December 24, 2013

Firebird Beacon decoded

 00:08  00:16 UTC
Orbit # 257
Signal was strong .
Decoded via SoundModem V0.16
Setup as in the following Image.




















The signal is wide so increase the BW to around 40 kHz.
as in the following Image.






















Soundmodem and AGW OnlineKiss - decoded the datd

ArduSat-X

19:00 19:09 UTC
Orbit# 522
Frequency 437.000 MHz, +/-.
Beacon heard 3 times during a pass of 9 minutes.
Signal was strong , funny cw / fm modulated !.
Here a short clip



 http://www.nanosatisfi.com/
http://diyinspace.com/

December 16, 2013

KySat-2 decoder via virtual ports

Great 2 virtual ports e.g. COM2 and COM6 using -VSPE or other Virtual com generator software.



Open agw_onlinekiss.ini file


At agw_onlinekiss.ini setup the Mirror port to one of the
 virtual port com eg COM6.
save and exit the ini file.

Open SoundModum V0.10b G3RUH



















Open AGW onlinekiss program.
Clik on connect AGW button.
Connection will established between Soundmodeum
and AGW onlinekiss

Click Option select  mirror incoming data to com port.
If the two LED shine GREEN at AGW = Connection was established
and no error for data to flow in and out.
Otherwise if one or the two LED are RED check the COMS and the other parameters .
















KySat-2 Decoder
Add COM2 to custom port at the new KySat-2 decoder.
Version 2.1 (Latest).
write it down on the small text window
click refresh button.
the added com will appeared at the drop-down coms list.
select it and select the other com parameters eg = 9600,N,8,1.
Click connect
















Re- play the IQ file and re-tune to middle of the 9k6 Buad signal.
Mode NFM.
Squelch off.
Audio via Windows XP Mixer.



Data will shows up on:
SoundModem --- AGW ONLINE --- KySat-2 Decoder
with readable engineering values.



EPS Telemetry engineering values.


KySat-2 Beacon Information :
Frequency: 437.405 MHz
Modulation Scheme: FSK
Data Rates: 9600 Baud
Protocol: AX.25
Output Transmit Power: ~1W
Beacon Period: 15-45 seconds
Callsign: KK4AJJ
Kysat-2 website
 See previous post        kysat-2-via-RTL-SDR

December 9, 2013

QSOs near the beacon !!!

QSOs near the beacon drives the auto tune crazy !!!
this was noticed when the transponder driven heavily over Europe.
The beacon signal  over Africa is quite and strong .
Graphically restricted auto tune range help beacon tuning.

December 7, 2013

MCubed-2 Received

 MCubed-2
1st pass over Africa Replayed today via SDR #
signal was strong - 9k6 baud.
Received via RTL-SDR ,Soundmodem & AGW-Online .



IPEX heard over Africa

2013-12-06 20:41:08.650 UTC:


December 6, 2013

IPEX and FIRBIRD received over Japan

Tetsurou Satou san - JA0CAW
Received  both IPEX and Firebird cube satellites.
13:48 UTC over japan - with good signal.



.







NPOL
1 99991U 00000    13340.43204282 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  0006
2 99991 120.5031 227.3464 0297856 339.9554  93.2232 14.64196995000009
(c) Tetsurou Satou Facebook page

PicoDragon CW telemetry !!

A weak PicoDragon cw telemetry (seen) last night
The signal was weak to be heard or decoded, just a fine trace on the waterfall !!!?


ELaNa-5 cubesats

Twelve CubeSats are set to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket with the NROL-39 primary payload from Vandenberg AFB in California on December 5, 2013. The CubeSat payloads have been provided through NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program and the NRO's Mission Integration Directorate (MID). Atlas V GEMSat Launch 2013

IPEX (Intelligent Payload Experiment)
Cal Poly
Mission  to demonstrate operation of autonomous instrument processing, downlink operations, and ground station operations, utilizing the SpaceCube Mini payload processing unit to validate a reduction in data product downlink.




