March 31, 2012

CubeSats satellite operations update

On 13 February, the new Vega rocket delivered seven ESA-sponsored CubeSats into low Earth orbit. Since then, ESA’s Education Office has maintained frequent contacts with the student teams to follow the progress of their satellite operations.

For each team, this is the first hands-on experience of operating an orbiting satellite, and some of them have had to deal with some challenging difficulties
Read more @ esa new


A photograph of Earth taken by Masat-1 showing Western Australia (12 Mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifarch, 2012).
Credits: Masat-1


Members of XaTcobeo at the ground station.
Credits: XaTcobeo team.

photo de esa news website

March 29, 2012

Prism TLM

Prism 00:06 00:19 UTC

PR0 00B424A5A420A4A4
PR1 00AE E AFB4001C
PR2 0000000000000000
PR3 000000000002F02
PR4 0B002E2600
PR5 00520*008888877B
PR6 006B6F6B646800 I
PR7 0084818181606000
PR8 430000000010000021000000
PR9 4040403F404040403F40403F40403F3F

PRC //WWW.SPACE.T.U-TOKYO.AC.JP
PRD-SORANOKONOSORAWOOMOUGOTOKUNIMO

March 20, 2012

Masat-1 is going to shape the concept & the mission of CubeSat

IMHO Masat-1 success is going to shape the concept and the mission of CubeSat in the future.

The success reflects the big effort of the Masat-1 team to produce this CubeSat with perfect performance since the first day of the launch.

Here are some features of this success :

1- The good telemetry signal.
2- Nice decoder software.
3- Continuous update to the decoder software and release many new versions.
4- Very helpful web page.
5- Then the Masat-1 made history again when it captured the first satellite space photographs on 8 March 2012.



Masat-1 web page

March 18, 2012

New software TNC works great with Satellite !

Its interest to test new TNC software direct on a satellite.
The software is Soundmodem by UZ7HO .It uses the AGW Packet Engine API and emulates the AGW Packet Engine TCP interface. I have a long history with the wounderful AGW packet engine software . But I found the Soundmodem have a nice and friendly UGI .More easy to setup and less prone to crush. The Soundmodem works great with UISS too.
I copied Fastrac Oscar 70 Beacon using soundmodem alone @ 20:48 UTC

March 17, 2012

Masat-1 is Object E

I tried the last Masat-1 decoder (version: 2012. 03. 13.) on the last pass
22:11 22:19 UTC.
It works so fine ,A total of 92 packets captured from Object E not from MO-72
as states on the last 2L Keppler element !!

March 15, 2012

Masat-1 captured the first Hungarian satellite photographs from space

Masat-1, the First Hungarian Satellite made history again when it captured the first satellite space photographs on 8 March 2012 This first photo shows the southern section of the African continent. The next photos were made of Australia and Antarctica, in a quality and quantity unprecedented in the CubeSat realm.

March 14, 2012

VO-52 Turned On

Dear VO-52 users,
The commands to 'Turn On' the transponder # 2 (Dutch transponder, made
by Williams PE1RAH) on-board VO-52 was successfully sent during
14:00 UT 35 deg ascending Node pass over Bangalore, India.

The sent commands were successfully received, acknowledged and
confirmed by the telemetry. Subsequently, the transponder # 2 is now
'ON' and Williams CW message beacon was heard again after a gap of
approximately 6 years & 4 months.

The beacon signal was heard loud and strong here at Bangalore.



A detailed Initial reports addressed to:
tprangan@istrac.org
and a copy to
wmy@isac.gov.in
would be greatly appreciated.


73 de

Mani, VU2WMY

Winds at the edge of space



Five sounding rockets will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia releasing a chemical tracer into the air. The chemical – a substance called trimethyl aluminum (TMA) -- forms milky, white clouds that allow those on the ground to "see" the winds in space and track them with cameras. In addition, two of the rockets will have instrumented payloads to measure pressure and temperature in the atmosphere.
The launch will take place on a clear night between March 14 and April 3.
The rockets will be launched on a clear night within a period of minutes, so the trails can all be seen at the same time. The trimethyl aluminum will then be released in space out over the Atlantic Ocean at altitudes from 50 to 90 miles. The cloud tracers will last for up to 20 minutes and will be visible in the mid-Atlantic region, and along the east coast of the United States from parts of South Carolina to New Jersey.
More @ NASA

March 12, 2012

New major version of UISS v5.3

[UISS_ON6MU] Digest Number 484
New major version of UISS v5.3
Posted by: "on6mu" hams001(at)skynet.be on6mu
Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:26 am (PDT)

Hi All,

I would like to inform you that I have released a new major version of UISS. You can download it from my website as of today.

