Tag Archives: satellite

Nov 15 2013

Happy 39th Birthday AO-7 !

OSCAR 7 in Space

OSCAR 7 in Space

On the AMSAT bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) Paul Stoetzer, N8HM reminds us that November 15 is the 39th birthday of the AMSAT-OSCAR-7 (AO-7) satellite which incredibly is still operational after so many years in space. A tribute to the engineering abilities of radio amateurs.

OSCAR 7 amateur radio satelliteHappy Birthday to AO-7! Launched on 11/15/1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Continued congratulations to all those involved in the design, building, launch, and operations of this satellite. It’s an amazing achievement that, other than the batteries, most of the circuitry continues to function normally 39 years after launch. Here’s to
hopefully many more years of service to the amateur community!

For more information about the lead-up to and the launch of AO-7, as well as the first years of operation, see the 1974-1981 AMSAT
Newsletters on KA9Q’s website:

http://www.ka9q.net/AMSAT-Newsletter-1974.pdf

http://www.ka9q.net/newsletters.html

N4HY has a wonderful gallery of photos from the construction and launch of AO-7 on his Smugmug page:

http://n4hy.smugmug.com/AMSAT/AMSAT-Oscar-7

73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Washington, DC (FM18)

Pat Gowen G3IOR in radio shack circa 1975

Pat Gowen G3IOR in radio shack circa 1975

The amateur radio satellite AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched by a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on November 15, 1974 and provided many years of service until it went silent from battery failure in mid 1981.

For 21 years nothing more was heard until June 21, 2002 when Pat Gowen G3IOR came across a beacon sending slow 8 -10 wpm CW on 145.973.8 MHz. It sounded like old OSCAR satellite telemetry, it had the familiar HI HI followed by a string of numbers in groups of three. After monitoring by many radio amateurs it turned out to be OSCAR-7, and it seemed to have come back from the dead.

Pat’s email to the AMSAT Bulletin Board announcing his discovery can be seen at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/200206/msg00525.html

It is believed that in 1981 the batteries failed short-circuit, however, in 2002 they became open-circuit enabling the satellite to run again from the solar panels. Since that day OSCAR 7 has been operational when in sunlight and provided radio amateurs with many long distance (DX) SSB/CW contacts.

Remember when working OSCAR 7 use the least uplink power possible to minimize your downlink power usage, and maximize the number of simultaneous contacts supported in the passband.

A BBC News report Radio ham finds lost satellite about the reception of OSCAR 7 by Dave Rowan G4CUO can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2149381.stm

Video of 2E0HTS Working the OSCAR-7 Satellite https://amsat-uk.org/2012/01/26/2e0hts-working-the-oscar-7-satellite/

OSCAR-7 http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1031

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

Nov 13 2013

Three Amateur Radio Satellite Deployments in November

A Dnepr launch

A Dnepr launch

In his blog Nader Omer ST2NH notes the large number of  satellites carrying amateur radio payloads that are expected to be launched in the next two weeks.

There will be an estimated 34 new satellite downlinks to be received with two of the satellites also providing 435/145 MHz linear transponders for SSB/CW communications. It will present a considerable challenge to correctly identify all satellites and match them to the NORAD Two-Line Element data in the days after deployment.

In a single week in November we should see:
• November 19-20 ISS CubeSat deployment
• November 20 Minotaur-1 launch
• November 21 Yasny Dnepr launch

Mineo Wakita JE9PEL has produced a list of frequencies of the satellites carrying amateur radio payloads that are planned to be launched in November.

Mineo Wakita JE9PEL Satellite Frequency List

Satellite         Uplink          Downlink         Beacon       Mode
- 
ISS deployment:
PicoDragon           .            437.365          437.250      1200bps AFSK,CW
ArduSat-1            .            437.000             .         9600bps MSK
ArduSat-X            .            437.000             .         9600bps MSK
TechEdSat-3          .            437.465          437.465      1200bps AFSK,CW
-
Minotaur-1 launcher:
Black Knight-1       .            437.345             .
CAPE-2               .            145.825/437.325     .
COPPER               .            437.290             .         9600bps
DragonSat-1          .            145.870             .
Ho'oponopono-2       .            427.220             .         9600bps FSK/GMSK
KYSat-2              .            437.405             .
NPS-SCAT             .            437.525/2401.200-2447.600
PhoneSat-v2          .            437.425/2401.200-2431.200
SwampSat             .            437.385             .
TetherSat            .            437.100/305         .         9600bps GFSK
TJ3Sat               .            437.320             .
Trailblazer-1        .            437.425             .
-
Dnepr launcher:
BRITE-PL1            .            2234.4
CubeBug-2            .            437.445             .         1k2 AFSK 9k6 FSK,GMSK
Delfi-n3Xt        435.530-570     145.880-920         .         Transponder(U/V)
Delfi-n3Xt           .            145.870/930         .         1200bps AFSK
Eagle-1              .            437.465             .         9600bps GFSK
Eagle-2              .            437.505             .         9600bps GFSK
E-Star-2             .            437.485             .         1200bps AFSK
First-MOVE        435.520         145.970             .         1200bps BPSK
FUNcube-1         435.150-130     145.950-970         .         Inverting(U/V)
FUNcube-1            .            145.935             .         1200bps BPSK
GOMX-1               .            437.250             .         1k2/2k4/4k8/9k6 GMSK
HiNCube              .            437.305             .
Humsat-D             .            437.325/437.525     .
ICUBE-1           435.060         145.947             .         1200bps BPSK
NEE-02 Krysaor       .            980.000?            .
PUCP-SAT-1        145.840         145.840/437.200     .         1200bps AFSK
Pocket-PUCP          .            437.200          437.200      1200bps AFSK,CW
Qubescout-S1         .            437.525             .         9600bps GMSK
Triton-1          435.xxx         145.815/860     2408.000      9600bps RC-BPSK
UniSat-5             .            437.175/425         .         9600bps GMSK
UWE-3                .            437.385          437.385      1200bps FSK,CW
VELOX-P2          437.305         145.980             .         1200bps BPSK
Wren                 .            437.405          437.405      1200bps FSK,CW
ZACube-1          145.860         437.345           14.099

Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ for new satellites launched in past 30 days
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

Free software for satellite tracking https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/satellite-tracking/

Thanks to Nader Omer ST2NH whose satellite blog can be seen at http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.co.uk/

Nov 11 2013

FUNcube-1 on BBC Radio

Graham Shirville G3VZV withdevelopment version of FUNcube spacecraft

Graham Shirville G3VZV with the Engineering Model of the FUNcube spacecraft in 2012

Graham Shirville G3VZV was interviewed about the FUNcube-1 CubeSat in the Roberto Perrone show on BBC Three Counties Radio. The interview, broadcast on Monday, November 11 is now available on the web.

FUNcube is an educational spacecraft project with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics.

It will support the educational Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives.

The target audience consists of primary and secondary school pupils and FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will provide a strong signal for the pupils to receive. It will also carry a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for amateur radio SSB/CW communications.

The launch is planned for November 21, 2013 at 07:10:11 UT on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny in the Russian Federation.

You can listen to the BBC radio interview by dragging the slider to 02:19:29 in the “Listen Now” recording of the 3 hour show which is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kkvzh

FUNcube-1 spacecraft in the clean room with Graham Shirville G3VZV

FUNcube-1 spacecraft in the clean room with Graham Shirville G3VZV

Nov 10 2013

Signals heard from ham radio satellite AO-27

Image Credit AMRAD

EyeSat (AO-27) Image Credit AMRAD

Attempts to recover the 20 year-old amateur radio satellite AO-27 are continuing and signals have been received on 436.795 MHz.

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board Reid W4UPD reports:

“Heard AO27 a couple of times. Both yesterday and today [Nov. 10]. Today I heard it around 18:10 UT. The telemetry was good and strong. Hopefully they can get this old girl working again as well.”

AO-27 information
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/sat_summary/ao27.php

Online real-time tracking of AO-27 (EyeSat)
http://www.n2yo.com/?s=22825&df=1

See the latest status updates on AO-27 at http://www.ao27.org/AO27/

Nov 3 2013

Art and Ham Radio in Deep Space

ARTSAT2 DESPATCH Deep Space Sculpture

ARTSAT2 DESPATCH Deep Space Sculpture

Students at the Tama Art University are planning to send a sculpture ARTSAT2 DESPATCH along with an amateur radio payload into deep space.

ARTSAT students at the Tama Art University

ARTSAT students at the Tama Art University

The ARTSAT2 Deep Space sculpture “DESPATCH” is planned to launch in mid 2014 on a H-IIA rocket with the asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 as the main payload. Hayabusa 2 will be making a round-trip to the C-type asteroid 1999 JU3 arriving at the asteroid in mid 2018.

The sculpture, which is 50 by 50 by 45 cm with a mass of 30 kg, was developed at the Tama Art University using a 3D Printer. The containment vessel will carry a CW beacon in the 435 MHz band using an omni-directional antenna. The satellite should provide the ultimate in ham radio DX reception when at its maximum operational distance of 3 million km from Earth about a week after launch. Being battery powered without solar panels it will have a low transmit cycle to maximize the lifespan.

ARSAT2: DESPATCH in Google English http://tinyurl.com/ARTSAT-DESPATCH

ARTSAT on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artsat

The students have already developed the INVADER CubeSat which is planned to launch in 2014, see
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/04/12/invader-cubesat-a-student-art-satellite/

Oct 24 2013

Radio amateurs asked to help receive CUSat

CUSat Team Spring 2013

CUSat Team Spring 2013

Alexandra Abad, who is studying Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University, has asked for the help of radio amateurs around the world to try and detect signals on 437.405 MHz from the student built satellite CUSat which was launched on September 29, 2013 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

CUSat - Image credit Cornell University

CUSat – Image credit Cornell University

She writes:

I’m a current member of CUSat at Cornell University. As you may know, we are a student-run team, winner of the University Nanosat-4 competition  and recently launched with Falcon 9 in September. We have currently been having issues hearing CUSat and would appreciate any help!

Below is some tracking information:
• Beacon Downlink Frequency: 437.405 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler Shift) FM AX.25 packet radio
• Beaconed Callsign: BOTTOM
• FCC Callsign: WG2XTI
• Data Rate: 1200 baud
• Modulation: AFSK
• Transmit Interval: Every 1 minute
• RF Power Output: 2.2 W
• Antenna Polarization: Linear
• Real-Time satellite track http://www.n2yo.com/?s=39266&df=1

If get any results or have any questions at all please email us at public@cusat.cornell.edu

Visit http://cusat.cornell.edu/ if you would like to learn more about our program.

Thanks!

Alexandra Abad
Cornell University ’14
Mechanical Engineering

CUSat Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/engineering.txt

Real-time tracking  information for CUSat is at http://www.n2yo.com/?s=39266