Category: Ham Satellite news

PW-Sat2, the second Polish student satellite, also launched on the
SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A flight with AMSAT Fox-1Cliff, is a student pro-
ject with the goal to test a new deorbit sail. A team formed of over
30 students from many different faculties of Warsaw University of
Technology started working on a new satellite in 2013. For more
information visit:

https://github.com/PW-Sat2/HAMRadio/wiki

Amateur radio operators are invited to take part in a multi-faceted
contest. How to take part in the contests? It’s easy! Register on the
website: https://radio.pw-sat.pl/ – then – use the application for
HAM radio, to receive, decode and upload PW-Sat2 frames to our cloud
based service. Just after completing of the PW-Sat2 satellite mission,
the team will announce the winners and send prizes!

On the ham radio contest web page https://pw-sat.pl/en/ham-contest/
you’ll find several categories to participate:

+ QSL cards – for a correctly received and decoded frame
+ The first received and uploaded frame – First come, first served!
+ The last received and uploaded frame – During the deorbit sail
deployment sequence!
+ The largest number of uploaded frames

PW-Sat2 will transmit on 435.275 MHz using 1k2-9k6 BPSK AX25.

[ANS thanks the PW-Sat2 team for the above information]

Från FUNcube websida kommer information om kommande JY1Sat och ESOE. Bla så finns nu data warehouse, dvs. den server som samlar in telemetri från alla stationer som lyssnar på FUNCubes, på en helt ny adress: http://data.amsat-uk.org/ 

From:M0XTD

With some luck, Sunday December 2nd will see two more satellites carrying FUNcube payloads launched into orbit.With that launch, JY1Sat and ESEO will join FUNcube-1 (A0-73) and Nayif-1 (EO-88). The FUNcube team have been busy, not only designing and implementing the payloads, but also working on the Telemetry Dashboards and the Data Warehouse. Each satellite has a dedicated dashboard and we have created a one page summary (FUNcube Dashboard Summary v1) of those dashboards, their current version number and a dedicated download link.

Telemetry Dashboard

We have included the recommended warehouse settings for each satellite as well as the “FCD Centre Frequency”. Note that the frequency we quote is 20kHz offset from the published telemetry downlink to allow for the zero hertz spike and close in phase noise that is inherent on SDRs.

Currently, to view the telemetry for a particular satellite, it is necessary to run the dashboard for that satellite. Any telemetry for one of the other FUNcube satellites can be captured and forwarded to the central data warehouse. For this reason, some users tend to run all dashboards simultaneously using the same FUNcube Dongle. Users should remember the that dashboard that was started last, is the one that will control the frequency settings applied to the FUNcube Dongle.

These dashboards are under continual development and the next planned development is to create a single dashboard that will service all FUNcube Telemetry payloads simultaneously. Keep a look out for further news on this unified dashboard in 2019.

Telemetry Data Warehouse

All telemety received via the dashboards is forwarded to the central data warehouse, providing you have registered for an account. This has been a very successful part of the FUNcube project as it has allowed for worldwide data collection by amateurs and for all the data to be available to download and used for educational purposes.

With the pending launch of two additional satellites, some changes where required to allow this data capture to continue in an efficient manner. The data warehouse has a new user interface and all satellite data can be assessed with one URL – http://data.amsat-uk.org . Once at the new user interface, simply select the satellite you are interested in, and all the usual telemetry will be available along with the list of current data providers to the database for that satellite.

Both the dashboards and the data warehouse are under continual development, so be sure to check back for updates.

The FUNcube team is very grateful to all radio amateurs worldwide for their continued support and we encourage you all to join in with the reception of JY1Sat and ESEO telemetry upon a successful launch this Sunday.

73s

Intressant satellit från Polen – PW-Sat2. Notera att de har mycket bra information för radioamatörer:

Polish satellite – PW-Sat2 is scheduled as soon as early as 19th
November 2018 launch of 4. . It’s primary mission is a technological
tests of sail-based deorbit system. The PW-Sat2 is one of the
payloads in
SpaceFlight SSO-A The SmallSat Express mission aboard SpaceX’s Falcon
9 rocket. Please be advised that planned launch date may change since
it’s quite common for orbital rockets launches – be prepared and
follow our socials!

Radio link

The satellite is equipped with full duplex communication module
TRxVU Rev. B from Innovative Solutions in Space BV. It operates in
amateur bands UHF (downlink) and VHF (uplink). Antenna module
consists of two dipole antenna (for uplink/downlink) with linear
polarisation. Downlink power equals to 27 dBm (0.5 W). Downlink
signal utilizes BPSK modulation, data scrambling according to G3RUH
and AX.25 protocol. By default, the satellite transmits its downlink
signal at 1200 bps, however it might be changed on request by the
OPERation team (via uplink telecommand) up to 9600 bps. Currently set
bitrate will be published on PW-Sat2’s Twitter profile, however
determination of actual bitrate should be fairly easy by looking at
signal spectrum.

