November 2011 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

OFDM Transceivers
by Trevor . 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

Just over a decade ago Peleg 4X1GP gave a good presentation to the annual AMSAT-UK Colloquium in Guildford that pointed out that OFDM was the way ahead for Amateur communications. Well 10 years later the first OFDM Amateur transceivers have been announced. Doodle Labs have announced a range of 64 QAM OFDM Transceivers for the Amateur bands above 420 MHz. The 420 MHz transceivers feature speeds of up to 12 Mbps and bandwidths of 10 MHz or 5 MHz, while data throughput of 48 Mbps is claimed on the 1240 MHz verssion. Details of the 420 MHz version are at http://www.doodlelabs.com/products-and-services/amateur-bands/420-450-mhz-b… The others in the range can be seen at http://doodlelabs.com/products-and-services.html#Amateur ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email Your News To: editor at southgatearc.org Or Upload At: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm ----

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Here's something we could try.
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

If Amsat won, we could use the winnings to launch a HEO. KB7ADL --------------- RELEASE: 11-370 NASA AND SPACE FLORIDA SMALL SATELLITE RESEARCH CENTER PARTNER IN SPACE LAUNCH CHALLENGE WASHINGTON -- NASA has signed an agreement with the Space Florida Small Satellite Research Center of Cape Canaveral, Florida, to manage the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge, one of the agency's new Centennial Challenges prize competitions. The Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge is to launch satellites with a mass of at least 2.2 pounds (1 kg) into Earth orbit, twice within the span of one week. The new challenge has a NASA-provided prize purse of $2 million. The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in propulsion and other technologies, as well as operations and management relevant to safe, low-cost, small payload delivery system for frequent access to Earth orbit. Innovations stemming from this challenge will be beneficial to broader applications in future launch systems. They may enhance commercial capability for dedicated launches of small satellites at a cost comparable to secondary payload launches -- a potential new market with government, commercial, and academic customers. "Monday's agreement between NASA and Space Florida for use of facilities at the Kennedy Space Center even better positions the organization for managing this new Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge," said Michael Gazarik, director for NASA's Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Space Florida has extensive experience working with NASA, the FAA, the Air Force, commercial spaceflight companies and universities to advance their plans for spaceflight operations. We look forward to having the Space Florida Small Satellite Research Center overseeing the competition and bringing together innovative teams with creative problem-solving ideas." Space Florida submitted a proposal last spring in response to a NASA solicitation for this partnership opportunity. They will now begin detailed preparations for the challenge, publishing rules and then registering competitors. The first competition launch attempt is expected to take place in the summer of 2012. The Centennial Challenges seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are successfully demonstrated. NASA's Centennial Challenges program provides the prize purse for the technology and innovation competitions. The competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. In October, NASA awarded the largest prize in aviation history following Pipistrel-USA's win of the agency's CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google. NASA's $1.35 million first prize and a $120,000 second prize recognized competitors using electric airplanes to break all previous fuel efficiency records. The technology and innovation used in electric aircraft may end up in general aviation aircraft, spawning new jobs and new industries for the 21st century. There have been 22 Centennial Challenges competition events since 2005. NASA has awarded nearly $6 million to 15 different challenge-winning teams. Centennial Challenges is one of the ten Space Technology programs, managed by NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist. For more information about the program and descriptions of each of the challenge competitions, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/challenges For more information about Space Florida and updates on the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge, visit: www.spaceflorida.gov/r-d

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Office Closed
by Martha 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

The AMSAT Office will be closed from Wednesday, November 2nd - Tuesday, November 8th. I will be attending the AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting in San Jose, CA. -- 73- Martha

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Re: OFDM Transceivers
by Tony Langdon 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

At 01:57 AM 11/2/2011, Trevor . wrote: >The 420 MHz transceivers feature speeds of up to 12 Mbps and >bandwidths of 10 MHz or 5 MHz, while data throughput of 48 Mbps is >claimed on the 1240 MHz verssion. Very interesting, wonder how much these will cost. I want some! :) 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com

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Charge for Satellite Tracking?
by Carl Rimmer W8KRF 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

