Monthly Archives: March 2013

ARRL Seeks Comments on 5 and 10 GHz National Band Plans

ARRL UHF/Microwave Band Plan Committee Chairman, Rick Roderick, K5UR reports that the draft documents of the 5 and 10 GHz band plans have been released for review.

The Committee, charted by the ARRL Board of Directors, has prepared draft band plans for 5 centimeters (5.650-5.925 GHz) and 3 centimeters (10-10.500 GHz).

Amateur Satellite allocations in the draft band plans include:

Amateur Satellite; Up-Link Only 5650.000 – 5670.000 MHz
Amateur Satellite; Down-Link Only 5830.000 – 5850.000 MHz
Space, Earth & Telecommand Stations 10450.000 – 10500.000 MHz

The band plan committee is requesting user comments via e-mail to microwave-band-plan@arrl.org by April 30, 2013.

The ARRL Band Plan announcement, including links to the PDF copies of the proposed band plan documents is available on the ARRL Web.

Auckland Technology Convention KiwiSAT Photos Posted

Jim Tittsler ZL2IA/AI8A/7J1AJH has posted photos of New Zealand’s KiwiSAT at the 2013 Auckland Technology Convention hosted by the Auckland VHF Group. Fred ZL1BYP and Ian ZL1AOX brought the satellite in its “clean cabinet” to the convention so that the audience would have a chance to see it. Ian had brought along his station (and dummy loads) and demonstrated commanding the satellite and collecting telemetry.

KiwiSAT will carry both amateur radio communications including linear and FM transponders; and a scientific experiment for small satellite attitude control The mission also carries a special beacon which will be used by radio amateurs around the world to collect data for environmental monitoring. KiwiSAT development is completed ready for launch into a LEO orbit with a target launch date in mid 2013. The project is funded by radio amateurs through personal and club donations, and by membership ofAMSAT-ZL. Donations may be made via a link to PayPal on this page.

March/April 2013 AMSAT Journal

Page_1 The AMSAT Journal Editorial team is in the process of wrapping up a few final details and that means the March/April 2013 issue is heading for the print shop in a few days.

Thanks for all the help from our Journal Editorial Team:

Douglas Quagliana – KA2UPW/5
Mike Sedlak – K4ERA
Bernhard Jatzeck – VA6BMJ
Bill Hook – W3QBC
Martha at the AMSAT Office.

The AMSAT Journal is pleased to publish your articles and photos of satellite operations and all aspects of amateur radio in space. Send your ideas, questions and contributions to journal@amsat.org.

Cubesat Launches Planned for April

April 19 BAIKONUR Soyuz-2-1b

A Soyuz-2-1b from the Baikonur launch facility, in Kazakhstan on April 19, 2013 will include three cubesat missions:

OSSI-1 145.980/437.525 CW/1200bps
SOMP 437.485 1200, 9600bps BPSK
BEESAT-2/3 435.950 4800bps GMSK
Bion-M1 Biological research satellites
AIST Measurement of the Earth’s geomagnetic field
Dove-2 Commercial technology demonstration mission

Continue reading →

FCC Guidance On Obtaining Licenses For Small Satellites

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Public Notice to provide guidance concerning FCC licensing of spectrum for use by small satellites, including satellites that fall within the categories of pico-satellites, nano-satellites and cubesats. The advent of such small satellite designs has brought with it dramatically lower launch costs, enabling a larger range of organizations to directly launch satellites. Institutions such as universities and research organizations that previously found it cost prohibitive to launch their own satellite can now participate in the exploration of space. Many of these participants may be unfamiliar with the spectrum licensing, scheduling and other requirements attendant on satellites. This Public Notice seeks to alert affected parties of these requirements and thus aid small satellite operators in the planning necessary for a successful launch operation. Continue reading →

AMSAT Recruiting Dayton Booth Volunteers

The 2013 Dayton Hamvention, sponsored by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association will be held this year on May 17-19, 2013. “Dayton” is the largest hamfest in the United States, and AMSAT will be there again this year. You can assist AMSAT by volunteering to help staff the booth. While there, you will meet other AMSAT members, interact with the satellite designers, builders, and operators, and enjoy all that Dayton has to offer. Continue reading →

AMSAT Now Preparing for Two Launch Opportunities

AMSAT’s focus on STEM education and development of a cubesat platform capable of flying a science mission with a reliable communications link resulted in our previous selection of Fox-1 in the third round and RadFxSat (Fox-1B) in the recent fourth round of NASA’s Cubesat Launch Initiative. Actual launch vehicle selections are dependent on the availability of auxiliary payload space and on what orbits are required.

AMSAT VP Engineering Tony Monteiro reports that he has been in conversation with NASA about our orbital preferences/priorities and we’re awaiting a response from NASA as to a specific launch selection. In the meantime, the engineering team expects to complete Fox-1 in 2013 and have RadFxSat ready in the 2nd half of 2014 in order to take advantage of launch opportunities that may be offered by NASA.