YouTube Video of Africube Satellite at AMSATSA

 AfriCUBE Cubsat.

YouTube Video of Africube Satellite at AMSATSA

Some feedback on the AfriCube Satellite

 

Setting up my Raspberry Pi as an BACAR Balloon telemetry system using GPSD,CW,AFSK,RPITX and Direwolf

Setting up my Raspberry Pi as an Balloon telemetry system using GPSD, CW, rpitx, AFSK and Direwolf.

 

Bacar Balloon

I wanted to take part in a local BACAR Balloon experiment and wanted to send my GPS position via the APRS network and also send a CW beacon every 7 minutes. I got an opportunity to add my payload to a school project.

Raspberry TX Hat for 2m Band

So I decided to use the the 2m transmitting board form Giga technology plug it on the raspberry pi. this should give me about 32.7mW (15.1dBm)
Power is a bit low but its a good for now.

Balloon Telemetry System

BACAR launch details is available here.
http://secundaweather.co.za/blog/?p=2012

Learnings

1. Power to Low (Working on model 2 with a power output of 100 to 900mw output.
2. Need to record everything that hapens in Local log so you can recover more information that you would send with Telemetry.

 Hardware.

1. Raspberry Pi 3
2. Giga Technology TX PI HAT for 2M
3. RTL dongle for RX
4. Giga Technology USB GPS unit.
5. Giga Technology Battery and Powersupply Boards.
6. Temperature sensor
7. Optional USB Camera for CCTV.

High Level Hardware configuration

Software.

1. CW (CW tone generation for Beacon transmission)
2. Direwolf. (AX 25 telemetry generation for Temperature and on-board sensors  board 1200 AFSK)
3. rtl_sdr (SDR receiver software for incoming commands controlling transponder)
4. rpitx (RF transmitter details)
5. ALSA loopback (this is needed to send audio between direwolf cw and rpitx)
6. gpsd GPS positioning server read by direwolf APRS transmission
7. Kal (rtl dongle frequensy calibaration details)
8. csdr DSP libraries  that can be used for SDR.
9. Some shell scripts taing this all together. Download from github https://github.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry

Software Block Diagram

Lets install the software for the system.

sudo apt-get install cw
sudo apt-get install direwolf
sudo apt-get install rtl-sdr
sudo apt-get install gpsd
sudo apt-get install alsa-utils
sudo modprobe snd-aloop
sudo apt-get instal python
Install the csdir sdr libraries doing the following.

git clone https://github.com/simonyiszk/csdr
cd csdr
make 
sudo make install
Get the direwolf example configurations
git clone https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf
Lets install aprs utility.
got home directory
cd
git clone https://github.com/casebeer/afsk.git
cd afsk
sudo pip install afsk
sudo pip install --allow-external PyAudio --allow-unverified PyAudio PyAudio
Lets test aprs util
aprs
You should see the following
usage: aprs [-h] -c CALLSIGN [--destination DESTINATION] [-d DIGIPEATERS]
            [-o OUTPUT] [-v]
            INFO
aprs: error: too few arguments

Lets check if alsa loop installed

sudo arecord -l
you should see this

card 2: Loopback [Loopback], device 0: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 2: Loopback [Loopback], device 1: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7


You cal also check it in the sound volume control

Right click on the Sound icon and select setting and you should see the following

Input Tab should have the loopback sound card

Output Sound Card should have loopback

Lets test CW

cw -h
You should see the help

Lets test gpsd

gpsd -h
You should see the gpsd help
Install the gps on USB port.

We now need to find out what is the usb port for your GPS device so we can run the following command.  sudo gpsd -D 5 -N -n /dev/ttyACM0
We assume here that your usb device is  /dev/ttyACM0
Run this command and then plug in and out your gps on usb port.
tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep ttyAC


You will the see something like this.

