Jan 12

Combined ARISS contact in Gembloux & Transinne

The ARISS contact Thursday January 12, 2017 at 13:47 UTC of Thomas Pesquet with 3 schools in Belgium was a success. The amateur radio contact was a telebridge connection with NA1SS via K6DUE (Maryland, USA).
The participants schools to this ARISS contact are:

– Saint-Guibert College (students at their college in Gembloux)
– Kindergarten and primary school Sainte-Lutgarde (students on Space Camp at Euso Space Center)
– Saint-Laurent school (students on Space Camp at Euro Space Center)

The selected students were at two sites (Saint-Guibert College in Gembloux and ESC in Transinne).
They put their questions in turn to Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG who flew 412 km above the earth in the ISS, there was plenty of time to answer all 20 questions. Thomas received a heartfelt applause at the end of the contact.

Stefan ON6TI place the students in a line for their rotation in the ARISS contact (Gembloux).

Media sources:
http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20170112_00943640
http://www.dhnet.be/video/des-eleves-de-sombreffe-gembloux-et-lasne-ont-pose-des-questions-a-thomas-pesquet-astronaute-a-bord-de-l-iss-5877ba74cd70717f88f2686b
http://www.dhnet.be/regions/namur-luxembourg/allo-l-iss-ici-l-euro-space-center-5877c990cd708a17d562f4f0
http://uba.be/fr/actualites/flash/contact-r-ussi-avec-thomas-pesquet

Oct 22

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, about “ARISS milestones”

22 October 2016, Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, talked in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland at the 6th Polish-wide Conference of Contributors and Sympathizes of ARISS about “ARISS milestones”.

It was a excellent time for many people (there was above 100 persons), especially teachers and pupils, who never heard about the HAM radio!

More information about the event can be found at the link below.

http://ariss.zst-ostrow.edu.pl/

May 18

general assembly 2016

annual general meeting 2016

The members of AMSAT Belgium, non-profit association, are invited to attend the annual general meeting.

The general assembly will take place on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 20:00 in the clubhouse of the Radio Club Leuven – Diestsevest 39 at Leuven. (The meeting room is located in the basement)

Agenda:

1. New members and outgoing members

2. Financial report 2015 and discharge to the treasurer.

3. Approval of the 2016 budget.

4. Election of Officers. Members can apply as a Candidate board member until the start of the meeting.

5. Varia.

Apr 26

OUFTI-1 is in LEO Sun-Synchronous orbit

Following the successful launch OUFTI-1 is now in a Low-Earth Sun-Synchronous orbit. During its first orbit has OUFTI-1 broadcast decodable telemetry. Unfortunately, the satellite’s beacon broadcasts a few orbits subsequent just “HI HI DE E”. The team from University of Liège is looking for a solution.

The TLE for the cubesat OUFTI-1 is available updated under this code:(updated: May 01, 19:00 UTC)

OUFTI-1
1 41458U 16025C 16121.88263173 .00001621 00000-0 96832-4 0 9997
2 41458 98.2193 129.6546 0176353 225.2454 133.4307 15.00740847 689

The decoding of the telemetry parameters are documented on the ULg website:
http://events.ulg.ac.be/oufti-1/radioamateurs

OUFTI-1 at Estec:
http://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2016/04/Fly_your_satellite/OUFTI-1_at_ESTEC

Apr 23

OUFTI-1 launch postponed for at least 24 hours

A technical failure caused a stop of the countdown.
Hopefully we can expect the launch on April 25, 2016, at 21:02:13 UTC. (updated: April 25, 16:00 UTC)

On April 24 around 45 minutes before the scheduled liftoff Arianespace reported a problem with the SYZ Inertial Measurement Unit on the launch vehicle.
Arianespace has placed both the rocket and its precious cargo in a safe standby mode.

The new TLE for the cubesat OUFTI-1 after its announced launch on april 25:

OUFTI-1
1 00001U 00001A 16116.99330000 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0015
2 00001 98.2172 121.5194 0152400 241.4610 358.4169 15.02516156 00014

Apr 23

OUFTI-1 new TLE after its launch

Due to the delayed launch again this information is no longer applicable! latest update

The liftoff had to be postponed for at least 24 hours due to weather conditions. Arianespace decided to interrupt the final countdown and not initiate launcher fueling operations.

