Blog (Page 22)

WRC23: 23cm band work continues in CEPT

The Chair of IARU Region 1 Spectrum Affairs, Barry Lewis G4SJH, reports on the work being done in defending the interests of the Amateur Services in the 1240-1300 MHz band.

On the IARU Region 1 site he writes:

The 4th meeting of the CEPT project team (CPG PTC) tasked with developing the CEPT Brief for WRC23 agenda item 9.1b on 23cm band amateur service and RNSS coexistence took place during March 2022. The IARU R1 was present and provided a contribution to the working document. A summary report describing the contributions and the meeting activity can be found here:
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IARU-Report-from-CPG_PTC4r1.pdf

The meeting did not tackle any technical studies directly but the developing brief reports and summarises the activities taking place in other groups where they are being carried out. Updates were made to the background including a description of the work carried out by the amateur community in CEPT and ITU‑R with respect to resolves 1 of the WRC-19 Resolution 774. Further updates were introduced to describe the study work taking place in ITU‑R (WP’s 4C and 5A).

The draft CEPT Brief will undergo further development as technical studies evolve in the wider regulatory community including both CEPT and ITU‑R. The next activity concerning this topic will take place in the CEPT arena (SE40) to progress the technical studies and the draft ECC Report.

Source IARU Region 1 https://iaru-r1.org/

CEPT CPG https://www.cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/cpg/now4wrc23/client/meeting-documents/

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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Ofcom Consultation: Space Spectrum Strategy

Ofcom are holding a public consultation on their proposed strategy for managing radio spectrum used by the space sector.

Ofcom say:

Supporting the growing use of cutting-edge satellite technology to offer innovative services for people and businesses, is at the heart of Ofcom’s new proposed space spectrum strategy.

The space sector is expanding rapidly, with the number of space launches increasing by almost 60% between 2017 and 2021.

Companies such as OneWeb and SpaceX are deploying large numbers of new satellites – known as non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems. Meanwhile, universities and start-ups are using smaller satellites to test and trial a range of exciting new projects.

Our proposed space spectrum strategy sets out our priorities for how we will help the sector deliver even more services in the coming years, while making sure it uses spectrum efficiently.

Supporting the growth of satellite broadband

Thousands of NGSO satellites orbit the Earth constantly, tracked by satellite dishes as they move across the sky, to provide broadband to homes and businesses in remote locations.

But these innovative news services need radio spectrum to work – and that’s where Ofcom comes in.

Our job is to make sure this spectrum is used efficiently and manage risks of interference between different spectrum users. So our space spectrum strategy sets out where we think we can make the biggest difference over the next two to four years, building on the licensing changes we introduced last year.

This includes considering options for future access to UK spectrum that could boost the capacity of satellite services, such as additional access to the 14.25 – 14.50 GHz band, as well as pursuing improvements to international NGSO rules.
Protecting vital Earth observation services

Earth observation satellites are playing an increasingly important role in collecting data on climate change. For example, they use radio waves to monitor changes in the natural world, such as the changing thickness of ice in polar regions. These systems also help other industries, such as agriculture, the emergency services and weather forecasting.

Part of our job is to help ensure Earth observation systems are protected from interference from other spectrum users.
Safe access to space

The rapidly rising numbers of space objects and proposals for mega-constellations has led to concerns across the space community about the potential for space debris.

Our role is to make sure there is appropriate spectrum available for systems that support the safe use of space, such as radar systems that track the many objects in space.

Helen Hearn, Ofcom Interim Spectrum Group Director, said: “While spectrum might be alien to some, we all rely on these invisible radio waves every day. And they’re vital to the rapidly growing space industry.

“So as the next generation of satellites beam down vital information to us, we’re playing our part to help the sector continue its journey and make sure these enterprising pioneers have the launchpad they need.”

The consultation closes on 24 May 2022 and we aim to publish our final strategy later this year.

Consultation document
https://ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/233853/consultation-space-spectrum-refresh.pdf

Further details anf response form at
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/space-spectrum-strategy

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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URESAT-1 – A chess playing ham radio satellite

URE report Intensive work is underway to make URESAT-1 available before the end of the year. If all goes according to plan, URESAT-1 will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in October.

A translation of the post by Spain’s national amateur radio society URE says:

URESAT-1 is based on the architecture used in the GENESIS, EASAT-2 and HADES missions but will include significant improvements, such as a 32-bit computer compared to the 8-bit computers of the previous satellites and improvements in the mechanisms of deployment of antennas and batteries.

