communication (Page 38)

Vega launch of three satellites with ham radio payloads

Christophe Mercier reports three satellites with amateur radio payloads will be on the Vega VV16 launch expected to take place in the early hours of September 2.

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board he writes:

The Vega rocket (VV16) is scheduled to leave Kourou on 02 September 2020 at 3h36 CEST with 53 satellites on board.

One of the satellites that will be leaving is the Amicalsat satellite built by the CSUG (Centre Spatial Universitaire Grenoblois). The measurements made by the satellite will be available to all. They will allow radio amateurs to use them for propagation predictions.

The project’s website (in English) has just been put online http://amicalsat.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/

The Amsat-Francophone supported this project http://site.amsat-f.org/amicalsat/

A software (Linux & Windows) is provided for decoding the telemetry and sending it to the database (SatNogs). The user manual is available (in English) https://code.electrolab.fr/xtof/josast/-/blob/master/ApplicationAmicalsat/src/site/markdown/UserManual.md

UHF 436.1 MHz AFSK 1200 RS17S
S band 2,415.3 MHz GFSK 1000 kb/s
http://amsat-f.org/AMSATLIST/SatellitePage/UK/0Amicalsat.html

Reports are welcome. Thank you for your help.

The first 5 people who receive a frame from AmicalSat will receive a gift.
To submit your frame uses the satnogs SIDS or email satellite@adri38.fr

Two other satellites :

UPMSat-2
UHF 437.405 MHz AFSK 1200 UPMST2
http://amsat-f.org/AMSATLIST/SatellitePage/UK/0UPMSat-2%20.html

TTU100
Primary 435.450 MHz 1k2 and 9k6 and CW
Secondary 10465.000 MHz OPSK 62.5 kbs and 20 Mbs
http://amsat-f.org/AMSATLIST/SatellitePage/UK/0TT%C3%9C100%20(TT%C3%9CSat,%20MektorySAT%201,%20H%C3%A4marik)%20.html

TLE
1 74001U 20500A 20246.14839410 .00000000 00000-0 50000-4 0 05 2 74001
97.4424 319.0247 0002779 53.5911 328.5572 15.10021350 09

73

Christophe Mercier
Amsat-F chairman

AMSAT Bulletin Board http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Vega Flight VV16 https://www.arianespace.com/mission/vega-flight-vv16/

Watch the Vega VV16 launch live at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IveCBs-cCTw

Get The Details…

m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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Jeanette Epps KF5QNU joins Starliner mission to ISS

Astronaut and radio amateur Jeanette Epps KF5QNU has joined the Boeing CST-100 Starliner-1 crew for a mission to the International Space Station.

She joins fellow crew members Sunita Williams KD5PLB and Josh Cassada KI5CRH on the first operational crewed flight of Starliner. The six-month expedition is planned to launch to the ISS in 2021 following NASA certification after a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts.

While earning her doctorate, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles on her research. After completing graduate school, she worked in a research laboratory for more than two years, co-authoring several patents, before the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited her. She spent seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before her selection as a member of the 2009 astronaut class.

NASA assigned Williams and Cassada to the Starliner-1 mission in August 2018. The spaceflight will be the first for Cassada and third for Williams, who spent long-duration stays aboard the space station on Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.

NASA press release
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-joins-first-operational-boeing-crew-mission-to-space

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Free online amateur radio training course https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/

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m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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RSGB Tonight @ 8 Video – Getting started on QO-100

On Monday, July 27 Dom Smith M0BLF gave an online talk – Getting started on QO-100 – as part of the RSGB Tonight @ 8 live webinar series.

Dom’s lockdown project was to complete a set up for the QO-100 amateur radio transponders that are hosted on the geostationary satellite Es’hail-2. This was the first amateur radio payload to be put into a geostationary orbit and provides constant and reliable coverage for amateur voice, data and television contacts over the whole of Africa, Europe and the Middle East and even as far as Brazil in the west, and Thailand in the east.

Getting started on QO-100 is a talk in two halves: first we’ll watch the video, showing the particular set-up chosen—and there are many!—and then there will be chance for a Q&A.

