Paul Butler Lauriston Girls’ School

 The FUNcube-1 satellite was designed and built by members of the volunteer amateur satellite organisations AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL.  It was launched into space from Russia aboard a DNEPR rocket on Thursday November 21 st, 2013.

 FUNcube measures 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and has a mass of less than 1 kg.  The electrical power for the on-board electronics comes from solar panels.  It transmits a data beacon on MHz at full power when in daylight.

 At Lauriston, we captured frames of data from the satellite and uploaded them to the data warehouse on launch day (UTC).  Since then, we have experimented with a number of approaches to using this educational satellite.

 Hardware options ◦ the FUNcube dongle ◦ scanner (narrow FM)  Software – SDR# (free)

 The FUNcube Dashboard (free)  The FUNcube dongle integrates with the Dashboard and supports automatic data capture and upload, perfect for schools learning about satellites without an ‘expert’ on hand.

 Antenna options: ◦ Hand-held vertical (non-directional) ◦ Fixed vertical (non-directional) ◦ Tracking Yagi (directional) ◦ Build or buy?

 Tracking options: ◦ Heavens Above ( ◦ Orbitron (free) ◦ Satellite Tracker app for IOS (free) ◦ Star Walk for real-time viewing

 Automatic operation: ◦ Fixed antenna ◦ Internet connection for real-time data upload ◦ Limited student interaction but easy to use

 Hands-on operation: ◦ Steerable antenna ◦ Internet connection for real-time data upload ◦ Plenty of opportunities for student interaction ◦ Requires more planning and flexibility

 Hands-on operation: ◦ Group 1 – calling azimuth/elevation from Orbitron ◦ Group 2 – steering the antenna ◦ Group 3 – monitoring Doppler shift via a receiver ◦ Group 4 – monitoring the Dashboard ◦ Group 5 – monitoring the data warehouse

 Classroom activities ◦ The physics of satellite orbits ◦ Analysis of whole-orbit data ◦ Analysis of long-term data, e.g. spin period ◦ On-board thermal physics experiment ◦ Power budget calculations