/dev/ttyACM0
Then run the command sudo gpsd -D 5 -N -n /dev/ttyACM0 replacing it with your GPS usb port.

gpsd:PROG: Changed mask: {ONLINE|TIME|LATLON|ALTITUDE|STATUS|MODE|PACKET|PPSTIME} with reliable cycle detection
gpsd:PROG: GPGSA sets mode 3
gpsd:CLIENT: => client(0): $GPGSA,A,3,08,27,16,09,,,,,,,,,4.12,1.97,3.61*0D\x0d\x0a
gpsd:PROG: Changed mask: {ONLINE|MODE|DOP|PACKET|USED} with reliable cycle detection
gpsd:PROG: Partial satellite data (1 of 4).
gpsd:CLIENT: => client(0): $GPGSV,4,1,14,01,64,012,08,03,05,014,,04,06,121,,07,69,274,18*72\x0d\x0a
gpsd:PROG: Partial satellite data (2 of 4).
gpsd:CLIENT: => client(0): $GPGSV,4,2,14,08,43,151,28,09,11,321,22,11,88,165,17,16,15,081,21*7E\x0d\x0a
gpsd:PROG: Partial satellite data (3 of 4).
gpsd:CLIENT: => client(0): $GPGSV,4,3,14,17,06,290,22,22,14,033,16,23,04,348,,27,14,129,08*7A\x0d\x0a
gpsd:CLIENT: => client(0): $GPGSV,4,4,14,28,16,230,11,30,40,230,21*75\x0d\x0a
gpsd:PROG: Changed mask: {ONLINE|DOP|SATELLITE|PACKET} with reliable cycle detection

There is also another utility that could give you the status of the gpsd service.

Ok lets make our gpsd configuration permanent.
Edit the following configuration file using your favorite text editor.
and change the usb interface to what was detected above

sudo Vi /etc/default/gpsd

# /etc/default/gpsd
START_DAEMON="true" 
GPSD_OPTIONS="-n" 
DEVICES="/dev/ttyAMA0" 
USBAUTO="false" 
GPSD_SOCKET="/var/run/gpsd.sock"

Lets restart the gpsd service

sudo systemctl stop gpsd.socket
sudo systemctl start gpsd.socket
You can now test if it works fine with the following command
sudo gpsmon
You should see the following if all is ok with gps connected.

This is the GPS details as read by GPSD

Lets test direwolf



direwolf -h
You should see the direwolf help screen in white inverse.


Ok lets check rtl_sdr. (the SDR receiving software)
Plug-in your rtl dongle and then run the following command.

sudo rtl_test

You should see some test results and gain parameters supported by your device.
Ok


Connect your ds18b20 temperature sensor.
One of the coolest things about OneWire and DS18B20 temperature sensors is that each sensor has its own embedded address so you can have many of them on 1 data wire. 

Configure the raspberry pi to read the temperature.
Edit the following config file
sudo vi /boot/config.txt


Add the following at the bottom of the file
dtoverlay=w1-gpio
Then reboot the pi
sudo reboot
We now need to load the device drivers for the temperature sensor.
sudo modprobe w1-gpio 
sudo modprobe w1-therm

Now check if the device was loaded

ls /sys/bus/w1/devices


you should see a directory like this below
28-000007602ffa
Go into this directory replacing the part in yellow with your directory
cd /sys/bus/w1/devices/28-000007602ffa
Now run the following command to get the temperature.
w1_slaveYou should see something lie this.
bd 01 4b 46 7f ff 03 10 ff : crc=ff YES
bd 01 4b 46 7f ff 03 10 ff t=27812

Ok its working.
We can now use a python script to read the readings
get the python code from github using the following command
git clone https://github.com/pimylifeup/temperature_sensor.git
goto the new directory that was created. temperature_sensor
cd temperature_sensor

Give the application executable writes by using the following command 
chmod 776  temperature_sensor_code.py

Then run the command
./temperature_sensor_code.py
You should see the temperature readings scrawling on the screen.
Ok we can stop it with CTRL C.
Ok now all seems to be working for the temperature readings



We now need to test the Radio transmitter.
Please note you need to have a Amateur Radio license to do this as you will be transmitting on the Amateur allocated frequencies.

Install the Raspberry Pi hat on the Raspberry Pi and then test the transmitter with the following commands.
Clone the following examples in your home directory from github
git clone https://github.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry.git

cd to the Raspberry_Telemetry directory.
Connect a 2m external antenna to the raspberry Pi Hat SMA connector.
run the following command
sudo ./Start_Carier_check.sh
Now check for a rf carrier on the following frequency
U can use a SDR dongle or HT (Baofeng) or spectrum analyzer if you have one.
The frequency can be changed by editing this file and changing the yellow value
vi ./Start_Carier_check.sh
sudo rpitx -m VFO -f 145300 -c1
Now that we have the transmitter tested we can start testing the telemetry.




