Category: Ham Satellite news

Det kommer information om att AMSAT är med på ett hörn där en satellit (eller sond?)  ska skickas till Venus.

Enligt uppgift ska nedlänk ske på 5,8Ghz och med 15W  (antenn okänd)

Läs mer på   Länk

Angående bana   Länk

Håkan SM7WSJ rapporterar följande från HF-nätet den 21/12:

AO-51

AMSAT-NA VP Operations, Drew KO4MA reported on behalf of the
AO-51
Operations Team, “We are now back to the normal uplink
arrangement
of 145.920 and 435.300 for normal repeater use. We changed from
the
QRM mitigation experiment of operating via the 145.880 uplink back
to
this normal mode to enable low-power repeater QRP operation. The
QRP
repeater is now operational on 145.880 and 435.150.”

As a result of the
QRM investigation Drew said, “I’m convinced not
all of our problems are
related to the cordless phones. I heard tonight
whistlers, blowing in the
mike, and folks giving extended CQs. We are
working on finding the general
location of the cordless phones, but
it takes time. Then we’ll work at
shutting them down.

The AO-51 Operations Team provided results of their
QRM investigation
on and around the 145.920 uplink. There may be some low
level modula-
tion on some of the signals in the captured waterfall diagram.
It is
believed they may be from some of the same long distance phones
that
were plauging AO-27 and SO-50 a few years ago. Observations
indicate
the interfering signals are lost about the time the edge of the
foot-
print crosses the mid Atlantic states. Refer to this page:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q305/glasbrenner/FO-29QRM-1.jpg

PC-SAT

Vår
E-post aktivitet lyckades inte då satelliten inte var samarbetsvillig.

(Eller dom operatörer som vägrade sluta sända mot den innan den var helt

återställd,,)

Bob, WB4APR provided an update on PCSAT-1 recovery
status from the
U.S. Naval Academy Satellite Laboratory. Bob wrote, “For the
first
time in 7 years, we were not able to fully recover PCSAT during
this
full sun period despite the efforts of a number of dedicated
volun-
teers around the world.”

PCSAT-1 is only operation when its
solar panels are illuminated by
sunlight. Full sun periods occur when passes
are at sunrise and
sunset to earth observers. PCSAT gets sun 24 hours a day
then, but
only on the side panels due to the orientation of the
satellite.
Ground station controllers were able to recover PCSAT-1 and the
weak
solar illumination allowed operation for generally an orbit
before
the power budget could not support the load.

Bob summarized,
“Anyway, this is not the last you will hear of PCSAT,
but there will probably
not be any more several week full sun, full
recovery periods as there have
been in the past. I really appreciate
all the efforts of so many operators.
So play packet on the ISS and
thanks again for all your efforts!”

En
riktigt God Jul till alla listmedlemmar med förhoppning om ett bättre

satellitår 2009

73 Håkan SM7WSJ

Nu har AO-51 fått en ny upplänk frekvens på 145.880 mhz. Nedlänk är som vanligt 435.300+- doppler.

Flytten har skett pga QRM på frekvensen.

Det råder just nu viss förvirring runt AO-51 och dess olika frekvenser.

Se länk  samt bifogat brev nedan.

En ny satellit från Sydafrika med amatörradio ombord är på gång. Vi känner igen upplägget med Voice Digipeater och en enkel V/U transponder:

It is official! South Africa’s second satellite, SumbandilaSat, will be launched from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in the December to March time frame.

SumbandilaSat has been unpacked and is undergoing testing at SunSpace in Stellenbosch before it will be shipped to Russia for integration with the launch vehicle. Engineers at the launch site are preparing a special adapter ring to accommodate the Sumbandila structure on the rocket.

“Sumbandila” means showing or pointing the way. Freely translated into English “Pathfinder”

The Amateur Radio Payload will be operating in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch Software Defined Receiver project as it will share the VHF receiver and UHF transmitter used by the SDR project.

SA AMSAT has designed and built a control system to facilitate the following
operations:

   *  V/U voice transponder with an uplink in the 2 metre band and a downlink in
      the 70cm band.

