STRaND-1 Smartphone CubeSat

STRaND-1
Orbit # 2424
UTC 16:37
Received via FCDPP and SDR#.
Baseband recorded at sample format =16 Bit PCM.
IQ audio replayed via SDR#.
KISS file decoded from audio using
AGW Packet Engine set @ 9k6 (With motherboard built-in sound-card)
and agw_online_kiss.exe.
Audio via Windows XP Mixer.
Data decoded via STRaND-1 Telemetry Decoder V 1.7.

Magnetic field strength

 Amsat-UK -STRaND-1 Smartphone CubeSat

STRaND-1 is Back

On July 23, 2013 at 1634 UT Mike Rupprecht DK3WN received signals from the UK STRaND-1 satellite after a near four month absence.

Built by volunteers from the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and SSTL in Guildford STRaND-1 was launched on February 25, 2013 and was the World’s first Smartphone CubeSat to be put into orbit.


Dr Chris Bridges M6OBC / M0GKK and STRaND-1

STRaND-1 unexpectedly stopped transmitting on March 30, 2013 and radio amateurs around the world have been listening for it ever since on a frequency of 437.568 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler).

Radio amateurs are requested to email reports of reception of telemetry data from STRaND-1 to C.P.Bridges at surrey.ac.uk

source AMSAT-UK

Nanosatellite linear transponder (2)

I’ve been tracking and monitoring the STRaND-1 satellite during last few weeks before it became silent at March 31.
I was so impressed from its down-link signal strength and quality. I have no idea how much power it was pumping? I guessed around 500mw or more!

Considering my average ground station setup as a reference, I should say that the 3unit cubesat provides more than enough power to drive high  speed data link .

could be there  enough power to drive  a Liner transponder?!
what will be the overall efficiency of the transponder on board 3U cubesat?
And what methods taken during the design to eliminate the power-hog ?
A Multi AGC channels or LEILA ?

I hope more modern technique been used to handle and equally bending the Nano-satellite transponder power. It is still QRP transponder ! comparing to a Micosat transponder.

*TURKSAT-3USAT is a new Nano-satellite with linear transponder planned to launch on April 26, 2013  into a 680 km Low Earth Orbit .

*STRaND-1 the first UK 3 Unit CubeSat, STRaND-1, was launched on February 25  into a 785 km orbit  .

STRaND-1 is silent !!

It wasn't an April fool !!
STRaND-1 is silent for the first time since launch on February 25 at 1231 UT.
Many stations were confirmed the absence of the data Beacon .
On 29 March I've notice STRaND-1 flipped to text message beacon .
and back to data beacon on 30 March .
March 31 No signal  was detected over Europe Asia Japan Africa or Australia.
 I've reconfirmed the absent of beacon At 16:30 UTC April 1st.

STRaND-1 text message beacon

16:20 UTC
Orbit #459

STRaND-1 Tracking
STRaND-1 ... Clip

STRaND-1 9K6 PKT data

15:46  16:01 UTC
Very strong  and steady  signal from AOS to LOS.
327 Frames received .
STRaND-1 signal remind me Echo-51 Pacsat Broadcast Protocol BBS.
(the old good time of Pacsat) !

STRaND-1 9k6 TLM

 STRaND-1 signal was so strong from AOS to LOS

Copy usually was good at 5+  EL*

Local QRM used to distorted the receiving .

STRaND-1 9600 bps Packet TLM

16:11 UTC

Received via Icom 910+KPC9612 TNC +OnlineKiss  .

Decoder = STRaND-1 Decoder

STRaND-1 TLM

15:48  16:04 UTC
Orbit # 258
371 frames received

KISS2ASC

KISS2ASC - Raw KISS/AX.25 to ASCII File Converter
Updated: 8 March 2002
Copyright 1990 Paul Williamson, KB5MU

 Screen shot of STRaND-1 kissfile converted by KISS2ASC

The term "KISS" refers to a TNC operating mode that was designed as a
stopgap to permit a host computer to control every aspect of the
packet protocol.  It is an acronym for "Keep It Simple, Stupid".
This philosophy refers to the ease of implementation of the firmware
for the TNC to operate in KISS mode.  Unfortunately, the host
computer code cannot be kept simple when KISS mode is used.  The host
computer handles every detail of the protocol, in addition to its
usual job of handling the data.