Lets start doing some real time applications.

Now lets configure the APRS and CW telemetry to send sensor data and call sign. I suggest using 70cm up-link and 2M down-link not to overdrive the receiver front end. ( There is a diplex available from Giga technology)  

2m and 70cm Diplexer

1. Sending APRS telemetry every minute with GPS and temperature readings.
2. Sending a CW (morse code) with calsign and temperature reading every two minutes.
3. Lets test a command to control the system. Replying with APRS got command.
4. I wanted to send telemetry every minute but decided to make it a prime number just in case there is two telemetry transmissions disturbing each other so this would be helping to resolve this problem. (67 seconds)

Sending APRS telemetry every minute with GPS and temperature readings.

Download the following shell scripts
1) wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry/master/sh/cron_aprs_gps_position.sh

2) wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry/master/sh/crontab_bacar_cw.sh
3) wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry/master/sh/crontab_bacar_aprs.sh
4) wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antonjan/Raspberry_Telemetry/master/telem-balloon_2.conf

Lets edit the file for your path.
vi cron_aprs_gps_position.sh
Fix the yellow with path to your direwolf file.
#load looback and start gpsd service for gps data.
sudo /usr/sbin/gpsd -D 5 -N -n /dev/ttyACM0 &
sleep 5
sudo /sbin/modprobe snd-aloop
sleep 2
#We now will write out the audio from loopback from direwolf to a wav file
sudo timeout 10s arecord -c1 -t wav -r 48000  --vumeter=mono -D hw:Loopback,1,0 -fS16_LE /home/pi/sh/direwalf.wav &
#We now will create a APRS audio withS position and send it to loopback device
sudo timeout 9s direwolf -c /home/pi/Downloads/direwolf/telemetry-toolkit/telem-balloon_2.conf
# we now wait for short wile
sleep 1
#we now convert the wav file in a format to transmit
sudo sox -v 0.3 -S /home/pi/sh/direwalf.wav /home/pi/sh/direwalf_sox.wav  rate -L -s 48000
# we now wait for short wile  
sleep 1
#we now convert the APRS audio file to a fm file for transmission.
sudo /home/pi/Downloads/rpitx_new/rpitx/pifm  /home/pi/sh/direwalf_sox.wav /home/pi/sh/direwalf_sox.wav.ft
# we now wait for short wile
sleep 1
#We now transmit the the APRS gps postion on the frequensy 144,801Mhz
sudo /home/pi/Downloads/rpitx_new/rpitx/rpitx -i /home/pi/sh/direwalf_sox.wav.ft -m RF -f 144801 -c1Save the file

Lets send our first APRS GPS position.
Change the callsign in the  telem-baloon_2.conf to your callsign
Check that the paths in the telem-baloon_2.conf  and cron_aprs_gps_position.sh is correct in relation to the directory you check the code out.
run the script sudo ./cron_aprs_gps_position.sh and you should now send a gps position aprs message. If you change the frequency to your local packet  (APRS in SA its 144.8Mhz)frequency you should see the Balloon Icon on the APRS server.  https://aprs.fi/#!lat=60.169998&lng=24.94
You mite want to calibrate the TX frequency by changing the frequency in the script.
You can now add this script in a cron to send every 1minute ...

Here is an exsample just to send a message
sudo aprs --callsign NOCALL --output - "30mw Belloon Beacon de NOCALL" | csdr convert_i16_f | csdr gain_ff 7000 | csdr convert_f_samplerf 20833 | sudo rpitx -m RF -i - -f 144325 -c1

Ok lets now send some CW as a beacon.

Lets create a text file with the cw message we want to send.
vi cw_text 
enter the following example

