OBSERVATIONS FROM SCOTLAND 28_May 2008 GM1SXX
New amateur satellites.
The past few weeks has seen the launch of no less than two satellites using the amateur radio satellite bands.
Delfi-c3 is a Dutch bird, a triple CUBESAT. It's highly unusual and sets a precedent as the first solar-powered communications satellite (that I know of) to be launched without a battery backed power source. Since it's a technology demonstrator, to test new solar cell technologies among other things, batteries were not considered to be a priority and instead the space was utilised for other experiments.
The Delfi-C3 website is a mine of information on this new bird. It's been in space for 30 days as of today.
Delfi-3 is a triple CUBESAT. The structure is 4*4*12 inches (100*100*300mm) in size, to fit a standard Cubesat launch tube. The big advantage of a CUBESAT can be summed up in two words.... 'power budget.
Standard CUBESAT's are woefully incapable of supporting any sort of transponder operation. They were developed for use by Universities and many just end up doing experiments that have essentially been done before. I describe them as 'me-too' sats.
Thankfully, due to its solar generator area and efficiency, Delfi does have enough power available to perform a useful mission. Not having batteries on board is not a big drawback and may ultimately allows Delfi-C3 to have a long and useful mission. Batteries have been the Achilles heel of many a satellite mission, both amateur and commercial.
Delfi-C3 is the first CUBESAT to carry an amateur transponder, what's more it's a Linear Transponder, capable of supporting multiple concurrent CW/SSB QSO's. At last.... a University bird with 'real' amateur radio content. I offer my congratulations to the Delfi-C3 team for the successful launch of their bird and the provision of a genuinely useful resource after the main mission is completed. Top marks guys!
At the moment, the primary mission is underway, but the linear transponder *has* been tested and works fine. I was excited when I first found out about the Delfi-C3 plans, and now that the bird is successfully in orbit and operational, I'm even more pleased.
Make no mistake, this bird is not a 'me too' University satellite. It was designed to provide a genuine amateur radio satellite resource after the main mission is over.
You may have noticed that I given more attention to the launch of Yubileiny of late than Delfi-C3. There is a reason for that, information from the C3 project is very freely available whereas the amount of data circulating about Yubileiny (Jubilee) is not so great. I've made it my mission to discover as many facts as possible about Yubileiny after reading some of the postings on the Web that are little more than bad guesses
73 AL.
GM1SXX