Roscosmos EVA photo Chasqui-1 deployment. Click for full size image.
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos announced that a nano satellite with the designation, NS-1 was hand-launched during a space walk that began at 14:00 UTC Monday, August 18, 2014.
The satellite is also referred to as the Peruvian Cubesat Chasqui-1 and weighs 1.5 kg. The satellite’s main mission is to serve as a platform for testing micro-electronics and optical devices used in cubesat applications.
Close-up of Chasqui-1 during deployment. Click for full-size image.
Its secondary mission is to operate as an amateur radio satellite. It’s transmit downlink is 437.025 MHz. The craft will send information in CW mode. It also transmits images stored in memory, photos taken by two on board cameras and will send telemetry. Data transmissions will use either 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 or 9600 bps GMSK modes.
The Fox-1 series of satellites feature a slow speed telemetry, with 200 bps data being sent along with the transponder audio or voice ID activity. This allows telemetry to be sent continuously during normal transponder operation while QSOs are taking place.
The slow speed data is contained in the audio spectrum below 300 Hz. Using DSP techniques, high pass filtering is applied to the uplink signal and voice IDs, low pass filtering is applied to the telemetry audio which is generated by the IHU, and the combined audio is sent on the downlink as the voice and data. Forward error correction added to the downlink stream provides data recovery for up to 1/4 second signal fades.
Screen print of actual Fox-1A downlink slow speed telemetry received over the air on a FUNcube Dongle Pro+ with SDR# and a decoded/displayed with command line version of the AMSAT ground telemetry decoding software used in our testing
The slow speed data on Fox-1A contains four different payload types: Current telemetry readings, High telemetry readings, Low telemetry readings, and Vanderbilt University radiation experiment telemetry. The payloads are transmitted in a scheduled rotation that delivers one payload or frame about every 5 seconds. Current telemetry is thus received every 15 seconds, experiment telemetry is received about twice every 15 seconds, and high or low telemetry received once every minute (alternating minutes between high and low).
The telemetry contains many satellite health and operation values, including readings such as solar panel output, battery voltages, temperatures from various areas of the satellite, IHU performance, and the Penn State University MEMS gyro experiment data.
AMSAT will be providing free GUI software for decoding and displaying both slow and high speed telemetry from the Fox-1 series of satellites, as we get closer to launch. The software will be similar to the user software that was provided for ARISSat-1.
At this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium, we are trying a few new things and we hope you will enjoy them. One exciting facet we are adding this year is an auction. All proceeds from the auction will support AMSAT’s two major initiatives—the development and launch of the FOX satellite series and the ARISS program.
As we prepare for the auction, we are asking for your help in donating specialty items for auction (minimum value $100) that will attract symposium attendee’s attention and get them bidding up the item price. If you have any items that are ham related (no boat anchors please), items of historical value, space related and/or autographed items, or even sports tickets or time shares, we would love to get your donations. Think out of the box on this—what exciting things would you like to see in this auction?
If you have something to donate to the Symposium auction, please send an e-mail to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who will work with you on getting your item or items into the auction. Frank’s e-mail address is ka3hdo at verizon.net
This auction, while adding a fun experience to the AMSAT Space Symposium experience, will also serve to keep amateur radio’s spirit thriving in space through its donations to FOX and ARISS.
On behalf of AMSAT, I thank you for your donations in advance. And I encourage each of you to attend and participate in this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium to be held in Baltimore Maryland Oct 10-12. For more information, see:
This year AMSAT will again have the popular commemorative polo shirts featuring the 2014 Symposium logo. These shirts will not be available through the AMSAT Store. Orders must be received by 10 September in order to have them available at the Symposium.
Note that the order form shows the logo from last year. These shirts will have the new 2014 logo shown above. The lettering will be white on blue shirts, blue on white shirts, with the red number on both.