Anthony, Thank you for giving us a better perspective on what it is like to be involved in these sorts of projects. I, for one, really appreciate all you guys do and I am having a blast trying to track and decode the telemetry. I have not been very successful but one is never too old to learn, and I am learning a lot. Keep up the good work and I wish you all the success in the world at whatever path your professional career takes you. ======== To the rest of you, especially all the whiners: I have included Anthony's posting just in case any of your missed it. Read it over and over and over until you understand what this is really all about. Have fun! 73, -- *Carl W8KRF <snip> *Message: 20 Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 01:26:40 -0700 From: KE7OSN<ke7osn(a)arrl.net> To:amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking? Message-ID: <CACPGSd-WQqRhDxGBU9aSs9O4jNQXVYtRx+eu2oRrfciWpvAtOw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I think having stations set up to do that ranging would be neat to have if nothing else for an education opportunity. As a student working on building and launching one of these little nano-satellites I would like to see one thing cleared up. These are NOT University satellites, they are student satellites. They are designed and built by students, funded through grants and donations arranged by students. Universities provide little more then an framework for organizing these sorts of projects. So if the university is going to chip in to some fund on behalf of those helping track the satellites, then it would be really nice for them to through some money at the building of the satellites. At my school the department sponsoring our project has to pay the university rent for the space we take up in a building "owned" by the department for a project made up entirely of tuition paying students. We may only pay around $7-15K in tuition, and another $5-10K in housing, food, books, etc. but most of us if we are lucky can make about half our yearly costs from summer jobs or internships. The rest we scrounge for scholarships and grants. We put in around 20 hours a week into class and labs, another 15-40 in other school work. What little free time we have we spend in research labs instead of watching TV, or drinking. We spend a lot of that time trying to keep the project funded to a level that allows us to continue. We are very aware of how much it costs to construct a station to track satellites, and to build the satellites, and to launch the satellites. If we are able to bring in any extra money we spend that right back into the students we have putting 20 hours a week that they could and probably should spend on something outside of school. We devote years into these little boxes of electronics, in the hope that it will someday fly in space. We reach out and connect with other students doing the same thing, we congratulate them for their successes, and console them on their losses. I personally was up all night watching this latest launch as one of the cubes (E1P) was to have been launch on the Glory mission in march which failed to reach orbit. It is now on orbit and doing fine, M-Cubed however seams to be having issues and I will track it every chance I get to help that team understand what is going on. I got into nano-satellites by first being a HAM, and if I have my way anything I put into orbit will be switched over to a BBS, APRS digi, or even voice repeater when the scientific mission is done. That time may not come in the operational life span of the satellite and it is very important that it complete the mission that someone has generously paid for. If nothing else then I hope what I learn from this endeavor will serve to further the collective understanding of something. I attend a state school as a student of Mechanical Engineering, I have been dumpster diving for parts, I carry two rolls of duct tape, I find a hammer can fix many problems, I have spent hours building things to replace tools I either cannot afford, or cannot afford to wait for. The moral is that these aren't multi-million dollar projects with blank checks, these are shoestring operations that have to take things one step at a time. If you don't want to help out the next generation of aerospace engineers and rocket scientists that's up to you. We won't turn down help, but many of us have grown to expect nothing from anyone. We will build a ladder so we can through our satellite into orbit if we have to. I'm sorry if I seam over passionate or long winded, but please keep in mind that I have watched for several years as budgets have been cut, my tuition and living expenses goes up, and my income and financial-aid remain the same. It is like a broken record (yes I know what records are) to hear people complain about a short term inconvenience and offer a solution that threatens long term progress. Anthony Odenthal KE7OSN President Amateur Radio Club at OSU </snip> **

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Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking?
by Armando Mercado 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

Hi, Great! I look forward to seeing the results. Will the keps be posted here or will they be available on a subscription basis only? :-) 73, Armando N8IGJ >If our satellite has an onboard transponder it is possible >to create the keplerian elements at a ground control station >using the following method: >http://www.amsat.org/amsat/articles/g3ruh/123.html

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Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking?
by Armando Mercado 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

Greetings, Well, how would we feel if USSTRATCOM started charging for the use of their data that we use to track our satellites? Also, using your amateur station for monetrary gain, even if it is for a not for profit organization, seems problematical. Help if you want, don't if you don't. Simple enough. 73, Armando N8IGJ

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Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking?
by Armando Mercado 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