Call sign: KJ6KSL
Frequency: 437.270 MHz
Modulation: AX.25 FSK (NRZI with G3RUH scrambling)
Data Rate: 9600 Buad
Beacon Info:
IPEX transmits three types of beacons:
-Health Beacon: Contains the latest snapshot of IPEX telemetry
-File Beacon: A portion of a much larger telemetry file, need to collect several file beacons
  to reconstruct the file (HEX data)
-Morse Code: 15 wpm, should spell “IPEX,” will be disabled after initial tracking to conserve power
http://polysat.calpoly.edu/

MCubed-2
The Michigan Exploration Laboratory
Mission to obtain a mid resolution image to date of Earth with at least 60% land mass and a maximum of 20% cloud coverage from a single cubesat platform.












Callsign:
Frequency: 437.485 MHzRate: 9600 Baud
Modulation: GMSK
Transmit Interval: 10 seconds
RF Power Output:
Antenna Polarization: Linear
Beacon Info:
437.485 MHz, 9600 baud, 10 sec period
Beacon Software decoder

FIREBIRD
Montana State University
Mission to resolve the spatial scale size and energy dependence of
electron microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts.













Beacon Info:
Flight Unit 1: 437.405 MHz
Flight Unit 2: 437.230 MHz
GMSK AX.25 9600bps, 1W, 60 sec period

CUNYSAT-1
The City University of New York
Mission to  investigation of ionospheric disturbances using GPS signals.


Beacon Info:
437.505 MHz, 9k6 FSK, CW
(c) Cubesat.org & Gunter's Space

December 5, 2013

CAPE-2 received

CAPE-2 received   CW --- Voice --- Packet


$50SAT Received

I copied a wonderful signal from Eagle-2 – very clear and very strong .
The primary purpose of $50SAT (Eagle2) was to create a cost effective platform for
engineering and science students to use for developing real world skills



Full info for  $50SAT – Eagle2 - Communications  in the $50SAT Dropbox 

December 4, 2013

My Frist QSO via AO-73

My first phone contact with Europe via AO-73.
Thanks Giuseppe - IK0DPX, 57/57 FB QSO OM .
You're  in my Log.

December 3, 2013

Triton-1 Safe mode beacon

 20:24 UTC
 Orbit # 179

T1XCMIZD9C
TCIIHZD9D
T1XCMIZI9C

strong cw beacon TRXUV-0 and TRXUV-1
Modulation: CW / Morse code
Speed: 15 words per minute
Beacon interval: 30 seconds
Beacon length: approx. 10 seconds
TRXUV-0 downlink frequency: 145.815 MHz
TRXUV-1 downlink frequency: 145.860 MHz.


Real Time Data Providers

It is  fun to monitoring the warehouse.funcube webpage and see the data provider  in and out  - I've selected a random 3 stations, when the Funcube was over west Europe and one station from Australia , here some of their setup photos de QRZ.COM


















 G4ENZ










CT3FM













  SP8CGR













VK2ZAZ

December 2, 2013

GomX-1 Modulation !!!

GomX-1 transmitting a strong signal every 10s









GomX-1 does not use the standard AX.25 or AFSK format used for packet communication
GomX-1 uses 4800 baud MSK modulation at the two tones 2400 and 4800. This mode is not supported by most major TNC providers. So the recommended receiving option is to record the audio from the entire pass, using the line-in port on a PC with correctly adjusted amplitude. These recordings can then be software demodulated by gomspace.

A softare modem, based on GNURadio will be released soon. If you are interested in helping developing and testing a software modem for MSK, please say so.
For more see GomSpace GOMX-1 webpage
What is GMSK Modulation Radio-Electronics-Webpage

Triton-1

Continuous strong signal./ 20:44 / UTC
RX via RTL-SDR+HDSDR 
Warbler v1.0 decoded many frames!!.
See  ISIS Triton-1 amateur radio operator page   Operator page.
Mike DK3WN released - TRITON-1 Telemetry Decoder  DK3WN/software
How to get a KISS file for the decoder ?  Software setup . 
Triton-1 Update November 24 (C)  AMSAT-UK.


December 1, 2013

MOVE Telemetry Receiver !!