Watch Getting Started on QO-100 by Dom Smith, M0BLF

Dom Smith, M0BLF has been a radio amateur for nearly 25 years since being licensed at the age of 14 in 1996. He is an active member of the Camb-Hams and Cambridge University Wireless Society (CUWS), and may often be heard contesting, climbing hills for Summits on the Air, and assisting Cambridgeshire RAYNET. He also enjoys travelling for DXPeditions, most recently as JW/M0BLF, VP2MUW and ZC4UW, and he manages QSL cards for most CUWS trips. On top of all that, he volunteers with Cambridge 105 Radio, the local community broadcast station, on the engineering team.

Professionally, Dom works as a Cloud Solutions Architect in the software team at the Royal Society of Chemistry and he holds a PhD in Hispanic Studies.

Watch other RSGB Tonight @ 8 videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRSGB/videos

QO-100 information https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/geo/eshail-2/

QO-100 products in the AMSAT-UK shop https://amsat-uk.org/

Get The Details…

m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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ISS MAI-75 SSTV activity planned for Aug 4-5

It is planned Russian cosmonauts will transmit amateur radio Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images from the International Space Station (ISS) during August 4-5 on 145.800 MHz FM (likely using PD-120). It should be receivable across the British Isles and Europe.

On July 9, ESA Education had Tweeted:
“We are expecting the ISS to transmit pictures in the next weeks for the 45th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz test project. This is a perfect opportunity to try this activity for yourself!”
https://twitter.com/ESA__Education/status/1281140713237946370

Apollo–Soyuz was the first international space mission, carried out jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union in mid-July 1975.

An announcement made July 27 on the ARISS SSTV Blog says:

The final crew schedule for the week of Aug 3-9 was released recently and it showed a MAI-75 activity scheduled for Aug 4 and 5. This is soon after the Space X Demo-2 undock so changes to that event could impact the schedule.

The current dates and times of the planned activity are as follows:
Aug 4 (12:25-18:10 UTC) is setup and day 1 operations.
Aug 5 (11:15-18:45 UTC) is day 2 operations and close out.

This is the Moscow Aviation Institute SSTV experiment that is active for orbital passes over Moscow, Russia. It has traditional been PD-180 or PD-120 and transmitting on 145.800 MHz.

Source ARISS STV Blog http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/

The ISS puts out a strong signal on 145.800 MHz FM and a 2m handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it. Many FM mobile and base station rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM (25 kHz channel spacing). Handhelds all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

The space agency ESA has released a video ‘How to get pictures from the International Space Station via Amateur Radio’ along with a collection of Tutorial videos explaining how to receive ISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) pictures for different computers and mobile devices
https://amsat-uk.org/2020/07/08/esa-promote-amateur-radio-iss-sstv/

Read the Raspberry Pi article Pictures from space via ham radio
https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/pictures-from-space-via-ham-radio/

ISS SSTV info and links https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

What is Amateur Radio? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Free UK amateur radio online training course https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/

Get The Details…

m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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Ofcom statement on 5725-5850 MHz

On Friday, July 24, Ofcom released their statement on 5725-5850 MHz and 5925-6425 MHz.

The main points are:
• Make 5925-6425 MHz available for Wi-Fi and other RLAN technologies
• The release of this spectrum will also enable very low power (VLP) outdoor use
• Remove the Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) requirements from channels used by Wi-Fi in the 5725-5850 MHz Amateur and Amateur Satellite Service allocation band

The Amateur Satellite Service weak-signal downlink band, 5830-5850 MHz, is used by amateur payloads on Deep-Space and Interplanetary spacecraft as well as by satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Increased use of Wi-Fi across these frequencies could obliterate the weak amateur satellite signals.

Ofcom statement
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/improving-spectrum-access-for-wi-fi

In 2013 CEPT looked at increased use of 5725-5850 MHz
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/29/cept-considers-use-of-5830-5850-mhz-satellite-band/

Get The Details…

m5aka

AMSAT-UK

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