The KISS TNC just sends every valid packet it receives to the
computer, and transmits every packet provided by the computer.  The
TNC knows nothing of the protocol or packet formats.  The only format
that is specific to KISS is the KISS packet framing.  This framing is
based on the informal Internet protocol known as SLIP, the Serial
Line Interface Protocol.  This framing format is described in a paper
by Mike Chepponis, K3MC, and Phil Karn, KA9Q, entitled "The KISS TNC:
A simple Host-to-TNC communications protocol", which was published in
the Proceedings of the 6th ARRL Amateur Radio Computer Networking
Conference.  The Proceedings of the Networking Conferences are
available from the ARRL.

Source Read me file of  KISS2ASC file converter program

See AMSAT.NA software   for more

STRaND-1 telemetry clip

STRaND-1  telemetry clip

STRaND-1 telemetry

15:49 16:04 UTC
Orbit # 86

Setup :
Icom 910.
TNC 9612 Plus.
Software OnLineKiss V8.4.0.

C0 10 DB DC 80 2E 09 02 66 A4 05 00 00 55 00 5B C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 36 06 02 2D 01 02 FF 03 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 3D 09 02 66 86 05 00 02 EA 01 F6 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 45 09 02 66 AC 05 00 00 00 00 00 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 47 06 02 2C 03 02 FC 00 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 4D 06 02 2D 0A 02 FF 03 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 4E 06 02 2D 1F 02 B9 03 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 4F 0C 02 89 03 08 04 D0 09 00 58 64 FE FF C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 50 0C 02 89 05 08 4E DB DC 00 00 3F 6E 00 00

STRaND-1 Received with Kantronic 9612 Plus and IC-910.

16:23  16:37   UTC

Orbit # 72

STRaND-1 Received with Kantronic 9612 Plus and IC-910.

Setup steps:

1st put the TNC in KISS mode.

Start Hyperterminal

 Select TNC Port # and other setting 9600,N,8,1.

 @ CMD type 

|2b to switch to 9600 port.

Intface kiss.

Reset.

Disconnect the Hyper-terminal .

Start OnlineKiss v8.4.0

Select TNC Port # and other setting 9600,N,8,1.

Rig with Doppler correction.

Remember to turn the 9600 bps data transmission on. 

Track and receive.

 I use the  previous OnlineKiss  version 8.2.2 to exit the KISS mode by

click (Set TNC in CMD mode ) bottom.

after the pass,  kissfile created at OnlineKiss.exe dir.

Use Kissdump or other decoder to display a KISS Files

OnlineKiss v.8.4.0 (the latest version ) works fine with Kantronics 9612 plus .

STRaND1 MODEM BEACON - Help me OBC Kenobi.
C0 10 DB DC 80 61 06 01 E0 00 00 07 26 C0
C0 10 01 E1 00 00 00 06 C0
C0 10 01 E3 00 00 00 00 C0
C0 10 01 E2 00 00 29 35 C0
C0 10 01 E4 00 00 00 00 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 63 06 01 E0 00 00 07 26 C0
C0 10 01 E1 00 00 00 06 C0
C0 10 01 E3 00 00 00 00 C0
C0 10 01 E2 00 00 29 3D C0
C0 10 01 E4 00 00 00 00 C0
C0 10 DB DC 80 64 2E DB DC 53 54 52 61 4E 44 31 20 4D 4F 44
45 4D 20 42 45 41 43 4F 4E 20 2D 20 48 65 6C 70 20 6D 65 20
4F 42 43 20 4B 65 6E 6F 62 69 0D 0A DB DC 00 C0
MODEM BEACON - Help me OBC Kenobi..

The 3 Kisses 4 STRaND-1

The 3 Kisses Programs to received STRaND-1 satellite.

1- agw_online_kiss.exe – hear the data (Audio ) from the AGW packet engine.
2- onlinekissplus.exe – hear TNC data (Audio) via com port.
3- kissdump.exe is a simple tool to decode and display a KISS Files.

The AGW packet engine program hear the radio audio via the sound card – it is a software TNC.

Do you want to be more confuse ?!! Read on .