MOVE Telemetry Receiver , simple nice program ,works as it is!!
Works ok with analog rig ,but with some difficulty due to new keps and for the long time between telemetry packet.!!
With IQ audio works very easy - audio rooted via XP Window Mixer to the selected audio input devise -
Replay via HDSDR ,Keep audio level low  about 20% for easy decoding  .....















First Move-1 Cubesat HP

Warbler – 1200 Bit/s BPSK AX.25 soundcard demodulator.

My friend San  Satou Tetsurou decoded Move cubesat by  Warbler !
Warbler is a piece of software which can be used to demodulate a 1200Bit/s AX.25 BPSK signal (e.g. from AMSAT-OSCAR 16/PACSAT or ITAMSAT-OSCAR 26), using the PC’s soundcard.

I've re tested with move IQ audio file .
Here is San  Satou Tetsurou screen shot followed by mine













November 30, 2013

Delfi-n3xt

Funcube-1 – Telemetry received & uploaded .
VELOX- strong CW telemetry . series of letters eg  (GZ8DQ4GD422G2).
MOVE1 – 3 frames decoded . rx via Mixw. PSK mode @ USB -145970+-
Delfi-n3xt – nice signal . data received via FCDPP, and decoded via DUDe V5.0.

New keps seem ok as listed recently by Mike DK3WN & Mineo PE9PEL blogs !!!
PicoDragon   39412U 98067DA
ArduSat-1    39413U 98067DB
ArduSat-X    39414U 98067DC
TECHEDSAT-3P 39415U 98067DD
APRIZESAT 7  39416U 13066A
FUNCUBE-1    39417U 13066B
SKYSAT-1     39418U 13066C
DUBAISAT-2   39419U 13066D
UNISAT-5     39421U 13066F
EAGLE-1      39422U 13066G
WNISAT-1     39423U 13066H
APRIZESAT-8  39425U 13066K
TRITON-1     39427U 13066M
DELFI-N3XT   39428U 13066N
DOVE-3       39429U 13066P
GOMX-1       39430U 13066Q
BRITE-PL     39431U 13066R

ꬔćÆ、DK3WNå±€ć«ć‚ˆć‚‹äŗˆęƒ³č»Œé“要ē“ No.恧恙。

FIRSTMOVE-1  39438U 13066Y
UWE-3        39439U 13066Z
VELOX-2      39439U 13066Z
CUBEBUG-2    39440U 13066AA


November 28, 2013

Satellite PSK !!

Mike DK3WN wrote a nice description to the setup.
I add some images here for more explanation.!!
--------------------------------
Triton-1 Satellite
145.815 MHz – USB – 1k2 BPSK
MixW
Mode: Packet
Mode settings: PSK -> Modem -> VHF 1200 baud (satellite PSK)
TNC emulation (you need a virtual COM bridge driver e.g. VSP Manager or others.
ONLINE_KISS  you can download it here configure the corresponding COM bridge portEvery MixW decoded packet should be now visible in ONLINE_KISS and a KISS file should be generated
-------------------------------
MixW Setup




 Setup Virtual Serial Ports emulator (VSPE)
  


















Triton Telemetry

Triton telemetry
Received via MixW - Mode Packed PSK -1k2
Other software to receive it is Multipsk .
Rig mode @ USB
Frequency =145.822 MHz
Kiss file via virtual port from Mixw to On-Line-Kiss .

November 27, 2013

AO-73 FUN from Europe to Africa

AO-73 FUN from Europe to Africa


PicoDragon

The PicoDragon cubesat  developed by the Vietnam National Satellite Center (VNSC).

November 26, 2013

CUBEB-2

Keps are old to track any new satellite !!!
Pointing the antenna to the max elevation of the satellites chain was a good solution to prevent more wear and tear to the rotator and receiving more new satellites.
Today I got more signal :) I got many strong packet frames which I was unable to decode it yet ,and a long toooot signal ,another strange one !! I was able to copy CubeBug-2 satellite. more than 7 frames was decoded.