>..........but please keep in mind >that I have watched for several years as budgets have been cut, my tuition >and living expenses goes up, and my income and financial-aid remain the >same. It is like a broken record (yes I know what records are) to hear >people complain about a short term inconvenience and offer a solution that >threatens long term progress. >Anthony Odenthal >KE7OSN >President Amateur Radio Club at OSU -------------------------------------------------- Hi Anthony, Very well said. I find it astonishing the tone deafness of some of the postings that appear here from time to time. Thanks for your post. 73, Armando N8IGJ

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DX world has a good page
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

http://dxworld.com/satlog.html wa4hfn

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Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking?
by Andrew Glasbrenner 01 Nov '11

01 Nov '11

Thanks Anthony for some perspective that some of us really need. If anything there needs to be tighter cooperation between the general AMSAT community and the universities, and less of this adversarial nastiness and "gimme" mentality. The Fox program is trying to address some of these issues by providing the spacecraft bus and repeater (or transponder in Fox-2), and room for an experiment from a partner university. We hope the experiment and university partnership gets us a low-cost launch, and the university gets a ground network and reliable comms system. AMSAT gets an on-orbit asset after, and probably during, the experiment part of the mission. Win-win. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: KE7OSN <ke7osn(a)arrl.net> >Sent: Nov 1, 2011 4:26 AM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking? > >I think having stations set up to do that ranging would be neat to have if >nothing else for an education opportunity. > >As a student working on building and launching one of these little >nano-satellites I would like to see one thing cleared up. These are NOT >University satellites, they are student satellites. They are designed and >built by students, funded through grants and donations arranged by >students. Universities provide little more then an framework >for organizing these sorts of projects. So if the university is going to >chip in to some fund on behalf of those helping track the satellites, then >it would be really nice for them to through some money at the building of >the satellites. At my school the department sponsoring our project has to >pay the university rent for the space we take up in a building "owned" by >the department for a project made up entirely of tuition paying students. >We may only pay around $7-15K in tuition, and another $5-10K in housing, >food, books, etc. but most of us if we are lucky can make about half our >yearly costs from summer jobs or internships. The rest we scrounge for >scholarships and grants. We put in around 20 hours a week into class and >labs, another 15-40 in other school work. What little free time we have we >spend in research labs instead of watching TV, or drinking. We spend a lot >of that time trying to keep the project funded to a level that allows us to >continue. We are very aware of how much it costs to construct a station to >track satellites, and to build the satellites, and to launch the >satellites. If we are able to bring in any extra money we spend that right >back into the students we have putting 20 hours a week that they could and >probably should spend on something outside of school. We devote years into >these little boxes of electronics, in the hope that it will someday fly in >space. We reach out and connect with other students doing the same thing, >we congratulate them for their successes, and console them on their losses. >I personally was up all night watching this latest launch as one of the >cubes (E1P) was to have been launch on the Glory mission in march which >failed to reach orbit. It is now on orbit and doing fine, M-Cubed however >seams to be having issues and I will track it every chance I get to help >that team understand what is going on. > >I got into nano-satellites by first being a HAM, and if I have my way >anything I put into orbit will be switched over to a BBS, APRS digi, or >even voice repeater when the scientific mission is done. That time may not >come in the operational life span of the satellite and it is very important >that it complete the mission that someone has generously paid for. If >nothing else then I hope what I learn from this endeavor will serve to >further the collective understanding of something. > >I attend a state school as a student of Mechanical Engineering, I have been >dumpster diving for parts, I carry two rolls of duct tape, I find a hammer >can fix many problems, I have spent hours building things to replace tools >I either cannot afford, or cannot afford to wait for. The moral is that >these aren't multi-million dollar projects with blank checks, these are >shoestring operations that have to take things one step at a time. If you >don't want to help out the next generation of aerospace engineers and >rocket scientists that's up to you. We won't turn down help, but many of us >have grown to expect nothing from anyone. We will build a ladder so we can >through our satellite into orbit if we have to. > >I'm sorry if I seam over passionate or long winded, but please keep in mind >that I have watched for several years as budgets have been cut, my tuition >and living expenses goes up, and my income and financial-aid remain the >same. It is like a broken record (yes I know what records are) to hear >people complain about a short term inconvenience and offer a solution that >threatens long term progress. > >Anthony Odenthal >KE7OSN >President Amateur Radio Club at OSU >

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