IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination

 
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Tsuru Updated: 15 Sep 2019   Responsible Operator Daisuke Nakayama JG6YBW
Supporting Organisation Kyushu Institute of Technology  
Contact Person o108074d@mail.kyutech.jp.nospam  
Headline Details: A 1U CubeSat. The Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project. acronym as “Birds project” is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project. The BIRDS-4 project is the fourth project for non-space faring countries supported by Japan (BIRDS-4 project participating countries are Philippines and Paraguay). During this 2 years project, students shall design, develop in Japan and operate 3 units of identical 1U CubeSats (1kg, 10cm cubic). Tsuru is part of BIRDS-4 project’s three 1U CubeSat. All CubeSats in BIRDS-4 constellation have identical designs and utilize the same radio frequencies. Tsuru will be released from the ISS together with two other CubeSats: Maya-2 and GuaraniSat-1. This satellite performs the following missions: 1. APRS digipeater 2. Store-and-Forward 3. Total Ionization Dosage 4. Hentenna mission 5. Active attitude control 6. Perovskite solar cell 7. Camera mission 8. On-board Image classification The primary mission of BIRDS-4 CubeSat constellation is to provide digital message relay service to the amateur radio community by means of an APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) digipeater onboard. The APRS digipeater onboard BIRDS-4 CubeSats will use 145.825 MHz for both receive and transmit. Digipeater’s 145.825 MHz is a standard commercially available frequency used by other satellites such as ARISS and LAPAN-A2. 2. Another mission of the BIRDS-4 CubeSat constellation is to demonstrate a data/message store-and-forward (S&F) system in line with the Universal Amateur Radio Text and E-mail messaging. In this mission, our aim is to investigate technical challenges through experiments on appropriate data format, multiple access scheme, file-handling protocol while complying with limited operational time and power constraints using the APRS protocol. To do this, we will use 2 transceivers, those are controlled by a switch to choose which one will operate the mission. The first transceiver shall implement the traditional APRS using FM/AFSK while the second transceiver will demonstrate APRS using FSK modulation to increase the link budget margin and success of the communication link. These APRS data/messages will be received by our GS network and we will send it to the APRS-IS(Automatic Packet Reporting System, Internet Service) network in the internet. 3. Furthermore, students of Kyushu Institute of Technology will use BIRDS-4 CubeSat constellation to enhance research and experiment in the fields of Total Induced Dosage (TID) of electronic components such as MOSFETS and voltage reference. 4. Demonstration of Loop Antenna design using CubeSat body, 5. 2-axis active attitude control for target pointing which can be used for future CubeSat missions if proven effective. 6. The CubeSat will also test a new type of solar cell called Perovskite solar cell in space. 7. The CubeSat will also carry an COTS camera which will take images of the participating countries from space for promotional and educational awareness of the project and to provide tangible proof of operation in space. All measurements and image data will be shared with the public on BIRDS-4 project website. 8. Lastly, the ground operator will have an ability to prioritize the images, the Image Classification Unit (ICU) will examine the images and classify them into predefined categories: Earth, Space, Sunburn. The ground station may download the classification data and decide which images to be downloaded and the order of their downlink. The ICU classifies the image based on its content using DSP and machine learning algorithms. All the above missions are envisioned to promote awareness of amateur radio communication and amateur satellites among the general public and students, especially in the participating nations of BIRDS-4 Project: Paraguay, Philippines, and Japan. Proposing a VHF APRS package and a UHF telemetry downlink. Planning a 2020 deployment from the ISS in 2020 with Maya-2 and GuaraniSat-1. More info from https://birds4.birds-project.com/ ****APRS on 145.825 MHz and tlm downlink on 437.375 MHz have been coordinated**
Application Date: 02 Aug 2019   Freq coordination completed on 10 Sep 2019

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