What data will be transmitted?

Every 60 seconds the satellite transmits a beacon frame full of
telemetric data. 229-bytes long payload of the beacon frame contains
the most important information about satellite’s state – among others
– temperatures of main subsystems, battery voltage, solar power, on-
board computer mission time and experiments state. Other data, such
as historical telemetry, experiments data, photos from cameras will
be send on request from PW-Sat2’s OPERation team. There is one
exception from this rule – deorbit sail experiment will transmit its
results on-line (since after sail deployment random tumbling is
expected to occur resulting in signal loses and solar energy
decrease). Downlink signal of PW-Sat2 will be opened for everyone to
receive, decode and interpret data!

HAM radio tools to receive PW-Sat2

HAM radio community plays important role in almost every cubesat
mission – receiving and sharing acquired signal with satellites’
owners. Our team has prepared set of tools helping in receiving and
demodulation of PW-Sat2 radio signal and upload to cloud-based
service afterwards. We believe that data shared to us by community
will have big impact on our mission.

Prepared desktop application is available on Linux and Windows
platforms (however Ubuntu Linux is the main supported OS). It allows
for signal reception utilizing software defined radio receivers
(SDR): RTL-SDR, FUNcube Dongle Pro+, ADALM-Pluto SDR as well as
“traditional” analogue radio receivers with single sideband
demodulator (SSB) via computer’s line-in. Acquired signal from radio
receiver is demodulated and deframed. Correctly received frames are
classified by means of their type and uploaded to cloud-based
application (radio.pw-sat.pl) prepared thanks to co-operation with
SoftwareMill company. The cloud-based application allows for frames
collection, sharing and telemetry decoding (for beacon frames,
labeled as “telemetry frame”). There are available additional
features like charts presenting the most important telemetry data.

How to start receiving?

Detailed information are available in our Wiki –
https://github.com/PW-Sat2/HAMRadio/wiki. A good starting point is to
take a look at “Quick start guide”. The wiki pages will be updated as
new information (e.g. about orbit, TLE data) will be available.

We encourage to try the software (desktop and cloud parts) right
now! In case of any problems – don’t hesitate to mail us (by an e-
mail, Messenger, in comment etc.), create an issue on GitHub
(https://github.com/PW-Sat2/HAMRadio/issues) or simply ask in this
thread!

Mission status information

Up to date information about mission status will be published on our
Twitter profile – don’t miss anything, follow us now!

Contests

To encourage you to listen to PW-Sat2 and honour your contribution
we would like to issue QSL cards for every HAM radio who will send us
(to radio.pw-sat.pl) at least one correct PW-Sat2 frame.

Additionally we’ve prepared contest in three categories:
* the first received and uploaded frame,
* the last received and uploaded frame,
* the most received and uploaded frames.

Shortly after mission we will reveal the winners and honour with
packs of PW-Sat2-related gadgets!
For more about contests see (https://pw-sat.pl/en/ham-contest/).

[ANS thanks MGUMIELA via QRZ.com for the above information]

Complete FUNcube status (aktuell FUNcube status över samtliga satelliter):

Graham Shirville, G3VZV has posted the current status of the AMSAT-UK
FUNcube series of satellites.

FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
—————–
As you will know, AO73/FUNcube-1 has been in full sunlight for over
one month and has been transmitting continuously high power telemetry
for most of that time. This has now been changed to full time amateur
mode so the transponder is once again available. With the more stable
on board temperatures being experienced, this means that the transpon-
der frequencies are also now more stable. We expect to leave it in this
mode for some weeks so that the team can determine whether or not the
currents flowing from the solar panels are having any noticeable effect
on the spin period.

Uplink: 435.150 – 435.130 MHz CW, LSB
Downlink: 145.950 – 145.970 MHz CW, USB
Beacon: 145.935 MHz 1k2 BPSK

FUNcube-2 (UKube-1)
——————-
The FUNcube-2 transponder on UKube-1 continues to be in full time
transponder mode. There are occasional breaks in service for a few
seconds when the OBC reboots and the other onboard transmitter sends
its CW beacon.

Uplink: 435.080 – 435.060 MHz CW, LSB
Downlink: 145.930 – 145.950 MHz CW, USB
Beacon: 145.915 MHz 1k2 BPSK

FUNcube-3 (EO-88 Nayif-1)
————————-
EO88/Nayif-1 continues to perform nominally with high power telemetry
when in sunlight and amateur mode when in eclipse.