Around the same time, the favorable weather forecast for the next day enabled the mission officials to schedule the next launch attempt 24 hours later, on April 23, 2016, at 21:02:13 UTC.

The old TLE for the cubesat OUFTI-1 after its announced launch on april 23:

OUFTI-1
1 00001U 00001A 16115.99330000 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0014
2 00001 98.2172 121.5194 0152400 241.4610 358.4169 15.02516156 00014

Apr 19

OUFTI-1 will be launched on April 22, 2016

Due to the delayed launch again part of this information is no longer applicable! latest update

OUFTI-1 will now be launched Friday, April 22. The launch is scheduled for 21:02:13 UTC in Kourou using a Russian Soyuz rocket. The satellite will be placed in its orbit on T + 10091,13s (23:50:24 UTC).

About half an hour later, around Saturday, April 23 00:20 UTC, the satellite will deploy its antennas and will be activated the beacon. The beacon of OUFTI-1 transmits continuously 100 mW at 145,980 MHz, during 2 minutes every 3 minutes (2 min ON – 1 min OFF). OUFTI-1 will be in an orbit with an angle of 98° to the equator and at an altitude between 450 and 660 kilometers.

The intention is that the cubesat remains operational for about two years, after which it will eventually fail as a result of the solar radiation. It took more than eight years to develop OUFTI-1 acronym of “Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovation”.

He has a D-STAR transponder on board, 435.045 MHz uplink, 145.950 MHz downlink. A second task is to test solar cells with a higher efficiency. The cubesat was developed by the University of Liège students.

The coding of the telemetry parameters and TLE’s are documented on the website:
http://events.ulg.ac.be/oufti-1/radioamateurs

OUFTI-1 at Estec:
http://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2016/04/Fly_your_satellite/OUFTI-1_at_ESTEC

Nov 04

ARISS contact between OR4ISS and 4U1WRC

During the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) to be held from 2nd to November 27th 2015, an ARISS contact was realized on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015. Students from Institut Florimont were able to use the ITU station to talk to astronauts Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS  (in front) and Kimiya Yui KG5BPH (in QSO with 4U1WRC), who were using the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus module, call sign OR4ISS.

OR4ISS direct ARISS contact with 4U1WRC - 3th Nov 2015

Astronauts Kimiya Yui KG5BPH (front) and Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS (operated the Ericsson transceiver) using the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus module, call sign OR4ISS.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is a United Nations agency, located in Geneva, Switzerland. The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.

ITU Headquarters hosts an amateur radio station, with call sign 4U1ITU.

For the World Radio Conference, this station uses the special call sign 4U1WRC.

Download picture (20151103_OR4ISS-4U1WRC_direct.jpg)

Oct 15

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, ARISS goals & achievements

17 October 2015, Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, talked in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland at the 5th Polish-wide Conference of Contributors and Sympathizes of ARISS about “ARISS Goals and Achievements”.

It was a excellent time for many people, especially teachers and pupils, to learn about HAM radio on the ISS!

More information about the event can be found at the link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/92045839@N04/sets/72157662409891834

Sep 27

Newly elected ARISS-Europe board

According the ARISS-Europe Terms of Reference, Board elections took place in 2015:

  • A call for candidatures was circulated to the Member Societies March 2015.
  • Candidatures were accepted till the end of May 2015.
  • June 4, 2015 four candidates were presented to the Member Societies.
  • Till September 1st, 2015, the votes of the Member Societies were collected.
  • All four candidates are elected unopposed for a two years term.

 

Elected Board:

  • Emanuele D’Andria, I0ELE, chairman
  • Oliver Amend, DG6BCE, technical director
  • Bertus Hüsken, PE1KEH, counsellor
  • Jean Pierre Courjaud, F6DZP, counsellor.

According the Terms of Reference, the Board elected takes office October 1st, 2015.

 

ARISS-Europe member Societies:

Congratulations to the elected Board and best wishes for a very successful term of office.

ARISS-Europe chairman  (until September 30, 2015)

Gaston Bertels – ON4WF