When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
Jerry N0JY
On 3/28/2014 8:31 PM, JoAnne Maenpaa wrote:
Hi Bernhard,
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams ...
FUNcube boards and the AMSAT-NA Fox-1 boards include the capability to transmit telemetry data modes and support a voice transponder. Not sure what ITAR issues prevent Fox-1 boards being used in other country's satellites.
The Fox-1 boards supply the avionics radio half of the satellite leaving the students to concentrate on designing their scientific payload. Fox boards have a documented interface for experimenters to use.
FUNcube switches between ham voice/cw modes and full power telemetry. Fox-1 boards would provide the capability to support both voice and low-rate telemetry stream simultaneously or switch to a high speed data link with no voice.
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM [email protected] Editor, AMSAT Journal
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