Amateur Radio Satellites - PDF Free Download

Amateur Radio Satellites Presented to Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association By Zach Leffke, KJ4QLP March 26, 2014 December 12, 1961

Agenda The Satellites Orbits and Stuff Transponders Currently Active Satellites The Ground Station Antennas / Polarization Tracking Radios and Doppler An Exchange Cool Extras Useful Links KickSat and its Sprites You re gonna do what? You re gonna do WHAT!?!??!?!...

The Satellites What Are They? images from: http://www.amsat.org & http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/10/live-delta-ii-launch-npp-satellite-nasa-and-noaa/

The Satellites How Do they Get Into Space? images from: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/a/aerocube-3 http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/10/live-delta-ii-launch-npp-satellite-nasa-and-noaa/

ISS Cubesat Deployment (4 Cubesats) Nov 19 & 20, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=raiqfyybwv8 https://twitter.com/techedsat3p

Minotaur I Launch, Wallops Flight Facility Mission: ORS-3, NASA ELaNa IV 29 Satellites (14 Cubesats) November 20, 2013 Images From: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/o/ors-3 http://www.space.com/23646-ors3-rocket-launch-satellites-description.html

DNEPR Launch, Yasny Russia Multiple International Missions 32 Satellites (27 Cubesats) Nov 21, 2013 Image from: http://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nader-omer-st2nh-dnepr-launch-2013-11-21.jpg

DNEPR Payload Integration Image from: http://move.lrt.mw.tum.de/?paged=2

DNEPR Satellite Deployment Image is a snapshot from an STK Simulation from: http://celestrak.com/events/dnepr.asp

UniSat-5 UniSat-5 CubeSats Dove-4 HUMSAT-D ICube-1 PUCPSAT-1 Pocket Cubesats Eagle-1 Eagle-2 QBScout Wren PocketPUCP Image from: http://move.lrt.mw.tum.de/?paged=2

Orbits What s an orbit and why do I care? DOPPLER SHIFT TRACKING images from: http://www.phil-mont.org/ao40/ao40notes.html AMSAT Phase System Phase 1 No Solar Cells, Short Lived, Tech testbed Phase 2 Long Life, Solar Cells, LEO Phase 3 Long Life, Powerful Comms, TLM/Command, Molniya Orbits Phase 4 Geostationary Orbit Phase 5 Lunar or Planetary Missions

Satellite Transponders FM and Linear images from: http://www.arissat1.org/v3/

Currently Active Amateur Radio Satellites (That you can make a QSO with) JAS-2 (FO-29) Uplink: 145.900 145.999 Downlink: 435.900 435.800 Beacon: 435.7964 CW Beacon HAMSAT (VO-52) Uplink: 435.225 435.275 Linear Downlink: 145.925 145.875 Inverting Beacon: 145.860 CW Beacon FunCube-1 (AO-73), 300 mw Uplink: 435.150 435.130 Linear Downlink: 145.950 145.970 Inverting Beacon: 145.935 1200bps BPSK Phase-2B (AO-7) Uplink: 432.125 432.175 Linear Downlink: 145.975 145.925 Inverting Beacon: 145.970 CW Beacon

Currently Active Amateur Radio Satellites (That you can make a QSO with) ISS Packet: 437.550 U/D APRS: 145.825 U/D Uplink: 144.490 FM Voice Downlink: 145.800 SaudiSat-1c (SO-50) Uplink: 145.850 FM Downlink: 436.795 Tone, 67.0 Hz

Coming Soon in an orbit near you. Triton-1 (in orbit) Uplink: 435.xxx Linear Downlink: 145.822/860 Inverting Beacon/TLM: 2408.000 1200bps RC-BPSK Delfi-N3xt (in orbit) Uplink: 435.530 435.570 Linear Downlink: 145.880 145.920 Inverting Beacon/TLM: 145.870/145.930/2405.000 2400bps BPSK,MSK

Coming Soon to an orbit near you. UKube-1 (Launch: March 30, 2014) Telemetry: 145.840 S-Band: 2401.0 UKSEDS: 437.425 437.525 mypocketqub FC-Uplink: 435.080 435.060 FunCube Subsytem FC-Downlink: 145.930 145.950 Linear Inverting FC-Beacon: 145.915 1200bps BPSK Fox-1a (Launch: Late 2014/Early 2015) Uplink: 435.160 FM, 500 mw Downlink: 145.960 Beacon/TLM: Sub-Audible Tones QB50p1 (Launch: June-2014) Uplink: 435.035 435.065, LSB Linear Downlink: 145.935 145.965, USB Inverting Beacon/TLM: 145.815 9600bps BPSK

The Ground Station That s all great but how do I play with them? Short Answer: You need to be a Ham You need an antenna You need to know where to point the antenna You need a radio you need to know how to tune the radio you need to know how to do a proper exchange THAT S IT!

