Communications team visit to Stevenage

Daniel Ludlow & Tim Mead from the Communications team have travelled up to Stevenage from Portsmouth for a day visit.
They have been carrying out a number of tasks:
- Transporting the cubesat hardware for platform testing in Stevenage
- Installation of the new computers and software in the Stevenage ground station
- Assessing the performance of the terminal node controller
- Comparing the ground station set-up in Stevenage to that in Portsmouth.
The computer installations have progressed well. "It was really useful to see the Stevenage ground station set-up and also to meet the Stevenage guys in person" says Daniel, Communications key area lead. The plan is to have near-identical set-ups in both ground stations to improve the ground station operation efficiency.

Further training opportunities to come

In the wake of a run of successful Amateur Radio training events, another course is being formulated that could provide an ideal opportunity for Lunchsatters to broaden their skillsets.

The course, 'In-Orbit Test Basics for Payload Engineers (IOTBPAL)' is currently being organised as an Astrium internal training opportunity which, if it is to run, would make use of the Lunchsat groundstation equipment and technology in Portsmouth. The good news arrives as Astrium sets to increase its in-orbit testing on Lunchsat ground infrastructure for the future.

Watch this space...

Stevenage team passes Amateur Radio course

Following the successes of the Portsmouth team, Lunchsat project members based in Stevenage have now also passed their Foundation exam in Amateur Radio. Both teams are now licensed to transmit from the Portsmouth and Stevenage groundstations.

Congratulations to Nicolas Sarda (Stevenage Groundstation), Martin Garland (Payload: Imager), Goodwell Kapfunde (Stevenage Groundstation), Chris Lord (ADCS) and Thomas Stuttard (Systems, Power) for passing the exam, demonstrating their proficiency in the techniques of Amateur Radio communication.

With Foundation licenses now in hand, the Lunchsat teams in Portsmouth and Stevenage will be able to communicate with each other, as well as satellites via radio groundstations around the world. Watch this space for exclusive news of the first inter-site Lunchsat radio transmission!

The Radio Society of Great Britain offers training courses in Amateur Radio across the country -- check out their website for details of courses available in your region. Radio spectrum in the UK is regulated by Ofcom, which issues and regulates Amateur Radio licenses. For further information and to get involved in the global Amateur Radio community, check out the Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD).

Licensed to CQ: groundstation team pass Amateur Radio course

After a rollercoaster weekend of getting to grips with the principles of radio and Paul Steed, our groundstation guys passed their Foundation exam in Amateur Radio. In doing so, these members of the Lunchsat team are now licensed to transmit from a groundstation at a maximum power of 10W.

In a nod towards the radio exam success of yesteryear, Matthew Ashworth (Portsmouth Groundstation), Timothy Mead (Power), Mauricio Molas Serrano (Portsmouth Groundstation), Jason Stones (Media) and Benjamin Yarwood (Mechanical) all passed the exam, demonstrating proficiency in Morse code, groundstation hardware, the etiquette of transmission, the terms of the Amateur Radio license, and the physics of radio communications.

It followed a two-day introduction to Amateur Radio held on the final weekend in January, which saw the group of five radio hopefuls:

• send messages in Morse code with Navy transmitters that were actually used in World War II (check);
  
• transmit to another radio amateur from a groundstation in proper radio etiquette and with the use of callsigns (check);
  
• learn the physics involved in telecommunications (check);
  
• watch a cheesy educational video made by BT from the eighties (check).

All in a weekend's work. So what does all this mean for Lunchsat?

Once work on the Portsmouth groundstation is completed with Foundation licenses in hand, the team will be able to communicate with other satellites via radio groundstations around the world. With an Intermediate license, scope for transmission will extend to 50W, to allow for communication with the International Space Station -- one of the outreach goals of the Lunchsat project!

Paul Steed, a member of St Johns Ambulance, reprised his role as tutor for the two-day course -- held on his home turf in the humble abode of SJA in Waterlooville, a few junctions north of Portsmouth on the A3.

Not fazed in the slightest at the prospect of yet more radio goodness, Ben, Tim, Andrew and Jason are set to head towards the next frontier -- the Intermediate course -- on the weekend of 20-21 February. Lucky devils.

The Radio Society of Great Britain offers such two-day training courses in Amateur Radio across the country -- check out their website for details of courses available in your region. Radio spectrum in the UK is regulated by Ofcom, which issues and regulates Amateur Radio licenses. For further information and to get involved in the global Amateur Radio community, check out the Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD).

CQ CQ CQ

On Thursday, some of the Portsmouth Groundstation crew tested the radio and had a first contact with our radio amateur teacher Paul Steed.

The conversation went something like this...

Lunchsat Portsmouth: 'CQ CQ CQ M3UJO this is a radio test CQ'

Paul Steed: 'G3*** copying you loud and clear, I'm based up in Farlington.....' etc.

Both Neil and Jon called out over the radio and spoke with Paul Steed and everyone else helped out operating the radio and antennas.

Just a quick summary of where Lunchsat Portsmouth is with regards to the groundstation:

- About to start testing the rotators, requiring us to get a PC up and running with some tracking software.

- Continuing to test the radio's functionality and are planning to talk to someone further afield using a local repeater, maybe even to some of you guys in Stevenage if you are interested?

- In discussions with sites and services about where we would like to put the antennas and are in the middle of producing some documentation for them.

- The cables need to be tested and the radio sensitivity.

- Orders will be placed for the antenna mast and supporting structure.

Is It A Bird? A Plane? Norfolk? No, It's Portugal!

The pretty pictures have arrived with an update from the Stevenage Groundstation. Here are two images received from the NOAA Weather Satellites from November/December.

To the right is a comparison between our image (top) with one from http://www.noaa-apt.com/ (bottom). You can see the North Atlantic with a slice of Portugal (not Norfolk) on the right. Above is a shot of Northern Europe with East Anglia and the North Sea visible in the left half of the picture (the sea is black by the way).

There's also a decoding of some Morse telemetry from LUSAT / LO-19. We now know that the Satellite box temperature #4 is 25 degrees Celsius, wow.

You’ve Got The Touch, You’ve Got The Power

From the triumphs of gaining their foundation radio licences, actual tangible hardware has arrived and is sitting waiting to be implemented. Antenna, radio, power supplies and the extraneous computer equipments that Portsmouth required to catch up with Stevenage on the groundstation stakes.

Construction will begin sooner rather than later.

Many thanks go out to Joanna Hall for purchasing our equipment, Kayti Harvey for IM support, Dan and Anthony for carting the computer equipment down for us, and our hardware/software suppliers.