SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS002
ARLS002 Amateur Radio Payloads Share Ride into Space with Soil Moisture Monitoring Satellite
ZCZC AS02
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 002 ARLS002
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT February 2, 2015
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS002
ARLS002 Amateur Radio Payloads Share Ride into Space with Soil Moisture Monitoring Satellite
Four NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNA-X) CubeSats carrying Amateur Radio payloads launched successfully January 31 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The primary payload for the Delta II launcher was the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. SMAP's onboard radar will share Amateur Radio spectrum at
1.26 GHz. Amateur Radio is secondary on the 23 centimeter band, which covers 1240 to 1300 MHz.
"This is a good example of a compatible sharing partner," ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, observed. "Any interference to amateur communication in the band will be brief as the satellite passes overhead."
SMAP and the four CubeSats all deployed successfully. The research CubeSats, launched on behalf of universities, will downlink their telemetry on the 70 centimeter band. The CubeSats and their downlink frequencies (modes) are:
Firebird II FU3 437.405 MHz (19k2 FSK)
Firebird I FU4 437.230 MHz (19k2 FSK)
GRIFEX 437.485 MHz (9k6 FSK)
ExoCube (CP-10) 437.270 MHz (9k6 FSK)
The GRIFEX satellite is a University of Michigan project, in cooperation with JPL, while ExoCube (CP-10) is a space weather satellite developed by the California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and the University of Wisconsin in partnership with NASA, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
The FIREBIRD program is a collaborative CubeSat space weather mission of two CubeSats designed and developed by Montana State University, the University of New Hampshire, The Aerospace Corporation, and Los Alamos National Laboratories - the FIREBIRD consortium. The FIREBIRD mission also is funded by the NSF.
SMAP carries a "synthetic aperture radar." The L band (1.26 GHz) radar is designed to measure backscatter off the Earth's surface.
The amount of backscatter returned to the radar changes with the amount of moisture in the soil. RF pulses at this frequency are less affected by weather or by a moderate vegetation cover.
The satellite is at approximately 425 miles up in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. SMAP also includes a radiometer operating at
1.41 GHz to measure naturally occurring RF energy given off by Earth's surface.
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/EX
Montana State University Firebird Cubsat !!
Re: Montana State University Firebird Cubsat !!
Howdy gang,
Andy UZ7HO put this youtube online of his software copying the Firebird Cube Sat at 19,200 baud using his free packet G3RUH software. I will be copying the data today. This sure is fun the UZ7HO software works from 300 baud HF all the way to 19,200 transmit and receive and it is free software. Thanks Andy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWzebAAuJM
Bill K7MT Enjoy..
Andy UZ7HO put this youtube online of his software copying the Firebird Cube Sat at 19,200 baud using his free packet G3RUH software. I will be copying the data today. This sure is fun the UZ7HO software works from 300 baud HF all the way to 19,200 transmit and receive and it is free software. Thanks Andy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWzebAAuJM
Bill K7MT Enjoy..
Re: Montana State University Firebird Cubsat !!
Howdy gang - Success !!! My NOOELEC SDR receiver using SDRSharp, UZ7HO G3RUH 19,200 Baud software modem, DK3WM AWG KISS decoder, and the Oribitron Satellite software copied the 19,200 baud data from the FireBird 3/4. Orbiton is using a DDE to control the NOOELEC SDR receiver for doppler shift automatically. Not bad for a $15.00 USB Dong SDR receiver using a Discone Antenna/70cm ARR Preamp and free software to copied hi speed data from a Montana State University Cube Satellite.
I remember my PACCOMM Spirit II with a 9600 and 19,200 baud modem cost me $400.00 to tx/rx on the BBS's aboard the old Pacsats. Technology sure has given us some wonderful tools for experimentation. Woo Hoo !!!!
I also used this set up to copy APRS Packet from the ISS, local packet, NOAA WX Satellites with WXIMG software, etc. The options are to numerous to put here. Google SDR Software as I did and was I surprised what is out there..
P.S. The NOOELEC SDR receiver is $15.00 on Ebay and covers 25mhz to 1.7ghz. You can buy a downcoverter for HF if desired. There are several SDR (Software Defined Radio) software packages for copying Aircraft on 1090 MHZ, to Scanners, to a cheap analyzer to check packet deviation to voice quality. For $15.00 and loads of free software, it sure has given me a lot fun and I know it will continue for some time down the road. Ye Ha !!
Cheers Bill K7MT
I remember my PACCOMM Spirit II with a 9600 and 19,200 baud modem cost me $400.00 to tx/rx on the BBS's aboard the old Pacsats. Technology sure has given us some wonderful tools for experimentation. Woo Hoo !!!!
I also used this set up to copy APRS Packet from the ISS, local packet, NOAA WX Satellites with WXIMG software, etc. The options are to numerous to put here. Google SDR Software as I did and was I surprised what is out there..
P.S. The NOOELEC SDR receiver is $15.00 on Ebay and covers 25mhz to 1.7ghz. You can buy a downcoverter for HF if desired. There are several SDR (Software Defined Radio) software packages for copying Aircraft on 1090 MHZ, to Scanners, to a cheap analyzer to check packet deviation to voice quality. For $15.00 and loads of free software, it sure has given me a lot fun and I know it will continue for some time down the road. Ye Ha !!
Cheers Bill K7MT