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Ten New Satellites in Orbit
Ten satellites reached orbit April 28 aboard an Indian PSLV-C9 rocket launched from the
Satish Dhawan Space Center.
The primary payloads were India's CARTOSAT-2A and IMS-1 satellites. In addition to the NLS-5 and
RUBIN-8 satellites, the rocket carried six CubeSat
research satellites, all of which communicate using Amateur Radio frequencies. All spacecraft deployed
normally and appear to be functional at this time.
The SEEDS satellite is designed and built by students at Japan's Nihon University. When fully operational,
SEEDS will download telemetry in Morse code and 1200-baud FM AFSK packet radio at 437.485 MHz. The satellite
also has Slow-Scan TV (SSTV) capability. Several stations have reported
receiving SEEDS CW telemetry and the team would appreciate receiving more reports from amateurs
at their ground
station Web page.
AAUSAT-II is the creation of a student
team at Aalborg University in Denmark. It will downlink scientific telemetry at 437.425 MHz using 1200 or 9600-baud
packet.
Can-X2 is a product of students
at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS/SFL). Can-X2 will
downlink telemetry at 437.478 MHz using 4 kbps GFSK, but the downlink will be active only when the satellite is
within range of the Toronto ground station.
Compass-One was designed and built by students at Aachen
University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The satellite features a Morse code telemetry beacon at 437.275 MHz.
Compass-1 will also provide a packet radio data downlink, which will include image data, at 437.405 MHz.
Cute 1.7 + APDII is a
satellite created by students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. This satellite will not only provide telemetry,
it will also offer a 9600-baud packet store-and-forward message relay with an uplink at 1267.6 MHz and a downlink
at 437.475 MHz.
Delfi-C3 was designed and built by students at Delft
University of Technology in the Netherlands. It includes an SSB/CW linear transponder. The satellite will be in
telemetry-only mode for the first three months of the mission, after which it will be switched to transponder mode.
Delfi-C3 downlinks 1200-baud packet telemetry at 145.870 MHz. The linear transponder, when activated, will
have an uplink passband from 435.530 to 435.570 MHz and a corresponding downlink passband from 145.880 to
145.920 MHz.
Call for Papers
Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 27th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 26-28, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. These papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is July 31, 2008. Please send papers to:
Maty Weinberg, ARRL, 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty@arrl.org Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights.
73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY, ARRL
Nationwide WiMax Wireless Network
Sprint (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) are forming a new company to build a nationwide "WiMax" wireless network, with the goal of offering advanced wireless Internet services to millions beginning next year, the companies said Wednesday.
Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) are major investors. Under terms of the $3.2 billion collaboration, Sprint and Clearwire will form a separate, publicly traded company — called Clearwire — to oversee the nationwide buildout.
WiMax is akin to Wi-Fi in that it offers speedy surfing. But WiMax covers a much larger area. Sprint and its partners plan to blanket the USA with WiMax, turning the core of North America into one, big hot spot.
WiMax is one of several technologies vying to be the next way to connect to the Internet on the go. A WiMax transmitter, typically located on a cellphone tower, can provide a relatively fast Internet connection over more than a square mile.
Sprint and Clearwire will contribute WiMax spectrum, the others cash. Comcast will contribute $1.05 billion; Intel, $1 billion; Time Warner Cable, $550 million; Google, $500 million. Two other investors, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners, will contribute $100 million and $10 million, respectively, people with direct knowledge of the situation said.
The advent of a nationwide WiMax network is sure to rattle the status quo in the U.S. wireless industry, now dominated by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. According to people with direct knowledge of the plans, "open access" — meaning you can use any compatible device — will be a bedrock of the new network. Likewise, all Web applications — from e-mail to video streaming and gaming — also will be supported.
As envisioned by the companies, WiMax construction will be fast. By 2010, the group hopes to have WiMax services available to about half the U.S. population.
For Sprint, which has struggled with customer losses, the deal underscores its commitment to WiMax. CEO Dan Hesse spearheaded the effort for this industrywide collaboration.
WiMax raises the game of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Neither has had a credible wireless strategy. Under the terms of the deal, they will buy WiMax services wholesale from Sprint.
Intel, the No. 1 chipmaker, is a big backer of WiMax. It previously invested $600 million in Clearwire. Google is pushing hard into wireless via its new wireless operating system, Android.
New Russian Satellite in Orbit
A Russian rocket launched from Plesetsk on May 23 carried a number of payloads to orbit, including a
new Amateur Radio satellite named Yubileiny -- Russian for jubilee -- since christened Radio Sputnik 30
(RS-30). Operational details are vague at this time. Amateurs throughout the world report receiving signals
at 435.315 and 435.215 MHz; some report reception of CW telemetry while others report what appear to be
image transmissions from the satellite. RS-30 is orbiting at a maximum altitude of 1500 km, creating a
substantial communications footprint below. The satellite will broadcast audio and video about the history of
the Soviet and Russian space programs, as well as signals imitating those broadcast by Sputnik in 1957.
According to the satellite's launch team, "The motive for development of the Yubileiny small spacecraft was
the 50th anniversary of the first space satellite. With the help of that satellite, the new space systems and
equipment are expected to get flight qualification, and radio-amateurs all over the world will be able to
receive information on the history of space development and domestic cosmonautics achievements."
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