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Thursday, May 24, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Pinetop-Lakeside hosts emergency preparedness event – White Mountain Independent
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Read the full article at http://www.wmicentral.com/news/latest_news/pinetop-lakeside-hosts-emergency-preparedness-event/article_ecf4b9ce-64f0-5ae0-8c63-f70a1c6aad1a.html. STRAY SIGNALS does not claim ownership of the article.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Post-Launch Signals Received as Amateur Radio Heads to Moon
05/21/2018
China has launched two microsatellites into a lunar transfer orbit. They launched as secondary payloads with the Quequiao relay satellite on May 20, in conjunction with the Chang’e 4 mission to the far side of the moon. Once in lunar orbit, DSLWP-A1 and DSLWP-A2 (DSLWP = Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder) — also known as Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2 — will test low-frequency radio astronomy and space-based interferometry. They carry Amateur Radio and educational payloads, but not a transponder. The Chang’e 4 mission will be the first-ever attempt at a soft landing on the far side of the moon.
Following deployment, signals from the DSLWP satellites were received by radio amateurs in Brazil, Chile, and the US, as well as by many others around the world. Harbin Institute of Technology (BY2HIT) developed and built the DSLWP spacecraft and is overseeing that mission. The two microsats eventually will enter a 300 × 9,000 kilometer elliptical orbit. Each satellite carries VHF/UHF SDR transceivers for beacon, telemetry, telecommand, and digital image downlink, plus a GMSK-JT4 repeater. Onboard transmitting power is about 2 W.
The astronomy objectives of the two spacecraft are to observe the sky at the lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum — 1 MHz to 30 MHz — with the aim of learning about energetic phenomena from galactic sources, using the moon to shield them from earthbound radio signals.
An open telecommand protocol on the spacecraft is designed to allow radio amateurs to send commands to take and download images. DSLWP-A1 downlinks are 435.425 MHz and 436.425 MHz; DSLWP-A2 downlinks are 435.400 MHz and 436.400 MHz. They will use 250/500 bps GMSK using 10 kHz wide FM single-channel data, with concatenated codes or JT4G. JT4 uses four-tone FSK, with a keying rate of 4.375 baud; the JT4G sub-mode uses 315 Hz tone spacing and 1,260 Hz total bandwidth.
The Queqiao communications relay satellite is required for the lunar far-side landing to facilitate communication with a not-yet-launched lander and rover because the moon’s far side never faces Earth, and some significant scientific measurements from the dark side of the moon require real-time contact with Earth. Queqiao was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).
Harbin Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club hopes that radio amateurs will get involved with the DSLWP mission, and QSL cards have been designed for different flight phases for amateurs who successfully receive telemetry or make contact.
Read the full article at http://www.arrl.org/news/view/post-launch-signals-received-as-amateur-radio-heads-to-moon. STRAY SIGNALS does not claim ownership of the article.
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Well-known volunteer lends his ham radio skills to Sumter – The Villages Daily Sun
In public, he is known as Harold Lloyd. On the radio waves, his call sign is W4OE.
For more than a decade, the Village of Glenbrook resident has donated his knowledge of being a ham radio operator to Sumter County Emergency Management.
“I’ve enjoyed being able to provide a service to the community,” Lloyd said.
In February, the members of emergency management recognized Lloyd for his work with Skywarn, a program of the National Weather Service in which ham radio operators relay information about severe weather in their particular area. While he is stepping away from working with Skywarn, he will continue to assist emergency management.
“He’s been our strongest supporter going way back,” said David Casto, director of emergency management in Sumter County. “We’re proud of him. He’s done so much for the county and others, and he’s still going strong.”
Since 2002, Lloyd, who also is president of The Villages chapter of the Quarter Century Wireless Association, has done everything from being the emergency coordinator of the volunteers on several occasions to helping out with training and serving as one of the group’s technical experts.
“He can take something complex and make it simple for me,” Casto said.
Lloyd has established nets, or on-the-air gatherings of operators relaying information about any inclement weather in the area. Twice a week, Lloyd has led these nets as a communications drill to make sure everything is ready in case an emergency occurs.
When Hurricane Irma came through the state last year, Lloyd said, the volunteers were on duty for quite a few hours.
“We do what we have to do,” Lloyd said. “You’re never prepared enough. You can have all the training, but you’re doing something you’re not prepared for. You hope the training you had keeps you through that.”
Ham radio comes into play when major forms of communication become overwhelmed. If cellphone towers lose their signals or if too many people try to use their phones at once, it causes the system to shut down.
Ham radio operators can plug their equipment into a generator to send out messages between individuals.
“We provide the communication,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd’s introduction to the world of ham radio switched on some 60 years ago.
When he was 14 living in Kirksville, Missouri, his family had a large Philco radio that picked up various bands. One day, Lloyd was pushing buttons and turning the dial when he came across people carrying on a conversation.
“I thought, ‘What is this?’” Lloyd said.
Lloyd’s father revealed that Lloyd was hearing ham radio operators.
