In order to have a full duplex portable satellite station you must have two transceivers or one transmitting rig, like the FT817ND, and one receiver. But how about using your mobile Android phone and a RTL-SDR dongle? I have tested SDRTouch with my Samsung Galaxy 5 and a RTL-SDR.com V3.
I also needed an OTG-cable with extra power jack (1 US$ on eBay) as my phone could drive the RTL by itself. The red little box is a USB Power Bank that powers the SDR.
And yes, it works… kind of. Installation of SDRTouch is very simple and after downloading drivers for the RTL-SDR everything works without any configuration.
But this is not a solution for me. Too much cables hanging around and the navigation in SDRTouch is not so easy. So I will try some other solution, probably a Windows 10 Tablet. Stay tuned for updates…
På Tokyo Hamfair 2017 visar Icom just nu en ny prototyp-transceiver kallad IC-9700 som verkar vara en efterträdare till IC-910H. Det är en renodlad VHF/UHF/SHF-radio och verkar inte ha HF. Vi får hoppas att det blir en rig anpassad för satellittrafik med full duplex och någon smart USB-koppling till dator. Den enda info jag hittat finns hos Icom UK.
RadFsSat/Fox-1B Integration With P-POD Complete & Waiting for Launch
Following successful integration into the P-POD last week, it has now
been announced that the launch date of RadFxSat/Fox-1B is set for
November 10, 2017.
RadFxSat will fly with four other CubeSats in the ELaNa XIV mission on
the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launching NASA’s JPSS-1
satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.
After successful
deployment of the JPSS-1 primary payload, the ELaNa XIV CubeSats will be
deployed. RadFxSat should have an orbit lifetime of about seven years in
the projected orbit:
+ 811 km x 440 km
+ i = 97.73 degrees
+ LTAN = 13:20:35
En stabil mast är en viktig del för att lyfta upp antennparken. Jag tänkte ge en del tips om hur man kan gå tillväga när man inser att man valt ett för klent mastsystem och vill uppgradera till kraftfullare antennbärare. En rätt stor kostnad ligger i ett stabilt fundament och det vill man ju inte göra om från början. Alltså får man bygga om befintligt fundament.
Jag gick tillväga så att jag byggde en väldigt stabil adapter i galvat stål som jag fäste in i dom befintliga nedgjutningsbultarna. Sedan var det dags att montera dit dom nya gängstängerna med bra stöd och infästning i det gamla fundamentet.
För att få den nya gjutningen att fästa samman med den gamla så måste man tvätta riktigt överdrivet noga samt även blöta upp ytan under en tid.
Man kan även lägga lite tid på formarbetet för att få lite roligare utseende.
Nästa steg är att montera ett elektronikskåp på sidan av den galvade masthållaren (fällbar kraftig aluminiummast) för att om några veckor veva upp masten.
Antenner som är planerat så här långt är riktigt kraftig antennvinst på 144 MHz samt satellitantenner på 2M och 70cm. Jag kommer senare även montera dit parabol för 23cm TX/RX samt 13cm RX (ISS HAM TV).
LilacSat-1 har nu fått namnet LilacSat-OSCAR 90 för att satelliten har lyckats med amatörradiokommunikation både på upp- och nerlänk. Snart är vi uppe i 100 Oscar-nummer!
OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO, has announced that,
pursuant to a request submitted to the AMSAT Board of Directors, the
LilacSat-1 satellite has been assigned the designation LilacSat-OSCAR
90, or LO-90.
LilacSat-OSCAR 90 was designed and constructed by the Harbin Institute
of Technology in Harbin, China as part of the QB50 project to study
the lower thermosphere. It was carried aboard an Orbital-ATK Cygnus
cargo ship, which was launched to the International Space Station on
April 18, 2017, and deployed from the ISS on May 25, 2017.
LO-90 carries a voice transponder with a 145 MHz FM uplink and a 435
MHz digital voice downlink using the Codec2 open source voice codec as
well as a camera open for activation by amateur radio operators
worldwide.
Since the launch of the first amateur radio satellite, OSCAR 1 in
1961, it has been traditional for amateur radio satellites to carry
the name OSCAR, for “Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio”.
AMSAT, which administers the numbering of OSCAR satellites at the
request of the Project OSCAR organization, encourages all
builders/owners of amateur radio satellites that meet the requirements
listed at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2478 to apply for an OSCAR
designation.
[ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information]
Här kommer senaste status över aktiva FUNcube-satelliter:
AO-73 FUNcube-1
The transponder is normally operational only when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOT being illuminated. During weekends (from PM Fridays UTC to PM Sundays UTC) the transponder is operational 24/7.
When the transponder is switched off, the telemetry beacon is on full power, when the transponder is on the beacon it is on low power. During holidays, e.g. Christmas, New Year, Easter, etc, the transponder maybe activated for extended periods. Watch AMSAT-BB for announcements which are usually made on Friday evenings (UTC)
(The passband may be up to 15 kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Lower temperatures give higher freqs!)
FUNcube-2 (aka FUNcube on UKube)
The FUNcube-2 sub-system continues to operate autonomously and, almost continuously, in amateur mode. The transponder is operational and the telemetry downlink is functioning with about 70mW output. The FUNcube-1 Dashboard does not correctly display the telemetry but it does correctly decode the data and uploads it to the FUNcube Data Warehouse from where it can be examined. Most of the real time data channels are operational and these include battery voltages, temperatures and ADCS data coming via the main On Board Computer (OBC).
The transponder is interrupted for a few seconds every 2 minutes when the other transmitter sends its CW beacon and, occasionally, for a few seconds when the main OBC reboots (approx seven times each orbit).
(The passband may be up to 10kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low
temperatures give higher freqs!)
EO79 FUNcube-3
Due to power budget constraints the transponder cannot be operational 24/7 and an orbit specific schedule has been developed. The transponder will commence operation 27 minutes after the spacecraft enters sunlight and will stay on for a period of 25 minutes. This schedule may be modified in future months as a result of experience.
The nominal transponder frequencies are:
Uplink: 435.0723-435.0473 MHz LSB (Inverting)
Downlink: 145.946-145.971 MHz USB
EO88 is presently operating in autonomous mode. The transponder is operational when the satellite is in eclipse, i.e. the solar panels are NOT being illuminated.
When the transponder is switched off, the telemetry beacon is on full power, when the transponder is on the beacon it is on low power.
All FUNcube transponders are sponsored by AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL. We are very grateful for the assistance given by Innovative Solution In Space Bv, The Netherlands.
