AMSAT-BB September 2017

111 participants
151 discussions

Fw: AO73 Mode change
by Graham Shirville 11 Jun '19

11 Jun '19

Hi folks, AO73/FUNcube is now in amateur mode for the weekend with the transponder on! Please see below for all FUNcube mission info 73s Graham G3VZV and the FUNcube team. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FUNcube frequencies and other details ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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, eg 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 nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.150 - 435.130 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.935 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 15kHz 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 nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.080 - 435.060 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.930 - 145.950 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.915 MHz BPSK (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 Further detailed info on EO79 transponder frequencies is at: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/10/eo79-funcube-3-transponder-commences-regula… EO88/Nayif-1/FUNcube-5 EO88 is presently operating in autonomous mode. The transponder is operational when the satellite is in eclipse, ie 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. The transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.045 – 435.015 MHz LSB (inverting) Downlink: 145.960-145.990 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.940MHz 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. _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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EQUiSat Optical Beacon CubeSat
by Trevor . 17 Oct '18

17 Oct '18

Students at the Ivy League Brown University are developing an amateur radio satellite EQUiSat that will carry a Xenon Flash Tube (XFT) subsystem to act as an Optical Beacon that should be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10635 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAK-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

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Using 1.2Ghz
by Todd 04 Apr '18

04 Apr '18

Thinking about adding the 1.2Ghz module for my 9100. Prices have dropped a little and units will start become harder to find once production ends. Anybody using this band? I read it's used as a uplink frequency for some satellites. Any input appreciated.ToddAL7PX

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Outernet L-Band now carries AMSAT and ARISS weekly bulletins
by Robert Bruninga 17 Mar '18

17 Mar '18

The Outernet L-band feed is now carrying a condensed version of the AMSAT and ARISS weekly news files. (Global Geosat coverage except for Northern Alaska)... Receivers are simple: http://aprs.org/outnet.html For ARISS, I manually added a 2 char grid square to each school listed in the school schedule and am asking the outernet folks to parse out that location info and plot a 1200 km footprint on their weather globe showing where people can tune in the ARISS contacts. Then their RTL-SDR dongle could then actually be retuned to hear the contact. Just an idea... Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dani EA4GPZ Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2016 7:36 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] New Outernet L-Band service... >> I hope someday a service like this will be available >> from an AMSAT geostationary service. > I'm pretty confident that the guys at AMSAT-DL are capable > of doing this much better on the upcoming EsHail'2 > than what Outernet is currently doing on Inmarsat... > They already have in mind a "DVB-S beacon"... broadcast > from the ground station at Qatar ... carrying videos > about Ham radio and Ham radio events on this signal. > What is more, if you have equipment to operate EsHail'2 on SSB, > it's more or less easy to use either the narrowband transponder > or the wideband transponder to transmit an Outernet-type signal > through EsHail'2, so anyone can have a go with this. > Outernet uses 4200baud BPSK and half of the bitrate is spent for FEC. > You can use a bit less bitrate to get a signal that will even pass > through a conventional 2.7kHz SSB filter and you can use less > bits for FEC to get increased data throughput (but more SNR required). > Dani EA4GPZ.

7 6

FUNcube-1 weekend operations
by Graham Shirville 03 Nov '17

03 Nov '17

Hi All, FUNcube-1 AO73 is now in full time transponder mode for the weekend. Have FUN with the bird 73 Graham G3VZV

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AO-73/FUNcube Mode switch
by Jim Heck G3WGM 27 Oct '17

27 Oct '17

Hi Folks, This is to let you know that I have just switched AO-73/FUNcube into amateur mode, with transponder activated 24/7. Early this week due to ground station availability. As per normal, we will switch back to autonomous mode on Sunday pm UTC. 73s Jim G3WGM and the FUNcube Team ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FUNcube frequencies and other details ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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, eg 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 nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.150 - 435.130 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.935 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 15kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low 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 nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.080 - 435.060 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.930 - 145.950 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.915 MHz BPSK (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 Further detailed info on EO79 transponder frequencies is at: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/10/eo79-funcube-3-transponder-commences-regula… Nayif-1 FUNcube-5EO88 is presently operating in autonomous mode. The transponder isoperational when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOTbeing 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.The transponder frequencies are:Uplink: 435.045 – 435.015 MHz LSB (inverting)Downlink: 145.960-145.990 MHz USBTelemetry Tx: 145.940MHzAll FUNcube transponders are sponsored by AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL. We are verygrateful for the assistance given by Innovative Solution In Space Bv, TheNetherlands. _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

5 9

TUning the antennas on a Cubesat
by Robert Bruninga 02 Oct '17

02 Oct '17

Someone asked me how to tune the antennas on a cubesat without the instrumentation totally becoming part of the antenna system itself? I said you have to put the SWR instrument inside the cubesat as we did here: http://aprs.org/PSAT2/SWR-testing-0160x.jpg But that only works on a 1.5U cubesat where and MFJ Antenna Analyzer will fit! The other method is to just put in a bidirectional coupler chip, and then feed the forward and reflected voltage taps to the internal cubesat telemetry system and then compute the SWR from these two Forward and Reflected power telemetry channels. Bob, WB4APR