The Ground Station Antenna Low Noise Amplifier Coax Radio

The Ground Station RX Antenna TX Antenna Low Noise Amplifier Diplexer Radio Power Amplifier RX Antenna OR TX Antenna Low Noise Amplifier Power Amplifier Radio

The Ground Station 2m Antenna LNA HPA TX / RX Sequencer 70cm Antenna 70 cm 2m Diplexer COM LNA HPA PTT Radio

The Ground Station I m a Ham, what s good enough? sometimes images from: http://www.jerryclement.ca/electronics/ham-radio/10282516_i3q8b/2/1172801879_4ez3j#!i=1172801879&k=nttpxhk

Antennas Polarization Vertical = LHCP OR Horizontal RHCP Photo Courtesy: images from: http://sv1bsx.50webs.com/antenna-pol/polarization.html <- AWESOME ANIMATION

Sense Selectable Circular Polarization One way to do it 50Ω λ 4, 75Ω 50Ω 100Ω 100Ω λ 4, 95Ω ~50Ω R. Straw. Antenna Systems for Space Communications. The ARRL Antenna Handbook, CT: American Radio Relay League, 2000, 19-9 to 19-13.

Antennas Omni images from: Qudrifilar Helix: http://www.nemarc.org/wa3umc/wa3umc.htm Moxon Pair and Turnstile: A Simple Fixed Antenna for VHF/UHF Satellite Work by L.B. Cebik, W4RNL

Antennas Omni Lindenblad images from: An EZ-Lindenblad Antenna for 2 Meters by Anthony Monteiro, AA2TX Eggbeater Images from: http://store.fastcommerce.com/m2incshopcom/satpack-1-eb144-eb432-crossboom-ff8081812f4359f1012fb1bbff7f5354-p.html

Antennas - Directional ELK Antennas, 2M/440L5 (No diplexer required) images from: http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html http://www.elkantennas.com/

Antennas Directional RHCP Helical Polarization fixed by geometry of antenna Crossed Yagis (70cm and 2m) Polarization sense can be switched through phasing lines and relays Photos From: http://www.qsl.net/sv1bsx/antennapol/polarization.html

Antennas - Tracking 70cm Crossed Yagi Elevator 2m Crossed Yagi Thrust Bearing Rotator

Antennas Tracking The way I used to do it Orbitron (More later) WISP DDE (More later) Az/El GS-232 Or Equivalent G-5500 Rotator Elevator Tuning Radio Antennas and stuff

Antennas Tracking Software Orbitron example

Doppler Shift Image: Screen Shot of Orbitron 3.71 Software Orbitron is free software created by Sebastian Stoff, http://www.stoff.pl/

Antennas Tracking TLEs + SGP4 = AZ, EL, Doppler Shift JAS-2 (FO-29) 1 24278U 96046B 12275.30409075 -.00000010 00000-0 22741-4 0 9456 2 24278 98.5875 2.0859 0351019 114.5644 249.2498 13.52989730796305 TECHSAT 1B (GO-32) 1 25397U 98043D 12275.33976110 -.00000050 00000-0 -38721-5 0 8876 2 25397 98.3751 248.8929 0001446 14.6220 345.5013 14.23294845739128 SEDSAT 1 (SO-33) 1 25509U 98061B 12275.82168182.00000787 00000-0 14667-3 0 3339 2 25509 31.4309 90.1928 0351449 56.4291 306.9401 14.28826663727910 ISS (ZARYA) 1 25544U 98067A 12276.46198043.00019552 00000-0 34226-3 0 3966 2 25544 51.6486 308.2918 0018276 123.2706 15.1801 15.50442927794687 PCSAT (NO-44) 1 26931U 01043C 12275.85437241.00000013 00000-0 37143-4 0 1493 2 26931 67.0526 205.4155 0006266 248.7547 111.2863 14.29836102574495 SAUDISAT 1C (SO-50) 1 27607U 02058C 12275.25660586.00001210 00000-0 20295-3 0 8783 2 27607 64.5597 332.2084 0076067 227.2995 132.1640 14.72543389525582 CUTE-1 (CO-55) 1 27844U 03031E 12276.01537007.00000182 00000-0 10376-3 0 4753 2 27844 98.7024 282.8533 0008907 276.8487 83.1704 14.21081066480064 CUBESAT XI-IV (CO-57) 1 27848U 03031J 12275.54499152.00000271 00000-0 14546-3 0 4248 2 27848 98.7114 281.7720 0008866 282.9418 77.0772 14.20825882479932 http://www.celestrak.com/norad/elements/

Doppler Shift DEAD ON HIGHER LOWER T 1 Received Frequency higher than nominal frequency T 2 Received Frequency equals nominal frequency T 3 Received Frequency lower than nominal frequency Photo Courtesy of: http://www.tpub.com/content/et/14090/css/14090_19.htm

Doppler Shift Photo Courtesy of: http://www.tpub.com/content/et/14090/css/14090_19.htm

