Category Archives: Space Radio

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio

AMSAT, student satellites, and space radio – Apr.6.14

Go to AMSAT News for the latest headlines about developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 096 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – April 5, 2014:
* Memorial Service for Anthony “Tony” J. Monteiro, AA2TX (SK) Scheduled
* W1AW/4 VA Young Operator Award
* Dayton Hotel Reservations
* Jerry Buxton, N0JY selected as AMSAT’s VP-Engineering
* Steve Coy, K8UD joins the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors
* ARTSAT Project INVADER satellite Receives an OSCAR Number
* AMSAT Awards

Other smallsat news:

Space Arts, Space Music, Space Radio

OPTICKS: Bouncing space art off the Moon

Leonard David reports on the OPTICKS project, which plans to beam artworks from the Humans in Space Art Contest to the Moon and back: To the Moon with an Artistic Bounce! – Coalition for Space Exploration.

OPTICKS is described as follows:

a project by Daniela de Paulis in collaboration with Jan van Muijlwijk and the CAMRAS team

OPTICKS is a live radio transmission performance between the Earth and the Moon during which images are sent to the Moon and back as radio signals. The project has been realized by visual artist Daniela de Paulis (IT/NL) in collaboration with Jan van Muijlwijk and the CAMRAS radio amateurs association based at Dwingeloo radio telescope (NL). Each live performance is made possible thanks to the collaboration of radio enthusiasts Howard Ling (UK), Bruce Halász (Brazil) and Daniel Gautschi (CH).

OPTICKS employes a technology called Earth-Moon-Earth or Moonbounce, developed shortly after WWII by the US Military as a form of reliable radio communication also used for espionage purposes. EME uses the Moon as a natural reflector for radio signals.

In October 2009 Daniela de Paulis and Jan van Muijlwijk started pioneering a new application of Moonbounce technology, called Visual Moonbounce, which allows sending images to the Moon and back, combining Radio Astronomy with amateur radio technologies.

The title OPTICKS is inspired by Newton’s discoveries of the light spectrum, reflection and refraction. Similarly, the colours composing an image – converted into radio signals – are bounced off the Moon (reflected and refracted) by its surface during each live performance.

The performance is introduced by live sounds of amateurs radio signals captured by the Dwingeloo antenna tracking the moon.

Here is a video of one of their performances from 2012:

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space participation, Space Radio

AMSAT, student satellites, and ISS amateur radio – Mar.30.14

Go to AMSAT News for the latest headlines about developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 089 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – March 29, 2014:
* FUNcube-1 / AO-73 Transponder Test – March 29
* Eighth Annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Speaker Announced
* AMSAT Awards Announced
* Radar outage prompts delay of Falcon 9 launch
* Lithuanian President’s greetings message sent from space
* PRN codes for KickSat Sprites released
* New frequency for Ukrainian PolyITAN-1 CubeSat
* Upcoming AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts from All Over

Other smallsat news:

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio

AMSAT, student satellites, & ISS amateur radio news – March.23.14

Go to AMSAT News for the latest headlines about developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 082 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – March 22, 2014:
* Your Purchases at AmazonSmile.com Donate to AMSAT-NA
* AC0RA Road Trip to Activate Grids in ND, SD, CO, NE, and KA
* High Altitude Balloon Flight to Carry APRS and Crossband Repeater
* Es’hailSat 2 Satellite to Carry Amateur Transponder
* $50Sat Receives an OSCAR Number
* FO-29 Extreme DX Contact
* Satellite Activation From the Isle of Lewis
* 33rd Annual 2014 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Announcement
* 2014 AMSAT Field Day Rules Now Available

Other links:

Update: Qatar ARS and AMSAT-DL announce Phase 4 satellite payload – AMSAT-NA

A collaboration between the Qatar Amateur Radio Society, the Qatar Satellite Company, and AMSAT-DL has resulted in the announcement of a geostationary amateur radio payload aboard the proposed Es’HailSat-2 commercial satellite.

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Space Radio, Space Systems

ICE/ISEE-3 spacecraft signals picked up by amateur space radio buffs

I posted earlier about attempts to reawaken the 36 year old ISEE-3 spacecraft and return it to useful science work.  Emily Lakdawalla writes that amateur space radio enthusiasts have actually been able to receive its signals: ICE/ISEE-3 update: Amateurs detect its signal while professionals study contacting it – The Planetary Society.

When the spacecraft was repurposed from its original space weather mission to chasing down a comet, it’s name was changed to the International Cometary Explorer (ICE).

international_cometary_explorer_isee3_art[1]International Cometary Explorer – NASA