PS: If the download fails then please try the mirror download (also available on the UISS ).website

Enjoy the new version!
Thanks and God bless,
Guy ON6MU

Good morning ISS

Welcome to RS0ISS's message board
System Ver 1.50 100656 Bytes free
You have following mails waiting.
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
m
Msg# Size TS Date Time From To @ BBS Subject
117 57 /0429 VE1WRG-ST2NH Hi
103 46 /0317 ST2NH -ALL st2nh@yahoo.com
102 25 /0316 ST2NH -E20YJC hi
a
97 172 /0240 ST2NH -VE2TMW tnx email
Abort !!
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
r 117
Posted : 04:29:26
From : VE1WRG
To : ST2NH
@ BBS :
Subject:
Hi
Greetings from Nova Scotia, Canada vy best 73 de Derek
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
w ve1wrg
Subject:
hello
Message:
very glad to read ur msg via iss b
all the best from africa - sudan
73 de st2nh
/ex
Thank you for your message.
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
f
Msg# Size TS Date Time From To @ BBS Subject
123 87 /1456 ST2NH -VE1WRG hello
121 37 $ /2139 F5FCH -ALL Friendship de F5FCH Phil JN07P
120 85 /1056 LW5DGM-ALL Hello
119 35 /1939 EA6XQ -ALL Hello
117 57 Y /0429 VE1WRG-ST2NH Hi
113 33 /0254 VE1WRG-ALL Hello 2ALL de Nova Scotia, Can
110 29 /0439 CE3QC -ALL 73´s from Chile South America
109 96 /0133 LW5DGM-ALL Hola!!
107 46 /1529 KK4FGM-ALL hello to all fr Moultrie, GA
105 31 /1057 EA2AUK-ALL HELLO
103 46 /0317 ST2NH -ALL st2nh@yahoo.com
102 25 /0316 ST2NH -E20YJC hi
99 41 /0902 E20YJC-ALL w all
97 172 /0240 ST2NH -VE2TMW tnx email
95 104 Y /0339 ST2NH -VE2TMW hello
94 97 /0337 ST2NH -KG4CEO hi justin
93 45 /0203 ST2NH -NH7WN hi
90 31 /1615 ST2UOK-ALL hello
89 79 /1614 ST2UOK-ALL hi
88 104 /1612 ST2UOK-ALL hi
100530 Bytes free
Next message Number 124
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
w st2ab
Subject:
congratulation
Message:
mubrok new callsign
73 de st2nh
/ex
Thank you for your message.
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
w st2ma
Subject:
congratulation
Message:
mubrok callsign
/ex
Thank you for your message.
CMD(F/K/M/R/W/B/H/?)
w st2ym
Subject:
congratulation
Message:
mubrouk callsign
/ex
Thank you for your message.

March 6, 2012

HAMSAT VO-52 Status

Subject: [amsat-bb] HAMSAT VO-52 Status
Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:22:48 +0530

Hello All,
Looking at the discussions and the concerns expressed about VO-52,all
that I can share at this moment is 'HAMSAT VO-52' is in 'Excellent
Health' after recovery operations. Right now, it is under observation.
However, decision about switching 'ON' the transponder is pending
clearance. Decision expected in other couple of days.
The user community will be informed well in advance about the
transponder switching.

with regards,

Mani, VU2WMY

March 1, 2012

Columbus patch antennas position!!

During the last few days while I was trying UHF Packet on the international space station .I noticed several time a sudden dip in the signal strength and loss in connection with packet system. ISS elevation was reasonable and the signal strength on the VHF packet system was strong!
I’m thinking of 3 cases:
1- The patch antennas position!
(The patch antennas are fixed on the Meteorite Debris Panels (MDP) protecting the hull of Columbus. On the port cone of the module, where it attaches to the ISS )
http://www.ariss-eu.org/columbus.htm
2- Radio and power used!
3- Doppler Effect!
As long as the signal dip was sharp and suddenly
And the transceiver was drive by Doppler shift correction software
I think the position of patch antennas plays the major role for the sudden signal strength weakness.
More Information needed to confirm this notice.