Tag Archives: satellite

Jul 20 2013

AMSAT-UK Colloquium Videos Now Available

AMSAT-UK_Bevelled_LogoThanks to the hard work of volunteers from the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) videos of the presentations given to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium held in Guildford July 20-21, 2013 are now available to view online or download to your PC.

To access them follow these steps:
• Go to http://www.batc.tv/
• Click on the ‘Film Archive’ icon
• Select ‘AMSAT-UK 2013′ from the Category drop down menu
• Click ‘Select Category’
• Select the video you wish to watch
• Click on ‘Select Stream’
• Click the play icon ‘>’ on the player
• Clicking on the icon to the left of the player volume control will give you full screen display.

You can also download a video file to your PC by right-clicking on the ‘Click Here’ link under the player.

AMSAT-UK publishes a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, that is full of Amateur Satellite information. A sample issue of OSCAR News can be downloaded here.
Join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/

Jul 19 2013

Ofcom 2300 MHz and 3400 MHz Consultation Responses Needed

AMSAT-UK_Bevelled_LogoThe Ofcom 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz consultation closes at 5 pm on Monday, July 22. It proposes the loss of large chunks of amateur radio spectrum in both bands.

The British Amateur Television Club (BATC) have issued the statement below and all amateurs should give consideration to helping defend our spectrum by responding to this important Ofcom consultation.

Our vital allocations at these frequencies need to be defended. If Ofcom receives few responses to the consultation they may draw the conclusion that all amateur frequencies are “up for grabs”.

Noel G8GTZ on behalf of the BATC committee says:

It is vital that all BATC members in the UK, whether active on 2.3 GHz or not, respond and use the opportunity to show Ofcom that we value the spectrum we do have access to.

If they do not see a large response, they will be more inclined when considering the future of other bands, such as 10 GHz, to take the approach of the authorities in Sweden and Australia and just remove our access to bands without consultation.

The ATV community is particularly affected by the proposed changes, and whilst we do not have a formal BATC response, I have posted my own proposed responses on the BATC forum at:
http://www.batc.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3176

Also, Chris GW4DGU, Chair of the UK microwave group, has published his responses in the latest issue of Scatterpoint and they are available for download here:
http://www.johng4bao.webspace.virginmedia.com/Files/Ofcom%20Scatterpoint%201307.pdf

These responses can be used as guidance, but please do not just cut and paste.

You can either submit your response on-line http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/public-sector-spectrum-release/howtorespond/ or by email using the word template available at http://www.microwavers.org/files/2300MHz/PSSR-Reply-Template.doc

Please try to include info that indicates:

Are you a user these bands or other amateur microwave bands?
Are you a member of an associated specialist group? (eg UKuG , BATC, AMSAT-UK etc)
Typical use (eg narrowband, EME , ATV, data, beacon/repeater keeper etc)
Any particular concerns or other general comments
And of course, try to give specific answers to the nine questions !

Thanks to the good work by Murray Niman G6JYB and the BATC technical liaison team we do have a good relationship with our regulator in the UK and this is the opportunity for you all to show them how much we value the spectrum we have access to.

Ofcom Amateur Consultation on 2 & 3 GHz allocations
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2013/ofcom_amateur_consultation_on_2_and_3ghz_allocations.htm

The Register: Ofcom 2400 MHz Consultation
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/27/hams_strike_up_for_wifi_protection/

Joint RSGB, BATC, UKuG, AMSAT-UK submission to Ofcom 2.4 GHz Consultation
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2013/joint-submission-to-ofcom-2-4ghz-consultation.htm

Jul 17 2013

Ham Radio Workshop held at Satellite Event

Participants at the 2013 small satellite developer workshop

Some of the participants at the 2013 small satellite developer workshop

The National Institute of Amateur Radio was involved in the Small Satellite Developer Workshop held July 8-13, 2013 at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, in Kancheepuram.

The event was organized by Dhruva Space, a Bangalore based Small Satellite and High Altitude Ballooning Start-up, in association with the National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad.

Satellite experts with engineering models on display helped participants to grasp the challenges in designing and developing the subsystems of the small satellites.

To understand space based applications an Amateur Radio workshop was conducted to give participants a live example of usage of communications during disaster management.

Read the full report of the event in the Small Satellite Developer Workshop Newsletter

Dhruva Space http://dhruvaspace.com/outreach/amateur-radio/
https://www.facebook.com/DhruvaSpace

National Institute of Amateur Radio http://www.niar.org/ar.html
https://www.facebook.com/NationalInstituteOfAmateurRadio

Jul 16 2013

Registration Needed for SSTL Kepler Visit

SSTL-Kepler-Building

SSTL Kepler Building

As part of the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium there will be two opportunities to visit the satellite facilities at the Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Kepler building.

Visit # 1 –  Friday, July 19 at 5 PM

Visit # 2 – Sat, July 20 at 9 AM

In both cases the time refers to the pick up time at the main entrance to the Holiday Inn hotel, Guildford, GU2 7XZ and each visit will last approx 1 hour.

For security reasons SSTL need visitor details in advance

The details they need are first name, last name, nationality, and employer (if you have one)

If you wish to go on one of the tours please contact Jim Heck G3WGM by email g3wgm at amsat.org ASAP with these details, including which tour you wish to go on, Fri or Sat. Responses must be received by 1100 GMT on Thursday, July 18.