November 25, 2013

1st cubesat of Pakistan


iCUBE-1 The first cube satellite of Pakistan by usamabintariq http://www.icube.org.pk/

Visual and audio help to read cw !!!

A visual and audio help to read cw !!
Spectrum software V2 is a good tool for this demo.other software available too.
Select and replay an audio file  . Setup ----->select  input ----> wav file
You need to adjust some parameters to get strong trance .
Use light palette for the display window.
Here is example of swisscube-1 callsign .



I've fried my Dongle !

This switch fried my Dongle !!!!!  
Avoid T adapter pse.

November 24, 2013

UWE-3

UWE-3 20:40 UTC
Received via RTL – SDR Dongle.
Signal was strong during TCA.
Replay via Spectra VE.
SoundModem V 0.10b G3RUH.
AGW_online_kiss.exe.

KySat-2 via FCDP+

KySat-1 21:00 UTC
signal was strong and stable @ 437.405
Signal Received via Funcube Dongle.
SoundModem V G3RUH.
AGW_online_kiss.exe.
—> 2nd step, I will use a virtual Com port from the AGW -OnLine Kiss
software to connecting the KySat-1 decoder.

November 23, 2013

Receiving AO-73 telemetry via Analog Rig !!

Funcube Dongle  works very well with Dashboard  Telemetry Decoder .
During last pass I gave IC910 a chance to say hello to AO-73.
Connecting the Rig audio output to PC soundcard input.
Selecting soundcard as the  input device at FC Dashbord decoder.
Clicked - capture from soundcard option. I received 136 frames .
Tuning was so easy with software auto tune option.
Sometime the manual tuning  gave high rate than auto tune!
Upload was ok too to warehouse.
Here is a simple image of the setup:

November 22, 2013

FUNcube-1 (AO-73) Transponder Tested.


















Howard Long G6LVB working AO-73 while Ciaran Morgan M0XTD captures
 the downlink passband data using a FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and Microsoft Surface Tablet.

The first test of the FUNcube-1 (AO-73) SSB/CW linear transponder took place today. The transponder was successfully commanded on at 10:49 UT and functioned perfectly during the pass.
 A test of operation using portable stations was made from the Bletchley Park car park. Howard G6LVB and Trevor M5AKA, operating stations GB3RS and G0AUK, worked each other at 10:53 UT. Both stations ran 5 watts PEP to Arrow antennas and signal reports of 55 were exchanged.
The transponder was commanded off towards the end of the pass.
Testing and analysis of the telemetry data from FUNcube-1 (AO-73) is continuing.
Thank you to all stations who have provided telemetry so far. More telemetry data is needed to enable the FUNcube team to characterise the satellite.
We would encourage more stations to download the Dashboard software to receive the telemetry and upload it to the Data Warehouse.

(C)AMSAT-UK

Receiving Funcube-1(AO-73) data

Funcube-1
I've copied 105 frames from Funcube-1 last pass.19:36 -1949
Orbit # 9
Max El 36
Setup as in the image
















Funcube-1 PC dashboard  v 806 shows  numbers of the packets frames uploaded.
















Fitter messages  decoded  :


November 21, 2013

Great reward to the Great work

The Dnepr carrying FUNcube-1 and 18 other satellites carrying amateur radio payloads successfully launched at 07:10:11 UT Thursday, November 21.
Big Congratulation to all team members -

Every thing works fine from 1st pass : The Funcube-1 satellite  - the funcube dongle - the decoder - internet upload - warehouse ....etc etc


ST2UOK UofK satellite Ground station sharing this event .















My data during the 1st Funcube-1 pass at Funcube-1 warehouse  Dashboard.

November 20, 2013

long winter night !!!!!

Many Birds !!!!
Lot of coffee and aspirin tabs... beside me
but so much fun and challenges

Many satellites were decoded,PicoDragon, ArduSat , KySat and Vermont sat.
Congratulation for all teams ........
Good luck for all. ............

PicoDragon CW beacon heard

PicoDragon CW beacon heard . 22:15 UTC
 very strong signal . Other signal on water fall !!but the PICODragon signal
 was the strongest!!
Congratulation PicoDragon team members .