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VK7AX > NEWS 01.04.09 03:09l 101 Lines 4150 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: [WIA-NEWS] Radio Amateurs Bounce a Signal off Venus
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Radio Amateurs have achieved the very first reception of amateur signals
bounced off the planet Venus over 50 million km away - EVE
(Earth-Venus-Earth)
https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2009/20090331-1/index.php
Wireless Institute of Australia - http://www.wia.org.au
Radio Amateurs Bounce a Signal off Venus
Date : 31 / 03 / 2009
Author : Peter Guelzow - DB2OS - President AMSAT-DL
Radio Amateurs have achieved the very first reception of amateur signals
bounced off the planet Venus over 50 million km away - EVE
(Earth-Venus-Earth)
Pictured right is the Amateur Radio Bochum Facility.
Peter Guelzow DB2OS, President of AMSAT-DL has provided a description of
this landmark achievement.
On March 25th, 2009 a team from the German space organisation AMSAT-DL
reached another milestone on its way to an own interplanetary probe
towards planet Mars. The ground station at the Bochum observatory
transmitted radio signals to Venus. After travelling almost 100 million
kilometers and a round trip delay of about 5 minutes, they were clearly
received as echoes from the surface of Venus. Receiving these planetary
echoes is a first for Germany and Europe. In addition, this is the
farthest distance crossed by radio amateurs, over 100 times further than
echoes
from the moon (EME reflections).
For receiving the EVE signals, an FFT analysis with an integration time
of 5 minutes was used. After integrating for 2 minutes only, the
reflected signals were clearly visible in the display. Despite the bad
weather, signals from Venus could be detected from 1038UT until the
planet reached the local horizon.
The 2.4 GHz high power amplifier used for this achievement is described
in the current AMSAT-DL journal. This represented a crucial test for a
final key component of the planned P5-A Mars mission. By receiving
echoes from Venus, the ground and command station for the Mars probe has
been cleared for operational use and the AMSAT team is now gearing up
for building the P5-A space probe.
For financing the actual construction and launch, AMSAT-DL is currently
in negotiation with the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)
amongst others, to obtain financial support for the remaining budget of
20 Mil Euros.
AMSAT-DL wants to show that low-cost interplanetary exploration is
possible with its approach.
More information and the link to the official press release [in German]
via the following Link
The EVE experiment was repeated on Thursday, March 26th for several
hours with good echoes from Venus. Morse code was used to transmit the
well known ?HI? signature known from the AMSAT OSCAR satellites.
A video showing P5-A Project Leader Prof. Dr. Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC, Freddy
ON6UG and the 2.4 GHz amplifier used for EVE can be seen at by clicking
the following Link
Peter Guelzow DB2OS and other members of the AMSAT-DL team regularly
attend the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium. This year the
Colloquium is being held at the University of Manchester from Friday
July 24th to Sunday 26th July. Further details can be found at the
following Link
AMSAT-DL has achieved a number of Amateur firsts using the Bochum
facility. This was a disused radio telescope that has been restored by
volunteers to serve as a ground station for the P5-A Amateur Radio
mission to Mars. On its journey to Mars P5-A will initially swing by
Venus and the 2.4 GHz Bochum transmitter which be used by Radio Amateurs
to sent control signals to the spacecraft.
- Control Software for the Amateur Radio Bochum Facility via this Link
-AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2006 ? Receiving Voyager 1 via this Link
-AMSAT P5-A ground station successfully receives ESA's MARS-EXPRESS
-Probe via this Link
-resentations on P3E and the Mars Orbiter P5-A via this Link
-GO-Mars with AMSAT-DL's P5A Mission via this Link
-AMSAT-DL Press Release via this Link
*************************************************
- NEWS POSTING TO PACKET -
Courtesy Tony VK7AX VK7AX(AT)VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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