A Satellite Exchange Call Sign, 4 Digit Grid HAM A: K4KDJ HAM B: K4KDJ, K8YSE EN91 HAM A: K8YSE, copy your EN91, please copy my EM97 HAM B: K4KDJ, copy your EM97, QSL 73s HAM A: QSL, 73s Or maybe. HAM A: KJ4QLP HAM B: KJ4QLP, K8YSE EN91 HAM A: KJ4QLP, copy you EN91, please copy my EM97, the handle here is Zach HAM B: KJ4QLP, copy your EM97, handle here is John HAM A: Thanks for the contact John, 73s HAM B: QSL, 73s, and good luck How to find Grid locator? Grid: http://f6fvy.free.fr/qthlocator/fullscreen.php

Useful Links Articles and Useful Info That I ve found over time Articles & Useful Info AMSAT-NA Homepage: http://ww2.amsat.org/ Antennas, Tracking Pedestals AMSAT-UK HomePage: http://amsat-uk.org/ Lots of Stuff DK3WN SatBlog: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?page_id=29535 Active Sats + More JE9PEL Frequency List: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm Satellite Frequency/Modes W6PQL: http://www.w6pql.com/ Hardware OZ9AEC: http://www.oz9aec.net/ Software Grid Locator http://f6fvy.free.fr/qthlocator/fullscreen.php Grids AMSAT Space Symposium: When: October 10-12, 2014 Where: Baltimore-Washington Area, TBD Cost: ~$50 - $100 (Symposium & Banquet, not counting hotel) More info: http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1555

Useful Links - Equipment EQUIPMENT M2 Antennas: http://www.m2inc.com/ Antennas, Tracking Pedestals DX Engineering: http://www.dxengineering.com/ Lots of Stuff Texas Towers: https://www.texastowers.com/ Antennas Advanced Receiver Research: http://www.advancedreceiver.com/ LNAs Arrow Antennas: http://www.arrowantennas.com/ Antennas ELK Antennas: http://www.elkantennas.com/ Antennas Down East Microwave: http://www.downeastmicrowave.com/ Transverters, LNAs, HPAs Kuhne Electronics: http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/en/home.html Transverters, LNAs, HPAs Ettus Research: http://www.ettus.com/ USRP SDRs Flex Radio: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Flex Radio SDRs Universal Radio: http://www.universal-radio.com/ TONS of Stuff (rotators) FunCube Dongle: http://www.funcubedongle.com/ RX Only SDR Dongle

Useful Links - Software SOFTWARE Orbitron: http://www.stoff.pl/ Windows Satellite tracking software Predict: http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/predict.html Linux Satellite Tracking Software Gpredict: http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/ Linux Graphical Satellite Tracking Software Systems (Satellite) Tool Kit: https://www.agi.com/ Orbital Analysis Software 4NEC2: http://www.qsl.net/4nec2/ Antenna Modelling GNU-Radio: RTL-SDR: http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr

KickSat and its Sprites KickSat Details: 437.505 MHz with 1200 AFSK / AX.25 Output Power: 1W SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS3 Mission (March 30, 2014) 325 315 km 51.5 degree inclination Estimating 6 week lifetime 2401.2-2436.2 MHz AX.25 over FSK (350KF1D ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7xvqgclmf0 Sprite Details: Count: 104 Sprites 437.240 MHz 10mW MSK/CDMA (50K0G1D) GNU-Radio G/S SW available PRNs available Images and Info From: http://amsat-uk.org/tag/kicksat/

You re Gonna do what? The first Phase 4 Satellite Transponder A: 2.4 GHz Uplink 10.45 GHz Downlink 250 khz Linear inverting Transponder B: 2.4 GHz Uplink 10.45 GHz Downlink 8 MHz, experimental Thank you Qatar ARS & AMSAT-DL Image and Data from: http://ww2.amsat.org/

You re Gonna do WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?... The first potential Phase 5 Satellites NASA s Centennial Challenge: Small Spacecraft to the Moon 1. Communications Challenge: 1. Ground demonstration of communications subsystem performance and acceptance for launch vehicle integration. 2. The highest data volume (bit error corrected) transmitted from and uplinked to a CubeSat within a prescribed period of time from at least 356,700 km (the minimum distance to the moon). 3. The transmission of a prescribed small data set to the farthest distance beyond the moon and back to Earth. Interesting Note: CANNOT make use of NASA DSN. 2. Propulsion Challenge: 1. Ground demonstration of propulsion subsystem performance and acceptance for launch vehicle integration. 2. The first CubeSat to achieve a verifiable lunar orbit. 3. Verifiable achievement of at least a prescribed minimum number of lunar orbits. NASA RFI: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=ec040a31b16194f877d1034ccefdda40&tab=core&_cview=0 http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/centennial-challenges-now-accepting-public-submissions/

Questions?