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Re: [amsat-bb] WISP replacement? (or Live digipeating?)
by Robert Bruninga 01 Oct '17

01 Oct '17

It was possible to enable digipeating in a PACSAT protocol satellite. I wonder if it should be considered? I know I'd like it... ;-) Live Real-time satellite operations. I remember 20 years ago, I worked for a month and finally got a PACSAT ground station to work. Did one pass. Once I saw that it was a hands off, automatic process, with nothing to do during the pass but just watch it work, I lost interest and never went back... I wanted something live... Bob, WB4APR. On Sat, Sep 30, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Douglas Quagliana <dquagliana(a)gmail.com> wrote: > All, > I'd like to get pbpg running with a soundcard modem on Linux. First, I'm > just trying to get pbpg running. > > I was able to download pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz from the AMSAT website, and > after a little work I got it to compile and got it installed, but it > doesn't seem to run properly on my Linux box. I have kernel version 4.4.75 > on this machine, but I could try another kernel version or a completely > different distro quite easily. > > I strongly suspect I'm "doing it wrong" and there's some more missing > setup and config (for example, the "configure/make/make install" didn't > create the control FIFO (/etc/pbpg/pb-fifo) nor any of the > /var/spool/pbpg/satellite-name directories. > > I think I'm missing a required step. Is there more install/config > documentation somewhere besides what comes with pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz ? > > Douglas KA2UPW/5 > > > On Thu, Sep 28, 2017 at 11:23 AM, Edson W. R. Pereira <ewpereira(a)gmail.com > > > wrote: > > > The Linux version of PB and PG talks to a pseudo TNC using the native > Linux > > AX.25 sockets. It has been more than two decades since I have last used > the > > native AX.25 sockets and, as far as I can remember, it was not trivial. I > > suggest modifying the PB and PB software to speak the AX.25 KISS over TCP > > protocol and talk with DireWolf, a software TNC that implements the G3RUH > > GFSK 9600 bps modem. DireWolf can be found here: > > > > https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf > > > > I will try modifying PB and PG to use the KISS protocol as soon as I can > > spare some time. > > > > DireWolf could be used with a classic transceiver via soundcard and also > to > > a SDR receiver such as GQRX or GNURadio and a classic (or SDR) > transmitter. > > The software modem could also be implemented directly in GNUradio as > well. > > > > It will be a blast to operate a PACSAT BBS again. > > > > 73, Edson PY2SDR > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 28, 2017 at 12:55 PM, Paul Stoetzer <n8hm(a)arrl.net> wrote: > > > > > The Linux tools (PacSatTools and PB/PG) are distributed as source > > > code. That code could potentially serve as a guide for how to encode > > > files and interface with a KISS TNC. > > > > > > See https://www.amsat.org/falconsat-3/ > > > > > > 73, > > > > > > Paul, N8HM > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 28, 2017 at 11:18 AM, Robert Switzer via AMSAT-BB > > > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > > Don't know if this is opensource ( a quick search only found the old > > > WiSP32 download setup.exe), but this as well as other old programs (I'm > > > thinking Nova, but perhaps others?) would be best > > > > served by getting it out there in the public domain. > > > > The other option is to reverse engineer if someone has a working > copy. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, September 28, 2017 9:19 AM, Andrew Glasbrenner < > > > glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > For all our talented coders out there, a replacement for the > venerable > > > WISP > > > > software would be well received, and allow much more utilization of > > this > > > > satellite resource. Anyone interested? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 73, Drew KO4MA > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum > available > > > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > > > Opinions expressed > > > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views > > of > > > AMSAT-NA. > > > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > > > program! > > > > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/ > listinfo/amsat-bb > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum > available > > > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > > > Opinions expressed > > > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views > > of > > > AMSAT-NA. > > > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > > > program! > > > > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/ > listinfo/amsat-bb > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > > Opinions > > > expressed > > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views > of > > > AMSAT-NA. > > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > > program! > > > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions > > expressed > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > > AMSAT-NA. > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

3 2

WISP replacement?
by Andrew Glasbrenner 01 Oct '17

01 Oct '17

For all our talented coders out there, a replacement for the venerable WISP software would be well received, and allow much more utilization of this satellite resource. Anyone interested? 73, Drew KO4MA

6 5

Road trip Texas => Utah
by Glenn Miller - AA5PK 01 Oct '17

01 Oct '17

On Monday, 18 September, I'll be starting a leisurely road trip to Utah. Monday night will be spent in DM73 in NM and Tuesday night in DM57 in CO. Destination is DN41. I will operate the sats from those three grids. I also hope to work from other grids en route, depending on available passes. Possible grids are DM74, DM75, DM65, DM66, DM58, DM48, DM49 and DN40. None are extremely rare, but newer grid chasers may need some or all. While in Utah, I'll try to activate some grids surrounding DN41. If interested, follow me on twitter.com/@AA5PK for updates and track me on APRS at AA5PK-9. All QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW upon my return home. Hard copy QSLs by email request. 73 Glenn / AA5PK

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AMSAT-BB September 2017