czCube > Ground station

Ground station czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS

Ground station czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS at 22.9.2012

Automatic command and telemetric station czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS is currently located at Èeský Dub in the Czech Republic (Loc: JO70lp).

Actual view from the czCube ground stationSince November 2010 is the station in basic test operation. Operational is the automatic trackiing of selected satellites and receiving telemetry in the 435-438 MHz band (since April 2011 also in the 144-146 MHz band), in the FMN format, 1k2 and 9k6 AFSK. Viz. our packets database and station log (in Czech language only). The station will be gradually upgraded.

Meteorological data:
Actual data from the station:

Current aerial equipment:

  • 1x cross yagi M2 21 dBi
  • 1x homebrew OK1WTX cross yagi 13 dBi
  • 1x VHF cross yagi Tonna 20818 13 dBi
  • 1x rotator Create AER-5

Current devices:

  • 1x TRX 435-438 MHz, -120dBm, 7W
  • 1x FT-817

The station is equipped with backup power supply and measurement of basic meteorological variables. The station is connected to the Internet and allows remote access and control.

Station history:
September 2010 - building of basic facilities
October 2010 - commissioning of electronics and receiving in the 70cm band at 1k2 bps
November 2010 - regular receiving of signals from cubesats and other selected satellites
December 2010 - operation of the station in heavier weather conditions (frost, snow, wind)
January 2011 - failure of the elevation motor (station operation only with azimuth rotation)
April 2011 - receiving in the 2m band
May 2011 - receiving at 9k6 bps
June 2011 - repair and recovery of the elevation motor (fully functional station)
September 2011 - publishing of our packets database (online)

Station operation:

Since November 25, 2010 we are successfully receiving and decoding packets from satellites O/OREOS and FAST1. Viz. our packets database.

O/OREOS received packet example:

>>> AX25 received packet:
  Source: "TONTOFF1", Type: OK
  TimeStamp-SYNC: 25.11.2010, 04:01:33.548510
  TimeStamp-RECV: 25.11.2010, 04:01:34.126063
  PckLen=87:  CallSigns: KF6JBP-0 -> UNDEF-0, Type=A8, PID=8A
  Packet data:
  0000: AA 9C 88 8A 8C 40 E0 96 | 8C 6C 94 84 A0 60 A8 8A   ªœˆŠŒ@à–Œl”„ `¨Š
  0010: 98 8A 9A 40 61 03 F0 4F | 4F 52 45 4F 53 2E 6F 72   ˜Šš@a.ðOOREOS.or
  0020: 67 20 20 20 20 37 46 45 | 44 33 38 30 32 30 30 30   g    7FED3802000
  0030: 30 44 37 30 32 35 31 35 | 38 30 30 41 34 30 31 37   0D702515800A4017
  0040: 36 30 34 36 36 30 30 30 | 44 35 46 30 39 34 33 30   60466000D5F09430
  0050: 30 32 30 34 42 34 36    |                           0204B46

ASCII representation of the packet:
OOREOS.org 7FED38020000D702515800A401760466000D5F094300204B46

Decoded data from the packet:

Last Date&Time 25.11.2010, 04:01:33
Bus Time 3730815
Solar Panel 3 Current 3 mA
Solar Panel 3 Temperature 25.2 °C
Spacecraft to Ground ID 81
MHX Current 384 mA
Sensors Voltage 5 V
Bus Data Page 1142
PL2 Health Data Page 102

O/OREOS QSL card
QSL O/OREOS

FAST1 received packet example:

>>> AX25 received packet:
  Source: "TONTOFF1", Type: OK
  TimeStamp-SYNC: 27.11.2010, 04:53:53.875565
  TimeStamp-RECV: 27.11.2010, 04:53:54.883657
  PckLen=139:  CallSigns: FAST1-0 -> BEACON-0, Type=03, PID=F0
  Packet data:
  0000: 84 8A 82 86 9E 9C 60 8C | 82 A6 A8 62 40 61 03 F0   „Š‚†žœ`Œ‚¦¨b@a.ð
  0010: 46 31 31 30 30 31 36 31 | 31 34 38 34 37 32 33 2E   F11001611484723.
  0020: 39 39 38 36 33 35 38 32 | 34 36 35 38 2E 31 30 20   998635824658.10 
  0030: 2B 33 38 38 38 37 39 35 | 2E 30 31 20 20 2D 35 36   +3888795.01  -56
  0040: 37 34 39 37 2E 30 39 20 | 2D 31 35 30 30 2E 32 34   7497.09 -1500.24
  0050: 38 32 31 20 2B 31 31 39 | 34 2E 32 31 35 38 34 20   821 +1194.21584 
  0060: 2D 37 31 33 35 2E 35 39 | 32 37 37 2B 30 33 33 30   -7135.59277+0330
  0070: 32 38 32 33 37 32 20 30 | 35 36 20 30 33 33 20 30   282372 056 033 0
  0080: 33 32 20 30 33 32 20 30 | 34 38 0D                  32 032 048.

ASCII representation of the packet:
F11001611484723.998635824658.10 +3888795.01 -567497.09 -1500.24821 +1194.21584 -7135.59277+0330282372 056 033 032 032 048.

Web FASTRAC screenshot (11.12.2010)Decoded data from the packet:

Last Date&Time 27.11.2010, 04:53:53
FAST# 1
Satellite Mode 1
Crosslink Enabled 0
Thruster Enabled 0
GPS Week 1611
GPS Seconds of week 484723.99863
x (WGS84) 5824658.10
y (WGS84) +3888795.01
z (WGS84) -567497.09
dr_x (ECEF) -1500.24821
dr_y (ECEF) +1194.21584
dr_z (ECEF) -7135.59277
(unknown 2 bytes) +0
Battery Voltage 13 V
5V Bus Voltage 4.74 V
12V Bus Voltage 14.66 V
Battery Temperature 056 °C
AVR1 Temperature 033 °C
AVR2 Temperature 032 °C
COMM Box Temperature 032 °C
VREG Box Temperature 048 °C

At November/December 2010 we were one of the few HAM stations who succeeded in FAST1 beacon packets receiving and decoding. We were in front of FAST1 contributors. Viz http://fastrac.ae.utexas.edu/for_radio_operators/users/phpBB3/topuploads.php
FAST1 Top Contributors 11.12.2010

Photogallery:

Base of the station (10.9.2010)
Base of the station (10.9.2010)
 Basic antennas assembly (31.10.2010)
Basic antennas assembly (31.10.2010)
 Complete czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS station (20.11.2010)
Complete czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS station (20.11.2010)
Control assembly of the station (31.10.2010)
Control assembly of the station (31.10.2010)
 UHF antenna assembling (31.10.2010)
UHF antenna assembling (31.10.2010)
 UHF antenna installation (31.10.2010)
UHF antenna installation (31.10.2010)
Connecting of antennas (6.11.2010)
Connecting of antennas (6.11.2010)
 Functional czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS station (24.11.2010)
Functional czCube and GES-ELECTRONICS station (24.11.2010)
 Screenshot of managing software (9.12.2010)
Screenshot of managing software (9.12.2010)