Uplink: 435.045 – 435.015 MHz CW, LSB
Downlink: 145.960 – 145.990 MHz CW, USB
Beacon: 145.940 MHz 1l2 BPSK

With their slightly different orbital characteristics it is useful that
AO73 is now the early bird, EO88 comes over in the mid morning and UKube
provides coverage in the afternoon.

We have been suffering from some network issues in relation to upload-
ing the telemetry from the Dashboards to the Data Warehouse over the
past couple of weeks. Apologies for this, but hopefully everything is
now stable again. ie fingers are still crossed. Thank you for all the
telemetry that you upload.

Like many other teams, we are presently waiting for the next Space-X
launch from Vandenberg which is expected to be carrying a number of new
amateur payloads, These will provide additional transponder and STEM
capabilities for the amateur satellite service. Exciting times ahead.

[ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV and AMSAT-UK for the above information]

From ANS-273:

Japan’s seventh HTV mission, Kounotori 7, arrived at the ISS this
week and delivered cubesats planned for deployment on October 6:

+ STARS-Me
+ Rymansat Project RSP-00
+ SPATIUM-I

STARS-Me
——–
This mission consists of two 1U CubeSats connected by a tether which
includes a mini space elevator experiment, the climber, by Shizuoka
University. The climber has a Bluetooth connection that will transmit
its data to a ground station via a STARS-Me downlink. Radio amateurs
can monitor the behavior of the climber in the telemetry data.

Additional experiments include radio wave propagation studies, and
flight dynamics including tethered spacecraft position and rotation.

UHF downlinks will transmit CW, 1k2 AFSK and 9k6 GMSK telemetry.
Mother satellite – 437.245 MHz CW Beacon; 437.405 MHz telemetry
Daughter satellite – 437.255 MHz CW Beacon; 437.425 MHz telemetry

Rymansat Project RSP-00
———————–
The mission of RSP-00, a 1U cubesat, includes:
+ Send messages collected from the public back to Earth via a
digitalker and CW for reception by radio amateurs and school
children.

+ Image capture with on-board camera and transmit image data
with high-speed telemetry on 38k4 π/4QPSK downlink on UHF.

The downlink frequency for the digitalker, CW beacon and AFSK 1k2
packet is 145.890 MHz. The UHF downlink frequency has not been
published.

SPATIUM-I
———
SPATIUM 1 is scientific (non-amateur radio) cubesat to demonstrate
a new technique for ionosphere mapping using a constellation of
CubeSats equipped with Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) to provide
real-time three-dimensional mapping of ionosphere plasma density
at the altitudes of electron density peak (200 to 400 km above the
Earth).

[ANS thanks the satellite teams for the above information]

From ANS-273:

Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, delivered
and performed the integration of AMSAT’s Fox-1Cliff CubeSat in
preparation for launch.

Unlike AO-85 and AO-91, AMSAT purchased a commercial launch for
Fox-1Cliff. Please consider a donation to help replenish the coffers
for GOLF and other future AMSAT projects!
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-general-donations/
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-presidents-club-donations/

Uplink: 435.300 MHz FM voice (67.0 Hz CTCSS tone)
1267.300 MHz FM voice (67.0 Hz CTCSS tone)
Downlink: 145.920 MHz FM voice; AFSK digital data up to 9600 bps
Transmit power: 600 mW nominal

Because only one uplink frequency can be active at a time, the use
of the Mode-L uplink will be limited to experimental periods announ-
ced in advance.

Fox-1Cliff carries the flight spare of the AO-85 Vanderbilt University
Low Energy Proton (LEP) radiation experiment, and the standard Fox-1
Penn State University–Erie gyroscope experiment. Virginia Tech pro-
vided a VGA camera which is the same as AO-92 but will provide images
at a higher 640 x 480 resolution. These non-SSTV images will be decoded
in the FoxTelem software.

Fox-1Cliff, unlike the other three Fox-1 FM spacecraft, does not have
an active AFC on the uplinks.

Fox-1Cliff’s Subaudible Telemetry (low-speed telemetry) will be the
same as for AO-85, AO-91, and AO-92. It will be supported by the same
FoxTelem software already released.

As with AO-92, a high-speed mode will be used to support the Virginia
Tech VGA camera experiment. This mode will be active for 40 minutes
by ground command, reverting to standard U/v transponder voice operation.

Fox-1Cliff is named in honor of long-time AMSAT member, contributor,
and benefactor Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR (SK), who passed away in 2016.
Cliff’s contributions to AMSAT and other amateur satellite programs,
including serving as an adviser during the initial development of the
CubeSat specification at California Polytechnic State University,
earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award from Project OSCAR in 2006.

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice-President Engineering for
the above information]