   *  A parrot repeater (voice digipeater)

   *  A voice beacon

The control unit will command the various function of the transponder and handle the parrot and beacon messaging. On receipt of a tone from the VUCU VHF receiver, the CTCSS tone will be decoded and depending on the tone received the unit will command the VU transponder operation or the parrot repeater.  In the transponder mode the satellite will act like a cross-band FM repeater and allow two way communications with other stations on the ground.

If the tone received indicates parrot operation, the interface unit will record 20 seconds of audio on its VHF uplink receiver and replay the recorded audio on the UHF downlink.

Should, for a predetermined period, there be no tones received, the controller will initiate a voice beacon, transmitting a pre-recorded message at regular
intervals.   This facility will offer many opportunities for educational
projects.

[ANS thanks SA AMSAT for the above information]

Uppdaterat 2008-12-03:

Hej,

Lite info förutom det som kommer från ARISS inklippt längre ner i
brevet.

Lars har fixat till en lämplig tillfällig adress för att använda
när PC-sat
kommer igång sk0tx@amsat.se

Om ni klarar att skicka ett
meddelande via NO-44 (PC-SAT) och det blir
emottaget av någon SATGATE så
kommer det att publiceras på hemsidan framöver.

Jag kan också berätta
att ISS verkar sända SSTV bilder igen då jag hörde dom innan i
kväll. (frekvens 145800.)

73 Håkan SM7WSJ

PS: AO-51 är
tillbaka efter ett ofrivilligt stopp förra veckan.

November 30,
2008

25 YEARS OF AMATEUR RADIO OPERATIONS FROM SPACE

Twenty-five
years ago this week, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made history by being the first
amateur radio operator to talk to hams from space. Owen’s historic flight on
the STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia mission was launched on November 28 and
landed on December 8, 1983. Owen’s ham radio adventure on STS-9 ushered in a
host of outstanding outreach activities that continue today with the ARISS
program.

Many will recall that first set of contacts and downlinks with
Owen. Those first contacts allowed each of us to share the excitement of
space exploration through Owen’s first-hand eyewitness accounts. Owen’s ham
radio legacy enabled space travelers that have flown on the Space Shuttle,
the Space Station Mir and now the International Space Station to share their
journey of exploration. And Owen’s son Richard, W5KWQ just a month ago
carried the torch further to become the first 2nd generation amateur radio
operator to talk to hams from space. What other hobby, except amateur
radio, could or would open the communications lines of space travelers
beyond that of the space agencies or international heads of state
?

To celebrate our 25 years of amateur radio operations from space, the
ARISS team has planned a set of special event opportunities during the month
of December and part of January. A special certificate is being developed
for those who communicate with the ISS, either 2-way direct (with the ISS
crew, the digipeater, or cross band repeater), or 1-way reception of SSTV or
voice downlink. Several events will be described here with several
“surprises”
planned over the month-long celebration. The surprises will be
announced once we are prepositioned to accomplish them.

Specifically,
the following is being planned in the near-term:

—December 1-5–in
addition to school contacts and APRS digi operations, we plan to configure
the radio system for cross band repeater operations. This will utilize the
standard U/V operations in low power mode.
—December 7-12 we will run a
test of 9600 baud packet operations on the simplex frequency 145.825
MHz.
—Given that PCSAT should be in full sun starting December 9, December
14-19 we will switch to 1200 baud packet on 145.825 to support double hop
opportunities.
—And at times, especially during the weekends, you might
see some SSTV operations if the crew is available.

We will provide
more updates in the near future. We would like to remind everyone that ISS
flight requirements related to EVA and vehicle activity may require the
radio to be off for some portion of this schedule. And school contacts and
general QSO opportunities by the crew will also preempt this schedule for
short periods of time. (But remember that if you hear these, you still
qualify for a commemorative certificate)

In the meantime, enjoy the
ARISS ops on ISS! And congratulations to Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on the 25th
anniversary of his historic flight!!

73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT-NA
V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International
Chairman

AMSAT-NA har fått en ny styrelse som består av:

• President: Barry Baines, WD4ASW
• Vice President of Operations: Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
• Vice President of User Services: Gould Smith, WA4SXM
• Treasurer: Gunther Meisse, W8GSM
• Secretary/VP Special Projects: Lee McLamb, KU4OS
• Manager: Martha Saragovitz
• Vice President Human Spaceflight: Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

Mera info på www.amsat.org