Es'HailSat 2 Ground Segment Planning Meeting

Latest News and Discussion about the use of the DATV transponder on Es'hail-2
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G8GKQ
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Es'HailSat 2 Ground Segment Planning Meeting

Post by G8GKQ » Sat Jan 21, 2017 6:31 pm

On 14/15 January 2017, G8GTZ and G8GKQ were hosted by AMSAT-DL at the Es'HailSat 2 Amateur Radio Ground Segment planning meeting in Bochum, Germany. Here are very brief details of the extensive discussions.

In addition to the BATC-hosted web-based Spectrum Viewer, the following Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) and AMSAT-DL groundstations are planned:

Es'HailSat Control Centre in Qatar
QARS HQ in Doha, Qatar
AMSAT-DL Station in Bochum, Germany
Wurzburg Club Station in Germany
A mobile AMSAT-DL Unit in Germany

After handover of the transponder, an amateur DVB-S2 video beacon signal will be transmitted through the transponder, either from Qatar or Bochum. This beacon will not occupy the full bandwidth of the transponder. Exact transmission times will be scheduled to support the user community; the need for the beacon may reduce as more users become operational.

The AMSAT-DL groundstations will use custom-built SR-Systems equipment for video encoding, modulation, demodulation and decoding. The AMSAT-DL team were very impressed with the DATV Express and Portsdown transmission equipment demonstrated by G8GTZ and G8GKQ. Similarly, the MiniTiouner receive system was also well received. There was a real desire to encourage amateur TV transmissions both from simple DVB-S equipment and from more complex equipment running modes such as DVB-S2X.

The BATC team now have a very good understanding of how the DATV transponder will be monitored and managed, and the BATC Spectrum Viewer will be an integral part of the process. We also plan to discuss the construction of a UK "mobile" groundstation with AMSAT-UK.

Although the team were very encouraged by the successful Space-X launch during the weekend, there was no update on the launch schedule for Es'HailSat 2. The company website states Q3 2017, which, if unchanged, would probably mean that our transponder would be available in early 2018.

Dave, G8GKQ

m0aeu
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 11:52 am

Re: Es'HailSat 2 Ground Segment Planning Meeting

Post by m0aeu » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:37 pm

Exciting times ahead with the satellite and the new hardware - The Portsdown...
Look forward to more news in due course.

best regards,
Frank
M0AEU

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