND

Dr Chris Bridges working on STRaND-1

The innovative STRaND-1 CubeSat will carry a Google Nexus One Android smartphone into space to demonstrate the feasibility of using cheap smartphone electronics to control a spacecraft.

Smartphones contain highly advanced technologies and incorporate several key features that are integral to a satellite – such as cameras, radio links, accelerometers and high performance computer processors – almost everything a spacecraft needs except the solar panels and propulsion.

There will be an amateur radio AX.25 packet radio downlink on 437.568 MHz using a data rates of 9k6 bps.

STRaND-1 flight ready February 2013 with Shaun Kenyon, Dr Peter Shaw, Dr Chris Bridges

STRaND-1 flight ready February 2013 with Shaun Kenyon, Dr Peter Shaw, Dr Chris Bridges

Further information on STRaND-1 at
http://www.amsat-uk.org/?p=12196

Watch the videos in the STRaND-1 video archive
http://www.amsat-uk.org/?p=12472

Read the BBC News story at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21361204

The world’s first smartphone in Space ‘STRaND-1’ ready for launch
http://www.sstl.co.uk/News-and-Events?story=2117

Dr Chris Bridges talked about STRaND-1 on the BBC Radio 4 show Material World broadcast on Thursday, February 7. A recording can be heard until February 14 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qfj3l The STRaND-1 segment starts 08:55 into the recording.

STRaND-1 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nanosats

You can follow STRaND at https://twitter.com/SurreyNanosats