Tag Archives: satellite

May 9 2013

Ofcom 2400 MHz Consultation

AMSAT-UK_Bevelled_LogoThe UK communications regulator Ofcom has published a call for inputs relating to spectrum use by licence exempt devices in the 2.4 GHz band. 2400-2450 MHz is an ITU Amateur and Amateur Satellite Service allocation.

The Ofcom announcement says:

This band is close to radio spectrum in the 2300 MHz band, which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to release for new civil uses.

The MoD has therefore commissioned work to audit licence exempt uses in the 2400 MHz band, in particular to identify the full range of possible uses of this spectrum. The call for inputs introduces two audit reports that explore licence exempt use in the 2400 MHz band.

It also invites stakeholders to identify any other uses that may need to be considered to understand any technical coexistence.

The public consultation closes on June 19, 2013.

Consultation page and information on how to respond
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/2400-mhz/

Licence Exempt spectrum use in the 2400 MHz band
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/2400-mhz/summary/2400-mhz-cfi.pdf

RSGB – 2400 MHz Band – Call for Inputs
http://rsgbbeta.org/blog/news/gb2rs/headlines/2013/05/09/2400mhz-call/

May 5 2013

AMSAT-India VO-52 satellite completes eight years in orbit

HAMSAT VO-52

HAMSAT VO-52

On Sunday, May 5, 2013 AMSAT-India’s VO-52 completed 8 years in orbit. During this time it has proved to be a valuable communications resource for the amateur radio community.

Mani, VU2WMY, posted this on the AMSAT Bulletin Board:

It gives us great and immense pleasure to say that ‘HAMSAT VO-52’ completes eight fruitful years in orbit contributing to the wonderful cause of ‘Amateur Radio Satellite Communication’.

The overall health parameters are excellent and we do hope that transponder(s) on-board ‘HAMSAT VO-52’ would continue to render good services for many more years to come.

On this joyous occasion,on behalf of everyone here in ISRO/India and on my personal behalf, I thank each and every user, contributors and well wishers for this great achievement.

Special thanks to Guru VU2GUR, Nitin VU3TYG, Partha VU2GPS, Sunil VU2UKR, Bob W7LRD and others for sending in their reports and suggestions for the possible HAMSAT 2.

73 es good wishes de

Mani, VU2WMY
Secretary & Station-In-Charge
Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC
ISRO Satellite Centre

How to make contacts through the VO-52 satellite
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-the-ssb-satellites/

Getting started on Amateur Radio satellites
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/radcom-getting-started-on-satellites/

2005 – HAMSAT launch was 100% successful
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2005/hamsat_update2.htm

AMSAT-India http://www.amsatindia.org/

Apr 30 2013

Flying Laptop – 130 kg Satellite

Flying Laptop FLP satellite

Flying Laptop (FLP) satellite

The Flying Laptop (FLP) is a 130 kg spacecraft of 600 by 702 by 866 mm. It is the first satellite of the Small Satellites Program in Stuttgart. This mission aims to establish the foundation for the required infrastructure as well as the expertise for the Small Satellites Program of the Institute of Space Systems (IRS), University of Stuttgart. The satellite is developed and build at the IRS and will be operated with the institutes’ own ground station. The design, development, construction and future operation are primarily done by Ph.D. students and undergraduate students.

The satellite plans to demonstrate a number of innovative technologies including infra-red high speed optical links. Also three cameras with 25 metre resolution and an S Band downlink for near real time observations. Proposing 10 Mbit/s QPSK LHCP transmissions using CCSDS like protocol.

No launch yet confirmed but planning a sun synchronous LEO in late 2014. They have applied to the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) for coordinated Amateur Satellite Service frequencies.

More information from

https://oc.irs.uni-stuttgart.de/public.php?service=files&t=e12e0e7f821a3163d949a580672a3def

using the password hamradio13

Flying Laptop http://www.kleinsatelliten.de/index.php/en/flying-laptop.html

Apr 30 2013

IARU Region 1 Agrees Addition 2m Satellite Allocation

IARU_Region_1_logoThe minutes from the IARU Region 1 Interim meeting held in Vienna, April 20-21, have been released.

A number of papers related to Amateur-Satellite Service allocations were discussed:
• VIE13_C5_03 Increased Amateur‐Satellite Service 144MHz Usage
• VIE13_C5_05 Recommendations for DATV Transmission
• VIE13_C5_24 Region 1 Satellite Coordinator Report
• VIE13_C5_27 New Narrow‐Band working frequencies in the 2300–2450 MHz band
• VIE13_C5_32 2400MHz Amateur Satellites

The Vienna C5 meeting minutes are available here.