Record & replay
1- Start SDR#.
2- Start record at AOS or when signal is good
3- No need to tune! Take a coffee break.
4- Stop Record @ LOS.
5- Audio Saved at SDR# directory
6- Start AGW packet engine
7- Start agw_online_kiss.exe
8- Use windows Mixer ,works fine with windows XP
9- Re-play the saved I/Q via SDR software
10- Fine tune the signal on waterfall
11- Click decode kiss Frame frames displayed on agw_online_kiss window
12- Or shut agw_online_kiss after complete the replay.
13- A kiss file will be created at agw_online_kiss directory
14- Start kissdump.exe
15- Open kissfile from agw_online_kiss!!

SDR direct Receive
1-SDR#.
2- Start AGW packet engine.
3- Start agw_online_kiss.exe.
4-Use windows Mixer.
5- Fine tune.
6- Click decode kiss Frame.
7-Track and receive the packet frames.

Radio direct receive
1-Hardware Rig
2- Fine-tune via Doppler software.
3-Hardware TNC.
4- Kiss Mode via terminal program.
5-Shut the terminal program only –do not shut your TNC now.
6-Start onlinekissplus.exe.
7- Select TNC Port etc.
8-Track and receive packet frame.

Thanks Mike DK3WN for software For more see - Mike's software page.

STRaND-1 Beacon New Type with Message

The New Beacon message is
STRaND-1 MODEM BEACON - Help me OBC Kenobi ..

STRaND-1 Telemetry via FCDPP

Short clip shows STRaND-1 Cube satellite packet telemetry at speed of 9k6 baud.
Received with FunCube Dongle Pro +

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan PE0SAT describes how he used the free TNC emulator software AGWPE and SDR# to decode the telemetry. This approach means you don’t have to buy a dedicated hardware TNC it simply uses your existing PC and radio that supports 9600 bps data:
(1) Record a pass using SDR# and a FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and save the IQ wav file so you can work with it after the pass.
(2) Configure AGW Packet Engine (AGWPE) as a 9600 baud modem using your audio mixer as input. If you don’t have an audio mixer, use audio VAC to route the received audio to the AGW audio input.
(3) When the AGW packet engine is running use AGW-Online-KISS from DK3WN to connect to the packet engine and decode the telemetry.
(4) Open the IQ wav file within SDR# and playback the recorded file and tune to the correct receive frequency, now you can see decoded data within Online-Kiss.
(5) Feed the files captured to KISS-Dump
 For More See Decoding the STRaND-1 amateur radio telemetry beacon@ AMSAT-UK





---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New STRaND-1 Telemetry software released tonight de Mike DK3WN.

STRaND-1 via RTL-SDR

STRaND-1 Cube satellite is pumping a large amount of data at high speed 9600 baud
 At this speed I trusted my hardware setup (TNC3S and IC-910 ) over the little SDR dongle.
Time to dust off the old-timer gears    :-)
Yesterday I detected STRaND-1 on its 1st Pass via Fun-cube dongle Pro+  ,Today I've tested the
 RTL-SDR and the result was good too .

STRaND-1 heard

15:55 UTC STRaND-1 packet received ( seen ) on waterfall > Many  frames recorded using FCDPP.
  More info later ! I large audio file to revise :)
Congratulation to all

STRaND stands for Surrey Training, Research and Nanosatellite Demonstration and the programme is intended to be a long-term arrangement between the space company SSTL and academic researchers at the Surrey Space Centre (SSC), with STRaND-1 the first of a long line of STRaND nanosatellites.
The SSTL employees and SSC researchers involved with the STRaND programme are all volunteers. It is a condition of the programme that volunteers from SSTL and SSC use their own, free time for STRaND activities (such as lunches and breaks). The project has no budget for staff so is entirely dependent on volunteers.
The innovative STRaND-1 CubeSat was built and tested in just three months. It will demonstrate the feasibility of using cheap smartphone electronics to control a spacecraft. STRaND-1 carries an amateur radio AX.25 packet radio downlink on 437.568 MHz using 9k6 bps FSK modulated data HDLC frame, NRZI encoding.

More@ Amsat UK

STRaND-1 - the World's first SmartPhone Nanosatellite

Space researchers at the University of Surrey and SSTL have developed STRaND-1, a nanosatellite containing a smartphone payload that will be launched into orbit around the Earth in 2012.

STRaND-1 is being built in engineer's free time and using advanced commercial off-the-shelf components, which fits perfectly with SSTL's innovation and low-cost philosophies.

See More