                               32mw balloon experiment de NOCALSIGN
save the file (including the space in front)

we now will be using a different script crontab_bacar_cw.sh
edit this script.
vi crontab_bacar_cw.sh
#This script will send a cw at 10 words per minute 
#Start GPS and alsa loopback
sudo /usr/sbin/gpsd -D 5 -N -n /dev/ttyACM0 &
sleep 5
sudo /sbin/modprobe snd-aloop
#now setup loopback to write to file


sudo /usr/bin/timeout 11s /usr/bin/arecord -c1 -t wav -r 48000  --vumeter=mono -D hw:Loopback,1,0 -fS16_LE /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw.wav &
# now send cw to loopback with cw_text.txt
sudo /usr/bin/timeout 10s /usr/bin/cw -s a -d hw:Loopback,1,0 -t 1000 -v 50 -f /home/pi/sh/cw_text.txt
sleep 1
#Now convert the file to format that can be converted to fm signal.
sudo /usr/bin/sox -v 0.9 -S /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw.wav /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw_sox.wav  rate -L -s 48000
sleep 1
#now create transmission file for rpitx
sudo /home/pi/Downloads/rpitx_new/rpitx/pifm  /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw_sox.wav /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw_sox.wav.ft
sleep 1
#now send your CW (morse code on 144.328 Mhz) Change frequency as requerd
sudo /home/pi/Downloads/rpitx_new/rpitx/rpitx -i /home/pi/sh/bacar_cw_sox.wav.ft -m RF -f 144328 -c1

Save the file and run and test.
sudo ./crontab_bacar_cw.sh

Now listen on the tx frequency and run the script and you should here the message "32mw balloon experiment de YOURCALLSIGN"

How do you build a 1U Cube-Sat Linear transponder using SDR / DSP technology with limited Power?

How do you build a 1U Cube-Sat Linear transponder using SDR / DSP technology with limited Power?

Requirements:

Satellite requirements.

1. Linear Transponder 70cm (437Mhz) up-link and S band (2.4GHz or 1.2Ghz down) Down-link (Bandwidth ? 250Khz on 70cm ?)
2. Satellite Low Earth orbit (LEO) altitude between 650 kilometers. We need this so we can calculate path loss and RF power and antenna gain requirements.
3. Available Power 1.5W for transponder from Solar panels and battery system.
4. Telemetry mode? CW / AX25 / AFSK 9k6 /....  
1. UHF Beacon recomendation.
   • UHF Beacon interval:  about 55 seconds
   • UHF Transmit power: ~ 1 W
   • AFSK AX25 1k2 and fallback of CW 10WP 
5. Satellite antennas for 70cm ? and (Polarization ?) 
6. Satellite antennas for 2.4Ghz / 1.2Ghz and (Polarization ?) 
7. Telemetry Requirements ? (ID, Temperature, Power in, Power out, Battery left, Transponder Mode status, Antenna Status, Satellite Orientation, ........)
8. Inter board Connector Specification (PC/104 communication)
9. OBC, SOLAR,charger,Orientation and Battery from existing Satellite ?
10. 1 U Cube-Sat Space frame from existing Satellite (10x10x10) 1kg
11. DSP 10 to 14Bit A/D /D/A Dynamic range. what is good enough ?
12. PCB Board size details PC104 with cutouts for wire.
13. Space frame and Solar panel frame and Antenna deployment. (out of scope)
14. Solar panels. (Out of Scope)
15. Power regulator and Charge regulator and Battery. (out of Scope)
16. Orientation controls. (out of scope) (Stabilization)
17. RF Linear Transponder using SDR / DSP. (70cm up 2.4Ghz or 1.2Ghz down)
18. OBC (In scope ARM M4 or possibly A9) (FreeRTOS)
19. Inter board communication standard.

Out of Scope for now:

1. Space frame, Solar panels and panels frame.
2. Solar panels
3. Power regulator and Charge regulator and Battery.
4. Orientation controls.

In scope for now:

1. Linear Transponder using SDR / DSP. (ARM Processor possibly not FPLG due to power constraint.)
2. Telemetry TX
3. Command control RX

Block diagram.

Transponder SDR transmitter. (Down-link 145.9?? MHz USB) (not confirmed) (250Khz)

Telemetry transmitter

• Estimated TX full power for beacon and transponder (300 mW) when Sat is in sunlight.
• When satellite is in eclipse low power of about (30mW). 

Transponder SDR receiver. (Up-link 435.??? MHz LSB ) (not confirmed) (250Khz)

• Estimated maximum TX up-link power of 5 watts with a 7 dBi gain antenna. 

