Tag Archives: UKube-1

Oct 10 2013

AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 Presentation on Saturday

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

Dave Johnson G4DPZ will be giving a presentation on the amateur radio AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 and UK Space Agency (UKSA) UKube-1 satellites to the RSGB Convention on Saturday.

The presentation will take place from 16:45-17:30 in the Cook 2 room at Horwood House, MK17 0PH on Saturday, October 12.

FUNcube-1 carries a 435/145 linear transponder for SSB and CW communications and an educational telemetry beacon using 1k2 BPSK for school outreach purposes.

Ukube-1 carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards that will provide an additional 435/145 MHz linear transponder and educational telemetry beacon.

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

The current launch information has lift off for FUNcube-1 scheduled for late November and UKube-1 on February 20.

FUNcube-1 communication subsystem:
• 300 mW Inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW
– Uplink      435.150 – 435.130 MHz
– Downlink  145.950 – 145.970 MHz
• 300 mW BPSK Telemetry  145.935 MHz (30 mW when transponder active)

UKube-1 communications subsystem:
• Telemetry downlink 145.840 MHz,
• FUNcube subsystem beacon 145.915 MHz
• 400 mW Inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW
– Uplink     435.080 -435.060 MHz
– Downlink 145.930 -145.950 MHz
• S Band downlink 2401.0 MHz
• myPocketQub 437.425-437.525 MHz

The RSGB’s Centenary Convention, sponsored by Martin Lynch & Sons, takes place this weekend (Fri eve-Sun) October 11-13 at Horwood House, MK17 0PH just a few miles outside Milton Keynes. Tickets are available on the door.

RSGB Convention Schedule
http://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/rsgb-notices/2013/09/10/centenary-convention-2013-programme/

RSGB Centenary Convention
http://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/rsgb-notices/2013/07/10/rsgb-centenary-convention/

FUNcube Yahoo Group
https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

Oct 1 2013

February Launch for UKube-1 ?

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD reports that the launch of Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M from Baikonur in Kazakhstan has been postponed until February 20, 2014.

The Soyuz should carry Meteor-M number 2, MCA-PN2 (Relek), M3MSat, UKube-1, SkySat-2, TechDemoSat-1, AISSat-2, DX-1.

UKube-1, built by Clyde Space, is the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat and carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards to provide a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW communications and 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon.

TechDemoSat-1 was developed by the UK company SSTL.

Read the report by Dmitry Pashkov UB4UAD at http://ub4uad.ru/?p=1445 or in Google English at http://tinyurl.com/nzc5tdk

UKube-1 CubeSat Payload Animation https://amsat-uk.org/2013/02/01/ukube-1-cubesat-payload-animation/

FUNcube Yahoo Group https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

Sep 23 2013

UKube-1 in Radio Frequency International

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

The UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1, expected to launch in December, will carry AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards. The boards will provide an amateur radio telemetry beacon and a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW communications.

Radio Frequency International interviewed L.A. based artists Amanda White and Jon M. Gibson who run iam8bit and have provided artwork which will be carried on the satellite.

Read the Radio Frequency International story at
http://radiofrequencyinternational.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/the-new-cubists/

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Yahoo Group https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/

Aug 13 2013

UKube-1: Art in Space

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space

In addition to the amateur radio FUNcube boards the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1 will also carry designs by artists Jon Gibson and Amanda White, who run the famous iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles.

The Wired story says

“[Nanosatellites] open the door to do lots of different things in space,” says Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark. “Within five years I’d like to be making 100 nanosatellites a year”.

40 percent of CubeSat missions, which are satellites with a one-liter volume, carry Clyde Space hardware. The company has invested over £500,000 of its money into UKube-1, which will be the first satellite entirely assembled by them. 

“Craig Clark, the head honcho at Clyde Space, emailed us and said he was a fan of our work,” says Gibson (according to Clark, iam8bit’s art adorns the walls of the company’s offices). When Gibson and White realized that Clark was serious about them doing art with the satellite, “our faces lit up! To design something that’s going to orbit Earth — how cool is that?”