As for its functionalities, it will have a VHF / UHF FM repeater and FSK frames, like its predecessors. This will allow voice QSOs and digipeating of AX.25 and APRS frames.

The payload is not yet defined, but it could be the same SSTV camera that flies in HADES, a thruster or some kind of experiment. Talks with universities and companies and is expected to be closed in the coming weeks.

One of the projects that is confirmed is a chess game that will allow radio amateurs to play having as an opponent the on-board computer sending FSK frames with the movements, to which the on-board computer will answer in its telemetry. Several radio amateurs are working on the project and if it is completed by the time the satellite is due to be delivered, it will be included.

The expected orbital altitude is around 525 km and the inclination will be polar, probably around 97 degrees, which would place it in the same orbital plane as its companions EASAT-2 and Hades.

URE has created a blog in WordPress where the status of the project will be reported, including details of the functionalities and technicians.

The blog can be found here https://uresat.ure.es/

Source URE https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Spain

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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ARISS Europe to Perform Special Digital SSTV Experiment

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is planning for a special SSTV experiment. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS) and develops and operates the amateur radio equipment on ISS.

As part of its ARISS 2.0 initiative, the ARISS International team is expanding its educational and life-long learning opportunities for youth and ham radio operators around the world. ARISS Slow Scan Television (SSTV), which is the transmission of images from ISS using amateur radio, is a very popular ARISS mode of operation. To expand ARISS SSTV capabilities, the ARISS Europe and ARISS USA teams plan to perform special SSTV Experiments using a new SSTV digital coding scheme. For the signal reception, the software “KG-STV” is required, as available on internet.

We kindly request that the amateur radio community refrain from the use of the voice repeater thin this SSTV experiment on February 20, 2022, over Europe.

This is a unique and official ARISS experiment. We kindly request keeping the voice repeater uplink free from other voice transmissions during the experiment time period. Also note that ARISS is temporarily employing the voice repeater to expedite these experiments and make a more permanent, more expansive SSTV capability fully operational on other downlink frequencies.

The first experiment in the series will utilize ARISS approved ground stations in Europe that will transmit these digital SSTV signals. These will be available for all in the ISS footprint when SSTV transmissions occur. The first SSTV experiment is planned for February 20, 2022, between 05:10 UTC and 12:00 UTC for five ISS passes over Europe. Please be aware that this event depends on ARISS IORS radio availabilities and ISS crew support, so last-minute changes may occur.

To promote quick experimental SSTV investigations—to learn and improve–the ARISS team will employ the ISS Kenwood radio in its cross-band repeater mode. The crossband repeater operates on a downlink of 437.800 MHz. Each transmission sequence will consist of 1:40 minute transmission, followed by 1:20 minute pause and will be repeated several times within an ISS pass over Europe.

The used modulation is MSK w/o error correction. For the decoding of the 320 x 240 px image, the software KG-STV is required. The KG-STV software can be downloaded from the following link:
http://amsat-nl.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/kgstv_ISS.zip

The ZIP file contains the KG-STV program, an installation and setup manual, some images and MP3 audio samples for your first tests as well as links for additional technical information about the KG-STV use.

The members of the ham radio community youth and the public are invited to receive and decode these special SSTV signals.

Experiment reports are welcome and should be uploaded to “sstvtest@amsat-on.be”

More information will be available on the AMSAT-NL.org web page:
https://amsat-nl.org/?page_id=568

(for the team: Oliver Amend, DG6BCE)

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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Nayif-1 (EO-88) Celebrates a 5th Birthday in orbit!

Nayif-1 (EO-88) was launched at 03:58 UTC on February 15, 2017, on a PSLV launcher from India. It was part of a world record launch as the C37 flight carried 104 spacecraft into orbit.

The transmitter was autonomously activated around 04:47 UTC and the first signals were received and decoded a few minutes later by KB6LTY and within a few hours more than 250 stations around the world had submitted telemetry reports to the Data Warehouse.

After more than 27500 orbits of the earth, the spacecraft continues to function nominally. It switches between high power telemetry when in daylight to low power telemetry and transponder when in eclipse.

The mission was developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and American University of Sharjah (AUS). The UAE’s first Nanosatellite was developed by Emirati engineering students from AUS under the supervision of a team of engineers and specialists from MBRSC within the framework of a partnership between the two entities, aiming to provide hands-on experience to engineering students on satellite manufacturing.

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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