Beacon / Telemetry

Here are several DDS signal generators I'm looking at:

1. AD9833  0 - 12.5 Mhz 
2. AD9850  0 - 50 Mhz
3. AD9851  0 - 70 Mhz 
4. Si5351    0 - 150 Mhz
5. Si5351A 0 - 290 Mhz
6. AD9959  0 - 500Mhz
7. AD9952  0 - 500Mhz Practical max 160Mhz depending on patern

Ref : Examples code for the STM32f4  and AD9850  https://zissisprojects.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/stm32-f4-discovery-and-ad9850-dds/

1.2Ghz band plan for Downlink

TX

1. https://github.com/F5OEO/rpitx
2. http://ebrombaugh.studionebula.com/radio/txdac/index.html
3. https://www.etherkit.com/rf-modules/si5351a-breakout-board.html
4. http://www.simplecircuits.com/files/Download/QEX_release.pdf
5. http://www.amrad.org/projects/sdr/
6. https://myriadrf.org/projects/rdk/
7. http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/the-sdr32-a-stm32-based-software-defined-radio/
8. http://www.stm32-sdr.com/styled/index.html  (PSK)
9. https://wiki.analog.com/resources/eval/user-guides/ad-fmcomms2-ebz/software/baremetal?rev=1395324588#code_size_information ( AD9361 NON OS Drive)
10. https://github.com/GomSpace/libcsp (Cubesat Space Protoco)
11. https://github.com/robots/APRS  (STM32 APRS code)
12. https://michaldemin.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/cheap-afsk-tnc/  (AFSK stm3  2)
13. https://github.com/athirasubhash/AX25MODEM (AX25 for STM32)
14. www.analog.com/en/education/education-library/videos/3845680080001.html (Video Analog devices)
15. https://datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX2837.pdf  (IQ front end Maxim)
16. https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/products/analog/data-converters/analog-front-end-ics/MAX5863.html (A/D and D/A MAXIM)
17. https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf/blob/master/firmware/common/max2837.c (max2837 c Library)
18. http://www.g4jnt.com/DDSVHFBeaconDriver.pdf  (DDS beacon generation)

Possible def tools.

1. GNU radio
2. Math lab
3. ARM DEV board tools. (How to setup Eclipse for Arm development)
4. Real time OS https://istarc.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/stm32f4-behold-the-project-wizard/
5. Installing FreeRTOS on STM32F4 https://istarc.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/stm32f4-deploy-freertos-in-under-10-seconds/

Ref :

1. http://sigalrm.blogspot.co.za/2012/09/stm32f4-discovery-quick-start-guide.html
2. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/mbed-devel/stm32f4$20discovery%7Csort:relevance

Satellite recording of the SWAYAM Satellite on 25 Jun 2016 at 19:47GMT

This is a CW Beacon recording of the SWAYAM Satellite on 25 Jun 2016 at 19:47GMT 

This recording was done on the Satellite websdr at http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7WEvKMiv2g

log PSAT cubesat 25 September 18:20GMT (APRS)

ParkinsonSAT (Psat) cubesat 25 September 18:20GMT

CW message from PSAT Cubesat.  "PSAT EVPT32DC 7.23V" , "PSAT EXPT32DC 7.24V 0DBM" , "PSAT EXPT32DC 7.25V 0DBM"

Psat is the next APRS satellite design from students at the US Naval Academy. Although we have built 5 previous APRS satellites, only the original PCSAT-1 is still in orbit because all the others were deployed from the Shuttle and at the low altitude, have re-entered. PCSAT-1 (W3ADO-1) is partially operational when ever sun angles are optimum a few times a day; and you can see its live downlink on http://pcsat.aprs.org.

APRS herd by PCSAT

more info available at http://www.aprs.org/psat.html

Log of POPSAT-HIP1 Cubsat CW beacon on webSDR http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902

Log of POPSAT-HIP1 Cubsat CW beacon on webSDR http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902 CW Message  POPSAT EXPT25DC 7.74V ?0C

Here is the recording of the POPSAT-HIP1 Cubesat on 24 September 2014 at 9:26 GMT.

This recording was done on frequency 437,395Mhz Modulation set to FM CW

To access the webSDR click here http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8901

After a wonderful day at the SA AMSAT satellite symposium I have learned the following.

After a wonderful day at the SA AMSAT satellite symposium I found the following very interesting. (24May2014)

http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

1. KLETSkous the 1U Cubesat build by volunteer Amateur Radio operators.

The planned payload for KLETSkous will be as follows.

