Category: Ham Satellite news

Info from @Diwata2PH

PO-101 will be active for the following schedules in UTC + 0:

2022-03-11 – 2022-03-12
18:05 – 2:30

2022-03-12 – 2022-03-13
3:30 – 16:30
18:15 – 2:30

2022-03-13 – 2022-03-14
3:30 – 16:40
18:25 – 2:30

2022-03-14 – 2022-03-15
3:30 – 16:05

73 de DW4TA

SOAR Satellite Optimized Amateur Radio by Mark Smith @smittyhalibut @HalibutElec is a radio project optimized for operating FM satellites in full duplex.

See intro video at YouTube for more info:

An update of GOLF-TEE project from AMSAT-NA ANS-030:

AMSAT’s GOLF-TEE CubeSat de-manifested from launch on ELaNa-46 NASA has de-manifested GOLF-TEE from the ELaNa-46 mission at the request of AMSAT. ELaNa-46 was expected to launch no earlier than 2022. COVID-related restrictions and supply chain disruptions, affecting both AMSAT’s vendors and team, have put AMSAT’s ability to meet the mission integration timeline at high risk.

AMSAT Vice-President Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, described some of the reasons for this decision:
• AMSAT finds itself in a similar situation to what other payloads and space-industry providers are experiencing. The worldwide pandemic and supply chain shortages are threatening everyone’s ability to properly and successfully deliver for launches.
• Out of respect for NASA, the launch provider, and other payloads, it is important to withdraw now, rather than later or, even worst, missing a launch integration deadline, which has possible financial penalty implications.
• GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 have both been selected to participate in NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative program, and NASA will continue to look for another launch for GOLF-TEE.

AMSAT’s GOLF program plays an important role in AMSAT’s return to highly elliptical orbits. In addition to proving the maneuverability capabilities required by current and proposed orbital debris regulations, the GOLF program will work through a series of increasingly capable spacecraft to develop skills and learn systems for which we do not yet have the necessary low-risk experience. Among these are active attitude control, deployable/steerable solar panels, radiation tolerance for Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) components in higher orbits, and propulsion.

The TEE designation in GOLF-TEE stands for “Technology Exploration Environment” and reflects GOLF-TEE’s mission goal to test two critical systems needed for higher orbits. The first is an Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that will allow active pointing of high gain satellite antennas, provide accurate attitude adjustments in future missions with maneuverability systems, and allow pointing the fixed solar panel array for best solar power in any given orbit type. The second is the Radiation-Tolerant Integrated Housekeeping Unit (RTIHU), which will allow AMSAT to gain initial orbit and space radiation exposure for radiation event-induced fault tolerant systems designed using COTS components. GOLF-TEE’s RTIHU includes a command transceiver, and its design is based on the Hercules line of ARM architecture-based microcontrollers.

GOLF-TEE will also evaluate a low-cost, deployable, fixed attitude, solar panel array design as part of AMSAT Engineering’s exploration of fixed panel arrays that allow for outfitting a variable number of “wings” in order to best match the power requirements of various CubeSat missions. Additionally, GOLF-TEE will carry a modified Ettus E310 commercial software-defined radio (SDR), as an experimental package, to test the high speed data downlink in the 10 GHz band and a parrot V/x mode linear transponder to provide users with an opportunity to experiment with the 10 GHz microwave downlink. GOLF-TEE will also carry a legacy V/u linear transponder.

GOLF-1 will build on technology and lessons learned from the GOLF-TEE mission; however, it will be a return to STEM-based educational missions, including hosted student radiation and imaging experiments in collaboration with AMSAT’s educational partners. GOLF-1 will require a more comprehensive de-orbiting plan and hardware that are in compliance with NASA’s NPR 8715.6 NASA Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital Debris in order to be manifested on an ELaNa launch to the high altitude AMSAT is seeking.

A significant amount of funding is necessary to complete the development and construction of the GOLF series of CubeSats. Please consider a donation today. Donations designated for the AMSAT GOLF program may be made at https://www.amsat.org/donations/amsat-golf-program-donations/

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, President AMSAT for the above information]

Info from ANS:

Felix Paez, EA4GQS, AMSAT-EA Mission Manager provided the last information on their satellites as of January 18, 2022.

“We confirm the reception of both EASAT-2 and HADES, as well as the decoding of telemetry and the FM recorded voice beacon with the callsign AM5SAT of the first one. EASAT-2 appears to be working well except for the deployment of the antennas, something that apparently has not yet occurred and causes weak signals. However, the AMSAT-EA team confirms that, based on the reception of FSK, CW, the FM voice beacon and the telemetry data that has been decoded, it can be said that the satellite is working perfectly. In the event of low battery or system malfunction, the on-board computer would not transmit CW messages or the voice beacon-callsign, as it would be in a ‘safe’ state with only fast and slow telemetry transmissions.

“These signals that have been able to confirm the operation of both satellites were received by Dr. Daniel Estévez EA4GPZ at 18:07 UTC on Saturday, January 15, using two antennas from the Allen Telescope Array. The TLEs used were obtained from the radio amateur community, with Doppler observations from the Delfi-PQ satellite, deployed together with EASAT-2 and Hades.

“TLEs used were these ones:
https://github.com/AMSAT-EA/easat2-tle-lottery/blob/main/satnogs-2022-01-16-DELFI-PQ.tle

Daniel, EA4GPZ, performed a preliminary analysis using just one polarization of one of the satellite dishes. EASAT-2 has been detected with a relatively strong signal, close to the Delfi-PQ signal, obtaining said recorded voice FM beacon transmissions and FSK, FSK-CW at 50 baud.

“The CW beacon clearly shows the message: VVV AM5SAT SOL Y PLAYA, which is one of several that both satellites emit, although the callsign AM5SAT confirms that it is EASAT-2.

“In the recording made by Daniel EA4GPZ there is also a faint trace confirmed to be from Hades and stronger packets probably from the IRIS-A satellite.

“HADES, like EASAT-2, is transmitting weak signals, weaker than the ones of EASAT-2, most likely because the on-board computer has not yet managed to deploy the antennas either, although it will continue trying regularly. The reason the signals are suspected to be weaker at Hades is that the antennas are more tightly folded than those of EASAT-2. In any case, this is great news, since the transmission pattern confirms the proper functioning of the satellite. In the observations you can see the FSK tones with a deviation of about 5 kHz interspersed with the FM carrier corresponding to the voice beacon of the satellite, which has callsign AM6SAT. The AMSAT-EA team is working to try to decode the telemetry signals and obtain more detailed information on the state of the satellite.

“We kindly ask you, if you have very high gain antennas, to try to receive them, specially Hades. If we could decode telemetry it would be very helpful for us.

“Until antennas are deployed it will be very difficult to use their repeaters or to receive any SSTV camera images from Hades, but we hope that this will happen sooner or later, at least because even if the computer doesn’t succeed applying heat to the resistor where the thread is attached, with time, the thread should break due to the space environment conditions.

Details of the decoded telemetry and voice, as well as more details in:
https://www.amsat-ea.org/ (Texts are In Spanish)

And in the following Twitter threads:

EASAT-2 transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482457631566487553
EASAT-2 decodings by Gabriel Otero:
https://twitter.com/gaoterop/status/1482758196037050382
HADES transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482696274797338625.”

[ANS thanks Felix Paez, EA4GQS, AMSAT-EA Mission Manager for the above information.]