[ETS/PARC List] another ham radio FIRST

[Drew Moore]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	another ham radio FIRST
Date: 	Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:51:54 -0400
From: 	Marvin Bronstein <marvbrons at verizon.net>
To: 	Moore, Drew <drumor at optonline.net>



*EVE ! - Radio Amateurs bounce a signal off Venus*

Radio Amateurs have achieved the very first reception of amateur signals 
bounced off the planet *Venus*, over 50 million km away - *EVE* 
(Earth-Venus-Earth)

*Peter Guelzow DB2OS*, President of *AMSAT-DL* has provided a 
description of this landmark achievement.

On March 25th, 2009 a team from the German space organisation AMSAT-DL 
reached another milestone on its way to an own interplanetary probe 
towards planet Mars.

The ground station at the Bochum observatory transmitted radio signals 
to Venus. After travelling almost 100 million kilometers and a round 
trip delay of about 5 minutes, they were clearly received as echoes from 
the surface of Venus.

Receiving these planetary echoes is a first for Germany and Europe. In 
addition, this is the farthest distance crossed by radio amateurs, over 
100 times further than echoes from the moon (EME reflections).

For receiving the EVE signals, an FFT analysis with an integration time 
of 5 minutes was used. After integrating for 2 minutes only, the 
reflected signals were clearly visible in the display. Despite the bad 
weather, signals from Venus could be detected from 1038UT until the 
planet reached the local horizon.

The 2.4 GHz high power amplifier used for this achievement is described 
in the current AMSAT-DL journal.
This represented a crucial test for a final key component of the planned 
P5-A Mars mission. By receiving echoes from Venus, the ground and 
command station for the Mars probe has been cleared for operational use 
and the AMSAT team is now gearing up for building the P5-A space probe.

For financing the actual construction and launch, AMSAT-DL is currently
in negotiation with the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) 
amongst others, to obtain financial support for the remaining budget of 
20 Mil Euros.

AMSAT-DL wants to show that low-cost interplanetary exploration is 
possible with its approach.

More information and the link to the official press release [in German]:
http://www.amsat-dl.org//index.php?o...=166&Itemid=97 
<http://www.amsat-dl.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=166&Itemid=97>

The EVE experiment was repeated on Thursday, March 26th for several 
hours with good echoes from Venus. Morse code was used to transmit the 
well known ?HI? signature known from the AMSAT OSCAR satellites.

*/73s de DB2OS/*

Peter Guelzow
President AMSAT-DL




A video showing P5-A Project Leader Prof. Dr. Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC and 
Freddy ON6UG with the 2.4 GHz amplifier used for EVE can be seen at: 
http://tinyurl.com/EVE13cmAmp

Peter DB2OS and other members of the AMSAT-DL team regularly attend the 
AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium. This year the Colloquium is 
being held at the University of Manchester from Friday July 24th to 
Sunday 26th July . Further details at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium

AMSAT-DL has achieved a number of Amateur Radio firsts using the Bochum 
facility. This was a disused radio telescope restored by volunteers to 
serve as a ground station for the Amateur Radio mission to Mars P5-A, 
the first private venture interplanetary spacecraft.

Control Software for the Amateur Radio Bochum Facility
http://amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/G3RUH/

Voyager 1 received by AMSAT-DL group
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2006/voyager1.htm

AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2006 ? Receiving Voyager 1
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/jun...g_voyager1.htm 
<http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/receiving_voyager1.htm>

AMSAT P5-A ground station successfully receives ESA's MARS-EXPRESS Probe
http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/p5a-bochum-eng.htm

Presentations on P3E and the Mars Orbiter P5-A
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/jul...sentations.htm 
<http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2008/p5a_and_p3e_presentations.htm>

GO-Mars with AMSAT-DL's P5A Mission
http://www.ticket-to-mars.org/
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/Last edited by G4TUT; 03-28-2009 at 01:28 PM. /