• A Linear transponder (2m uplink and 70 cm downlink)bandwidth of 20 kHz
• Currently the frequencies in the 435.100 to 435.140 MHz range are considered for the uplink and 145.860 to 145.980 MHz for the downlink
• The scientific payload will be a experiment analysing "Worm Holes"  (This experiment will try and find the portholes between Sun and Earth).
• There was a live Transponder demo and a prototype of the space frame.

More information is available at http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

2) A presentation on the progress of the experiments on ZACube-1 was also very interesting.

ZACUBE-1 Cube sat Picture

• Very nice pictures were captured from the VGA cameras.
• Beacon TX power was also increased and should be easier to capture the signals.
• They are now slowly deploying the long wire HF antenna in the following few weeks to enable the HF experiments.

More info available at http://www.cput.ac.za/blogs/fsati/zacube-1/

3) A presentation on the experiments of a Satellite propulsion system (Vacuum Arc Thruster)

Vacuum Arc Thruster

• Vacuum arc thrusters are a potentially useful technology for use as microthrusters on microsats for the future.
• It is basically a spark plug that generate sparks in a vacuum to propel the satellite. by (Jonathan Lun PhD Student SANSA Space Science,University of the Witwatersrand)

WREN The small 5X5X5cm Cube Satellite. (PocketQube)

WREN The small 5X5X5cm Cube Satellite.

The tiny PocketQube satellite WREN is just 5x5x5 cm yet is equipped with a camera for Slow Scan TV (SSTV) using the Martin-1 format, a gyro, a magnetic field sensor, momentum wheels and pulsed plasma microthrusters. The camera has an image processing system which can find the position of the Sun and the Earth automatically.

WREN Beacon on webSDR (http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902

Payload.
1) Beacons on 437.405 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift)
Satellite sends 1.6 seconds in AFSK. Then it waits for 6 minutes for a signal.
It waits for a silent FM signal and Morse-like code. (So just keying the mike by hand will do.)
1 = long    0 = short
110011 = Activate (Wait for answers within 2 seconds)11111 = Camera on110 = Snapshot/Thumbnail (make image with 12x14 Pixels)110100 = SSTV send in Mode  Martin-1 with 320x240 PixelsNo, there is no self destruct code. 
The Telemetry Decoder and an Audio File of the beacon are available at http://we.tl/TkWEuhIlnF


WREN Decoder/Commander App Download https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pvzyr01216dab1k/uf4MQWEn5y

More details is available at http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/28/commands-for-wren-sstv-released/
and https://www.facebook.com/StaDoKo

New Amateur radio Cubesats will be launched from the International Space Station on Thursday, February 6, 2014.

New Amateur radio Cubesats will be launched from the International Space Station on Thursday, 6 February 2014. ( 18:07 UTC) new date (February 28 at 07:30 UTC)

1) LituanicaSat-1 (

• Onboard VGA camera
• GPS receiver.
• UHF CW beacon 100mW, 9k6 AX25 FSK telemetry TX 2 watts.
• FM Mode V/U transponder 150mW Voice Repeater.
• 145.950 Mhz Uplink FM transponder.
• 435.180 MHz Downlink FM.
• 145.850 MHz AX25 Uplink.
• 437.550 MHz AX25 Downlink.
• 437.275 MHz CW Beacon .
• https://www.facebook.com/Lituanicasat1

2) LitSat-1

• Beacon/TLM down link 145.850 MHz
• Beacon RF packets are AX.25 UI frames https://www.tapr.org/pub_ax25.html Main parameters of the beacon frames are: TX baud rate 9600 bps (G3RUH), repetition period ~4.5s, beacon duration ~0.5 s, source call address – TNC, destination call address – LY1LS.

Linear Transponder details

• Uplink 435.150 MHz LSB 
• Downlink  145.950 MHz USB 
• Bandwidth ±15 kHz from centre
• CW beacon   435.1375 MHz (LY1LS/B)
• Normal mode – transponder, beacon OFF
• 437.550 MHz AX25 Uplink.
• 145.850 MHz MHz AX25 Downlink.
• LitSat-1 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/palydovas
• 
  

3) UAPSAT

• 145.980 MHz AX.25 Packet Radio uplink.
• 437.385 MHz downlink.
• http://www.uap.edu.pe/

4) ArduSat-2

• 437.? MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
• http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/575960623/ardusat-your-arduino-experiment-in-space