Read the full Wired story at http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-08/13/pop-art-satellite-ukube1

Watch “Art in Space” – The Universe’s First Celestial Charging Station

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards which will provide:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.915 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.930-145.950 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.080-435.060 MHz

In addition UKube-1 also carries:
• ISIS 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.840 MHz
• UKSEDS myPocketQub 442 on 437.425-437.525 MHz with 11 mW output using spread spectrum
• 1 watt transmitter on 2401.0 MHz from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, for high data rate mission data downlinking using up to 1 Mbps QPSK or OQPSK modulation

Gunter’s Space Page lists UKube-1 as manifested on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M rocket. It is expected to be launched at the end of this year from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Jul 18 2013

UKube-1 with Amateur Radio Transponder may launch October

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space

BBC News is reporting that the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1, being built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, may launch in late October 2013.

Clyde Space Senior Systems Engineer Steve Greenland will be giving a presentation on UKube-1 to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium which takes place July 20-21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK.

The Colloquium is open to all but for those unable to attend the event all 18 presentations including UKube-1 will be web streamed live on the BATC site at http://batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=3

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards which will provide:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.915 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.930-145.950 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.080-435.060 MHz

In addition UKube-1 also carries:
• ISIS 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.840 MHz
• UKSEDS myPocketQub 442 on 437.425-437.525 MHz with 11 mW output using spread spectrum
• 1 watt transmitter on 2401.0 MHz from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, for high data rate mission data downlinking using up to 1 Mbps QPSK or OQPSK modulation

Gunter’s Space Page lists UKube-1 as manifested on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M rocket to be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

If the launch does go ahead as planned in late October then the FUNcube-2 boards will be in orbit before the FUNcube-1 satellite which may launch in November, 2013 on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny.

FUNcube-1 will be using these frequencies:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.935 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.950-145.970 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.150-435.130 MHz

There will be a presentation on FUNcube-1 at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium which will be streamed live to the web. The presentation schedule is here.

Read the BBC News story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23319103

Watch UK Space Agency video – UKube-1 CubeSat payload animation

On Friday, October 19, 2012 after some final testing and characterisation checks completed at the facilities of ISIS BV in Delft, AMSAT-UK handed over the set of three PCBs that form the FUNcube-2 subsystem on the UKube-1 spacecraft to Clyde Space Ltd in Glasgow. Clyde Space are leading the development and assembly of this CubeSat project for the UK Space Agency.

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1

The PCBs were taken to Glasgow in a Pelicase by Graham Shirville G3VZV who handed them to Steve Greenland Senior Systems Engineer at Clyde Space.

The three PCB’s comprise:
• CCT Board – Command, control and telemetry, interfaces via I2C with the antenna deployment system and the main OBC (On-Board Computer).
• RF Board – Command receiver, telemetry transmitter and linear transponder of the FUNcube satellite educational payload also includes telemetry sensors.
• PA Board – 400 mW VHF amplifier and sensors.

The telemetry transmitter provided by AMSAT-UK will be available for educational outreach to school students around the world.

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

Jun 10 2013

Video – Amateur Radio FUNcube Satellites by Howard G6LVB

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

AMSAT-UK representative Howard Long, G6LVB, in his presentation at the AMSAT Forum at the 2013 Dayton Hamvention describes recent activities at AMSAT-UK.

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 and UKube-1 (which carries the FUNcube-2 boards) both have dual STEM education and ham radio missions, including SSB/CW linear transponders. Howard also touches on the FUNcube ground station for schools using the FUNcube Dongle Software Defined Radio (SDR) and preliminary plans for other satellites.

It is expected that FUNcube-1 wil be launched around November 2013 on a Dnepr rocket from from Dombarovsky near Yasny. UKube-1 with the FUNcube-2 boards currently plans to launch in the 3rd quarter of 2013 from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz-2.

Watch FUNcube Satellites, by Howard G6LVB – 2013 Dayton Hamvention

FUNcube Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube

FUNcube Dongle LF/MF/HF/VHF/UHF SDR http://www.FUNcubeDongle.com/