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KA9LCF > NEWS 17.06.12 05:03l 85 Lines 3123 Bytes #999 (0) @ ALLIN
BID : 36887-KA9LCF
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Subj: ARN: Ham Radio in Space
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Sent: 120616/0443Z 36887@KA9LCF.#NEIN.IN.USA.NOAM [167962]FBB7.01.35 alpha $:36
From: KA9LCF@KA9LCF.#NEIN.IN.USA.NOAM
To : NEWS@ALLIN
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: PHONESATS SHOWN AT MAY MAKER FAIRE
Turning to ham radio in space related news, some new amateur
radio satellites based on cellphones were recently shown to
the public at the 2012 Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo,
California. Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash, N5ASH,
reports:
--
Among the displays was one for the PhoneSat amateur radio
satellites. These are a pair of ham radio satellites both
of which run the Android operating system and will be
enclosed in a standard 1U CubeSat structure.
PhoneSat 1.0 cost about $3500 and is built around the Nexus
One smartphone. It will operate on battery power only with
a mission lifetime of approx 1 week. Its big brother called
PhoneSat 2.0 used a Nexus S smartphone and has solar panels
on each face for a mission lifetime that should last at
least two weeks when it will likely de-orbit.
The IARU has coordinated a frequency of 437.425 MHz for the
AX.25 AFSK downlink.
The first launch is scheduled for the third quarter of 2012
on the Antares-110 launch vehicle. It will carry two
PhoneSat 1.0 satellites and one PhoneSat 2.0. A second
PhoneSat launch is expected to occur sometime in 2013.
--
The 2012 Bay Area Maker Faire took place May 19th to the
20th. Several news reports estimate that 65,000 to 70,000
attended this ever growing West Coast event that was held
the same weekend as the Dayton Hamvention. (Phonesat Team)
BT
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISS DIGIPETER MOVES TO 437.550 MHZ
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station or
ARISS digipeater has changed frequency from 145.825 MHz to
437.550 MHz. Packet operations were moved to the Columbus
Module UHF radio when the Kenwood D700 radio was recently
powered off due to needing an additional air purifier to
support the recently arrived Automated Transfer Vehicle or
ATV.
Normally the air purifier is located in the ATV but recent
power support issues necessitated the system be relocated to
the Service Module. As a result the purifier is now using
the power outlet that the Kenwood radio normally uses.
The Russian team has agreed to briefly power the purifier
off for the scheduled ARISS school events but then will re-
activate the purifier right afterwards. This appears to be
a long term impact as ATV is currently scheduled to depart
from ISS in September. (ARISS, AMSAT, N5VHO)
BT
RADIO IN SPACE: NASA SCRAPS GEMS X-RAY RESEARCH TELESCOPE
PROJECT
According to space.com, NASA has cancelled a project to
build an X-ray telescope designed to look for black holes,
neutron stars, and the remnants of dead star systems and
radio the results back to Earth. This due to cost overruns.
The GEMS telescope, short for Gravity and Extreme Magnetism
Small Explorer, had a budget of $105 million plus additional
costs associated with launching it into space. But what
have been termed as soaring development costs caused NASA to
scrap the project.
The telescope was reportedly still in the design stage and
no hardware had been built when the space agency pulled the
plug on the mission.
(Space)
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