5) UKube-1
The Ukube-1 Satellite was lunched on 8 July at 18:32:42 UTC. kep details at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=46812UKube-1 CW was confirmed over Europe ;-)

UKube-1 communications subsystem:

• Telemetry downlink 145.840 MHz

• FUNcube subsystem beacon 145.915 MHz

• 400 mW inverting linear transponder for SSB and CW

- 435.080 -435.060 MHz Uplink

- 145.930 -145.950 MHz Downlink

• 2401.0 MHz S Band Downlink

• 437.425-437.525 MHz UKSEDS myPocketQub Downlink

More details is available from http://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/04/ham-radio-cubesats-to-deploy-thursday/

New Satellite planed for Launch in January 2014 from ISS

LituanicaSAT-1 with amateur radio FM transponder to deploy from ISS.
( Launch at 1:32 pm EST on Wednesday, January 8 2014)
You should be able to here this satellite on the webSDR http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902

This satellite will be the first Lithuanian satellite.
Payload
1) VGA camera.
2) GPS receiver.
3) UHF CW beacon 100mW.
4) 9k6 AX25 FSK telemetry TX 2 watts.
5) FM Mode V/U transponder 150mW Voice Repeater.

• FM Transponder Uplink 145.950 MHz Downlink 435.180 MHz 
• AX25 Uplink 145.850 MHz AX25 Downlink 437.550 MHz 
• CW Beacon 437.275 MHz 

 Read more at http://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/12/lituanicasat-1/  , http://ly3h.epalete.com/?p=371 and here http://www.kosmonautai.lt/en/

KKS-1 Satellite CW "5 JQ1YYY" log 10 November 2013 at 12:33 GMT

KKS-1 Satellite CW "5 JQ1YYY" log 10 November 2013 at 12:33 GMT (.....|.---|--.-|.----|-.--|-.--|-.--)

more info here http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kks-1.htm and here http://www.dk3wn.info/sat/afu/sat_kks1.shtml

Here is the video with the CW recording of KKS-1

TISAT-1 Satellite recording log 10 Oct 2013 09 04 GMT

TISAT-1 Satellite recording log 10 Oct 2013 09 04 GMT

more details is available here https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/t/tisat-1
and here http://www.spacelab.dti.supsi.ch/tiSat1.html

• Downlink:  beacon frequency is 437.305MHz
• Power: 400mW
• Callsign: HB9DE.
  TIsat-1 periodically identifies itself by its codename TISAT radiated as Morse code (CW) at 19WPM, along with basic telemetry.

CW beacon recording CW Beacon "HI HI HI TISAT R" 
(The R at the end indicate the temperature)

Recording was done on webSDR http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8902 on 10 October 2013 at 09:04 GMT

Upcoming Satellites with transponders to look out for. FUNcube-1, FUNcube-2 on UKube-1, Delfi-n3Xt, FOX-1, FOX-2 and KletsKous

Upcoming Satellites with transponders to look out for.

FUNcube-1, FUNcube-2 on UKube-1, Delfi-n3Xt, FOX-1, FOX-2 and KletsKous (21 Nov 2013)

FUNcube-1 (1U CubeSAT) (More info available here http://www.batc.tv/vod/Funcube1.flv)
and here http://funcubetest2.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/funcube-handbook-en_v1.pdf
and https://warehouse.funcube.org.uk

Funcube-1

FUNcube-1 will launch from Yasny base located in Orenburg Region, Russia on a DNEPR.
Launch Date:expected to be late November  2013.(Also on this launch is tw

Day time mode (Education Mode) Telemetry mode.

• Beacon frequency: 1k2 BPSK 145.915Mhz
• Night time mode (Amateur Mode) Transponder mode.
• Transponder Up link 435.080 - 435.060 Mhz
• Transponder Down link 145.930 -145.950 Mhz

POD partners, ZAcube from South Africa and HiNCube from Norway
read more about it here http://zr6aic.blogspot.com/search/label/ZACUBE-1

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FUNcube-2 (3U CubeSAT) FUNcube-2 is a subsystem on the UKube-1 satellite.
More info available from http://amsat-uk.org/2012/10/20/funcube-2-boards-delivered-to-clyde-space/

Funcube-2 on  UKube-1 satellite

Communications systems:

• 1k2 or 9k6 BPSK Telemetry downlink 145.840 MHz
• FUNcube-2 1k2 BPSK Telemetry downlink 145.915 MHz
• FUNcube-2 Transponder SSB/CW uplink 435.080 – 435.060 MHz and downlink 145.930 -145.950 MHz
• S Band downlink 2401.0 MHz
• myPocketQub 437.425-437.525 MHz

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Triton-1 (3U cubesat) Launch  (21NOV2013)
ISIS-BV (Innovative Solutions In Space BV)

more details at http://www.isispace.nl/cms/index.php/projects/triton-missions

and http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2012/triton_amateur_radio_cubesats.htm

• Main Downlink 145.815MHz & Backup Downlink 145.860MHz.
• 600-700 km sun-sync orbit.
• AIS (ship location service) radio science experiment.
• Two U/V FM to DSB (“AO-16 mode”) repeaters.
• Will be activated after 3 months (possibly both at once) 

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Delfi-n3Xt (3U Cubsat)
More info available from http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2011/delfi_n3xt.htm

Communications systems:

• Downlink 145.870 MHz and 145.930 MHz
• Downlink 2405.00 MHz high speed
• Linear transponder Uplink 435.530 – 435.570 MHz Downlink145.880 – 145.920 MHz.

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FOX-1 (Fox-1 Assigned for launch in November 2014 on the ELaNa XII mission)
More info available from http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2012/2012_Symposium_Fox_Overview.pdf

Communications systems:

• FM analog transponder.
• Telemetry sent simultaneously with voice in sub-audio band as low-speed FSK.
• Data Mode FSK Digital data up to 9600 bps

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FOX-2
More info from http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2011/delfi_n3xt.htm
Communications systems:

• Linear transponder.

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KletsKous (1U Cubesat)
More info available here http://www.amsatsa.org.za/KLETSkous2.htm and http://www.amsatsa.org.za/KLETSkous.htm


Communications systems:

• Linear transponder.  uplink 70cm  downlink 2 metre

ZACUBE-1 (South Africa CubeSat-1)

ZACUBE-1 (South Africa)November 21st at  07:11:29 UTC.

The amateur radio CubeSat designed and built by students at the Cape Peninsular University of Technology in Bellville.
The current launch info has lift off scheduled for November 21st at  07:11:29 UTC.
Live launch video http://live.cput.ac.za/live.html
You should be able receive ZACUBE-1 satellite on this weSDR.

Satellite seems to be in 1k2 mode at the moment.
The keps that seems to be the best at the moment is 2013-066B (27Nov2013) from http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

TX power at the moment 0.5 wat.
more info at http://www.cput.ac.za/fsati
Here is a video recording of the telemetry.

The objectives of the mission are:

1) Training of post-graduate students in Satellite Systems Engineering.

2) Earth observation using a visible band matrix imager payload and an S-Band payload data transmitter (2.4 to 2.45 GHz).

3) UHF Store & Forward system (70 cm amateur band).

• Uplink is 145.860 MHz
• Downlink 437.345 MHz. Both links have selectable transmission rates of 1.2 kbps or 9.6 kbps.
• Visible band matrix imager 115200 bps L-Band to S-band data transponder. (2.4 to 2.45 GHz).
• HF beacon 14.099 MHz Hermanus Magnetic Observatory’s Dual Auroral Radar Network antenna at SANAE base in Antarctica (The HF beacon payload on 14.099 MHz ).

To decode the telemetry of ZAcube-1 download the software from http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml

Telemetry format

0C 16 - header
7A 61 63 75 62 65 30 31 2E - ASCII Text message00 00 19 6d 2C - Timestamp (ticks)0B 0e 2C - Battery bus voltage (volt)06 ad 2C - OBC temperature (°C)00 2E - Command counter

Telemetry decoder from http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml

Here is some pictures from the ZACUBE-1 camera

And many more follow the link to there site

http://www.cput.ac.za/blogs/fsati/2014/01/22/south-africa-on-a-clear-day-as-seen-by-tshepisosat/

Read more about it here.

• http://www.cput.ac.za/fsati
•  http://amsat-uk.org/tag/zacube-1/
•  https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/v-w-x-y-z/zacube-1
•  http://www.sansa.org.za/spacescience/resource-centre/news/83-south-africa-s-first-cubesat-heads-for-space
• https://www.facebook.com/cput.ac.za?filter=1