The original papers for the meeting are available here.

Probably the most important paper from an Amateur Satellite Service perspective was VIE13_C5_03 which proposed the use of 144.000-144.035 MHz for satellite SSB/CW downlinks.

The minutes record that Graham Shirville G3VZV presented the paper on the increasing use of 2m by satellites and the desire to use the under-utilized bottom of the 2m band 144.000-144.035, which had originally been harmonized for EME activity. EME has subsequently moved to frequencies further up the band.

In order to accommodate some CW contests, the proposal was reduced from 35 to 25kHz (i.e. 144.000-144.025 MHz).

If the other IARU Region 2 and Region 3 are also willing to go for 144.000 and 144.025, then IARU Region 1 will support this proposal.

Note: IARU Region 2 Conference is in Cancun, Mexico in September 2013.

Read VIE13_C5_03_Increased_Amateur_Satellite_Service_144MHz_Usage

Apr 22 2013

Vega’s three-satellite payload is integrated and ready for launch

Vega April 2013ESA report the payload “stack” for Vega’s second mission from  has been completed and is ready for the planned launch from Kourou on May 2.

After its deployment by Vega on the upcoming flight, Proba-V will begin the satellite’s mission of mapping land cover and vegetation growth across the Earth every two days. The miniaturized ESA satellite is to provide data for the instrument’s worldwide scientific user community and service providers once its in-orbit commissioning is completed.

Proba-V was produced by prime contractor QinetiQ Space Belgium and carries a new, advanced version of the Vegetation instrument – the latest in a series already deployed on France’s full-sized Spot-4 and Spot-5 satellites, which have been observing the planet since 1998 after their launches by Arianespace.

The Astrium-built VNREDSat-1 will support the Vietnamese government’s initiative to create an infrastructure enabling better studies of climate change effects, improving predictions for natural disasters and optimizing the country’s natural resource management.  It was built on behalf of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

ESTCube-1 is to test electric solar wind sail technologies and help establish an Estonian infrastructure for future space projects. This satellite was produced in a collaboration of students from Tartu University, Estonian Aviation Academy, Tallinn University of Technology and University of Life Sciences – and developed in conjunction with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the German Space Center (DLR).

Once in orbit, ESTCube-1 will deploy a small conductive tether which is to be electrically charged to 500 Volts using electron guns contained within the 10 x 10 x 10-cm. cubesat.

ESTCube-1 frequencies:
437.250 MHz – CW beacon, callsign ES5E/S
437.505 MHz – 9600 bps AX.25 telemetry, callsign ES5E-11

Read the full ESA story at http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1031.asp

Apr 21 2013

‘Bring Your Own Board’ CubeSat Workshop July 19

Surrey Space Centre University of Surrey, Guildford

Surrey Space Centre
University of Surrey, Guildford

Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and AMSAT-UK invite anyone with CubeSat equipment to a ‘Bring Your Own Board’ (BYOB) workshop. The aims are to demonstrate your latest CubeSat developments, to foster new partnerships and links within the UK and EU community, and encouraging more interaction with AMSAT-UK and the Colloquium (more info at: https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2013/).

Poster Stands (if required)

Poster Stands (if required)

The workshop is free to attend or present. Opening times are 9 AM to 4 PM, after which there will be the AMSAT-UK Satellite Beginners Session. There will be ad-hoc tours to SSC’s new cleanroom, ground-station, and CubeSat experimentation facilities.

Information for Demonstrators:
• Must have working hardware for demonstrating to visitors, i.e. TRL 5-6 and above.
• Provide a 1 slide overview of their developments & how it can benefit new UK missions for public show.
• A 1.5 m table, power and 1 m poster area will be provided.

Sign up: If you are interested in attending or demonstrating, please contact Dr Chris Bridges M6OBC to guarantee you a table and to estimate numbers.
Email: c.p.bridges@surrey.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689137, Surrey Space Centre, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, U.K. Website: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc

Download poster here.

Key Dates for your diary:
UK Space Agency Conference: 16-17 July 2013
Bring Your Own Boards Workshop: 19 July 2013
AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2013: 20-21 July 2013

STRaND-1 Engineering Model and Cleanroom

STRaND-1 Engineering Model and Cleanroom