In 1952, Lloyd got a novice radio license from the Federal Communications Commission office in Kansas City, Missouri, and jumped into the world of ham radio with both feet.
His first receiver was a National NC-101X, which he said was 76 pounds, what he called “a big one.” He thinks he may have made his first call to someone in Iowa.
He discovered learning the ins and outs of ham radio to be quite technical.
“There are a lot of terms you have to know,” Lloyd said. “There are a lot of electric principles. Algebra was a help.”
Some 40 years later, when Lloyd was living in Canton, Georgia, he became an Amateur Radio Emergency Service coordinator for Cherokee County, thanks to a couple of members recruiting him.
“I volunteered without knowing what I was volunteering for,” Lloyd said.
After moving to Florida, he wanted to continue his newfound endeavor.
Whenever he is finished helping out with severe weather situations in the Sumter County EOC, Lloyd said he feels more tired than tense.
“You have to be alert,” Lloyd said. “There’s a feeling of accomplishment of helping. It’s something you look forward to.”
Michael Fortuna is a staff
Read the full article at http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/in_todays_daily_sun/well-known-volunteer-lends-his-ham-radio-skills-to-sumter/article_04ec9846-5cad-11e8-805f-4b8641375df1.html. STRAY SIGNALS does not claim ownership of the article.
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DSLWP amateur radio satellites launched to Lunar orbit
Hu Chaoran BG2CRY tests 435/2250 MHz dish feed for DSLWP ground station – Image credit Wei Mingchuan BG2BHC
DSLWP is a lunar formation flying mission led by Harbin Institute of Technology for low frequency radio astronomy, amateur radio and education. It consists of a pair of 47 kg microsatellites launched from the Xichang Space Center into a lunar transfer orbit at 21:28 GMT on Sunday, May 20, 2018 and they will enter a 300 x 9000km lunar elliptical orbit. Onboard each satellite, there are two VHF/UHF SDR transceivers to provide beacon, telemetry, telecommand, digital image downlink and a GMSK-JT4 repeater. Onboard transmitting power is about 2 watts.
Update May 21, 2018: After deployment signals from the DSLWP satellites were received by Edson Pereira PY2SDR, Nicolás Castro CD3NDC, Robert Mattaliano N6RFM and many other radio amateurs around the world.
Chen Yue with 435/2250 MHz feed for the 12m dish at the DSLWP ground station – Image credit Wei Mingchuan BG2BHC
Wei Mingchuan BG2BHC reports the first launch window will open at about 21:28 GMT Sunday, May 20. The transmitters will be activated soon after separation. Satellite A will transmit 500 baud GMSK with 1/4 turbo code on 435.425 MHz and 250 baud GMSK with 1/2 turbo code and precoder on 436.425 MHz, and satellite B will transmit 500 baud GMSK with 1/4 turbo code on 435.400 MHz and 250 baud GMSK with 1/2 turbo code and precoder on 436.400 MHz, in every 5 minutes by default. Each transmission will last about 16 seconds. Radio amateurs in South America will have the earliest chance to receive the signals from the satellites, then North America, Oceania, Asia, Europe and Africa.
Harbin Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club expects radio amateurs to join in this mission. We will prepare different QSL cards for different flight phase for amateurs successfully made QSO or received telemetry. Awards will also be given to the first 10 amateurs in each continent who successfully decoded the signals from the satellites, received the most number of packets, or received an image. Your participation will also help the team to get a better knowledge of the status of the satellites.
An open source decoding software based on GNU Radio to work with RTL-SDR and USRP is provided. Not difficult to change the grc files to support other SDR receivers. A small proxy software will send the decoded data to a server for real-time display.
IARU frequency coordination page:
https://ift.tt/2IBJfX7
Link budgets: https://ift.tt/2LgjwW3
Decoder (GNU Radio OOT module): https://ift.tt/2IABfWj
Decoder (Linux Live CD): https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av6J6WjI3UbMhHm8gwMr4Z_keqWH
DSLWP-A Telemetry Display: https://ift.tt/2Lgcikx
DSLWP-B Telemetry Display: https://ift.tt/2IBJkdn
Wei Mingchuan BG2BHC Bug Fix 2018-05-20-1728-GMT: (Check BG2BHC Twitter feed for any further updates)
Sorry to find a bug in the DSLWP live cd! This bug will make the upload of data fail, so it is important to fix it. Please close the proxy, open a new terminal, and type in the following commands:
sudo python -m pip uninstall tornado
sudo python -m pip install tornado==4.5.3
The password is lilac
After running these commands, the bug should be fixed.
DSLWP Lunar Satellite
Read the full article at https://amsat-uk.org/2018/05/19/dslwp-satellites-lunar-orbit/. STRAY SIGNALS does not claim ownership of the article.
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Saturday, April 21, 2018
VK6WIA NewsWest for 22 April 2018:
eHam.net News – In this Contesting edition of the news we
look at upcoming contests and recent past
experiences. There’s a reminder for
HARGfest, notifications from Ham College,
the WA VHF Group, and the Broadcaster get
together with the NewsWest Team, plus
more.
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