Articles and other information related to Space Communications using Satellites, High-Altitude Balloons, Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), etc.
Source: ARISS APRS packet not working
It appears that the APRS packet digipeater on the International Space Station is down. The article talks about what is being done to try to correct the problem as well as plans for a more permanent solution.
Fred, AB1OC
Source: AMSAT’s Fox-1D Launch Scheduled for 03:58 UTC January 12, 2018 | QRZ Forums
AMSAT’s next Fox-1 satellite, Fox-1D, is scheduled for launch on January 12, 2018 at 03:58 UTC (Thursday, January 11th at 10:58 PM EST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Fox-1D will launch as part of the PSLV-C40 mission on board a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle with Cartosat-2F, an imaging satellite for the Indian government, and 29 other payloads.
In addition to the Fox-1 U/v FM transponder, Fox-1D contains a number of exciting experiments, including a camera built by students at Virginia Tech, the University of Iowa’s HERCI (High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument), and AMSAT’s L-Band Downshifter which will give amateur radio operators an opportunity to experiment with a different uplink band. Stay tuned for more information about the launch and early operations of the satellite.
Another Amateur Radio Satellite will be on the air soon! Fox-1D carries an FM U/V transponder – another FM EasySat. It’s a great time to get involved in Amateur Radio sSatellites! There is lots of information here on our website about how to build a satellite ground station, operate using satellites, and about what is up. See the following link for our satellite articles. Our Members can view the our Tech Night presentation on building a satellite station in our video archives.
Fred, AB1OC
Saturday, January 6th was ARRL Kids Day On the Air. and we hosted a club event for kids at Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB’s QTH. We had many fun activities for the kids including getting on the air via HF and Satellite, learning CW and demos of some cool Raspberry Pi projects.
The portable satellite station was set up and it was a great day for satellites as there were many good passes. Fred helped many of the kids make their first Satellite contacts.
We had a total of 9 kids who participated in the event, along with their parents.
We provided demos to the kids of several Raspberry Pi projects, Pi-Lexa – a home built Raspberry Pi Alexa built by Connor, KC1GGX, along with a CW decoder and the DX Alarm Clock. Jamey, KC1ENX provided some CW demos including his favorite YouTube video – The Rhythm of the Code. Fred, AB1OC did a show and tell of the High Altitude Balloon including pieces of the balloons that we in space and a Fox-Hunting demo.
We also went down to the shack and the kids got on the air and made some HF contacts. Jamey, KC1ENX helped the kids to make contacts with other kids as well as adult Hams on the air. The kids really enjoyed the HF operation. We did some live streaming on the N1FD Facebook page during the event. Follow this link to see the live stream of some of our on-air activities during Kid’s Day.
After most of the kids left, Abby, AB1BY took the mic and ran a huge pileup. She was very popular on the air and did a great job of running the pileup. We also streamed her pileup operation to Facebook and it got a huge response.
Overall, Kids Day On the Air was a fun day for both the kids and the adults. We are looking forward to the next Kids Day in July!
Anita, AB1QB
