Hi All,
As part of the FUNcube project we now need to urgently decide which is going
to be the best type of antenna to propose for use at schools and colleges to
receive the 145MHz downlink signals from both FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 on
UKube after launch.
Both spacecraft will be transmitting approx 300mW of BPSK 1k2 telemetry with
FEC – FC1- will be using a dipole antenna and will have passive magnetic
attitude control. FC-2 on UKube will use a single monopole antenna and the
spacecraft is intended to have active attitude control. This is primarily to
ensure that the deployed solar panels are illuminated and that the face with
the S band patch is usually earth pointing.
We believe that the resultant signal should be easily usable using an
omnidirectional antenna but the questions is which would be the best type to
use. Obviously ease of construction, cost, robustness and safety in a school
environment will also be important factors as well as suitable “gain” and
circularity from horizon to horizon. We envisage that some operations may be
from fixed installations with the antennas mounted permanently but some will
be temporary - perhaps hand held or bolted to a step ladder or similar.
We know there are many AMSAT members around the globe with great experience
in this field and, we suspect, with some strongly held views. So please let
us have some constructive input about which type is likely to be best for
this purpose - your comments, ideas and lessons learnt will be very valuable
for us.
Thanks in advance for your support
73
Graham
G3VZV - for the FUNcube Project team
As part of the FUNcube project we need to decide which is going to be the
best antenna to propose for use at schools and colleges to receives the
145MHz downlink signals from both FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 on UKube after
launch.
Both spacecraft will be transmitting approx 300mW of BPSK 1k2 telemetry with
FEC – FC1- will be using a dipole antenna and has passive magnetic attitude
control. FC-2 on UKube will use a single monopole antenna and the spacecraft
is intended to have active attitude control to ensure that the deployed
solar panels are illuminated and that the face with the S band patch is
usually earth pointing.
We believe that the resultant signal should be easily usable using an
omnidirectional antenna but the questions is which would be the best type to
use. Obviously ease of construction, cost, robustness and safety in a school
environment will also be important factors as well as suitable “gain” and
circularity from horizon to horizon.
We know there are many AMSAT members with experience in this field and, we
suspect, some strongly held views but all constructive input would be very
welcome.
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