 Sorry, but no details in advance, no visit !

CubeSat Workshop Friday, July 19 https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/cubesat-workshop-2013/

AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium July 20-21 https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2013/

Jul 13 2013

New home for SunSpace staff

Sumbandilasat SO-67 before launch

Sumbandilasat SO-67 before launch

The South African Radio League (SARL) has issued the following bulletin about the company SunSpace which developed out of the Stellenbosch University SUNSAT OSCAR-35 project and was responsible for building the SumbandilaSat OSCAR-67 satellite. Both SUNSAT and SumbandilaSat carried amateur radio transponders.

The SARL say:

SunSpace is getting a new home, well at least the company’s intellectual property and 80% of the staff. The Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom alluded to solution for the ailing company in his budget speech on 21 May 2013.  He announced that the majority of SunSpace’s creditors have accepted the Department’s offer of R55 million for the institutions intellectual property and tangible assets. This decision was recommended in a business rescue plan compiled by a practitioner appointed by the SunSpace Board.

The offer was made on the basis of an independent evaluation of SunSpace’s intellectual property and tangible assets.  The offer is in line with a Cabinet decision that the satellite manufacturing company be absorbed into the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). SANSA has entered into an agreement with Denel Dynamics to house the SunSpace capability.

As part of a process of absorbing SunSpace’s capability within an appropriate entity, the company’s employees have been offered employment in the new business unit, and most of them (more than 80%) have accepted the offer thus ensuring that key capabilities are retained.  In this way, South Africa will retain the critical home-grown capacity developed by SunSpace.

SunSpace is the outflow of the Stellenbosch University SUNSAT project, South Africa’s and Africa’s first satellite launched on 23 February 1999 on Boeing-Delta II rocket from the Vandenberg Airforce base in California.  SunSat was developed and built by post graduate students and lectures. The group built SumbandilaSat for the Department of Science and Technology in record time but it took several years before it was launched. Both SunSat and SumbandilaSat had amateur radio transponders as part of their payload.

Denel is no newcomer to space. The company was involved in the previous programme until 1996 and has maintained its space capability including key staff as well as the Houwteq satellite test facility near Grabouw. “This opportunity will allow Denel to optimise the synergy between the SunSpace capabilities and its own capability for broader national technological benefit,” said the Group CEO of Denel, Mr Riaz Saloojee.

DynaCube – Denel Dynamics Interns make good progress
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/12/11/dynacube-denel-dynamics-interns-make-good-progress/

DynaCube to explore the South Atlantic Anomaly
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/03/30/dynacube-to-explore-the-south-atlantic-anomaly/

South African CubeSat DynaCube
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/07/19/south-african-cubesat-dynacube/

Jun 28 2013

UoSAT-1 – OSCAR-9 story in Daily Mail Newspaper Archive

UOSAT-1 OSCAR 9 Team

UoSAT-1 – OSCAR 9 and Team

The Daily Mail newspaper archive from 1896 to 2004 is now available online and contains a wealth of stories about amateur radio and amateur radio satellites such as UoSAT-1 (also known as UoSAT-OSCAR-9 or UO-9) built at the University of Surrey in Guildford.

The amateur radio satellite UoSAT-1, built by Martin Sweeting G3YJO and his team, featured in a Daily Mail story The men who put a dream in space published Tuesday, October 13, 1981. The story is written with a sexist slant, sadly all too common at the time, saying “Every schoolboy can circle Earth with the Guildford satellite”. Apparently the Daily Mail didn’t want schoolgirls to listen to the satellite.

One of the many amateur radio stories the newspaper published is Amateur Radio Triumph that appeared on Friday, November 16, 1928. It describes the first Transatlantic contact between the UK and the USA which took place on the 28 MHz (10m) band.

Free access to the Daily Mail archive is only available until July 20, 2013 at
http://www.galeuk.com/trials/dailymail-opentrial/

Try searching for Amateur Radio or UoSAT or Marconi.

You can save the stories to your PC by selecting 100% zoom then doing a right-hand mouse click on the story and selecting Save Image As in Firefox or Save Picture As in Internet Explorer.

The UoSAT-1 Technical Handbook lists these contributors to the project:
Telecommand System and Flight Configuration – Dr. Martin Sweeting G3YJO, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Power Systems – Jerzy Slowikowski, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Telemetry – Dr. Lui Mansi, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Data Beacons – Bob Haining, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Antenna Systems – Tony Brown, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Navigation Magnetometer – Christine Sweeting G6APF, UOS/AMSAT-UK
Spacecraft Microcomputers – Chris Haynes, UOS/AMSAT-UK
HF Beacons – Colin Smithers G4CWH, UOS/AMSAT-UK
CCD Camera Imaging – Dr Paul Taylor, UOS/AMSAT-UK

30th Anniversary of UoSAT-1 (OSCAR-9)
https://amsat-uk.org/2011/10/12/30th-anniversary-of-uosat-1-oscar-9/

UoSAT-2 – OSCAR-11 still transmitting after 29 years in orbit
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/08/oscar-11-still-transmitting-after-29-years/