Ham Video - EST and Simulations

[IK0ZCW]

Written by ON4WF
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 12:03

HamTV Bulletin 2 - September 10, 2013

Ham Video Commissioning preparation is progressing. An EST (Experiment Sequence Test) has been performed 28-29 August and Simulations tests were done 5-6 September 2013.

The EST consisted of a series of tests, mainly of the ground segment. For the Commissioning, the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) station of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), located near Matera, southern Italy, will be used for receiving the DATV signals from the ISS. For the EST, the IK1SLD ground station, situated at Casale Monferrato, northern Italy was used. IK1SLD is one of the ARISS telebridge stations, fully equiped for VHF and UHF. It was recently upgraded for S-band with a 1.2m dish, feed, downconverter and precision tracking motors.

For the EST, a very low power transmitter, installed in the shack, generated signals on the Ham Video frequencies, transmitting a DATV recording at 1.3 and 2.0 MS/s and FEC ½. The DATV signal was received and decoded by the IK1SLD station and webstreamed to the BATC server. B.USOC (Belgian User Support and Operations Center – ESA) conducted operations. B.USOC and EAC (European Astronaut Center – Cologne, Germany) specialists operated from Livorno at Kayser Itallia\'s laboratory, where a Ham Video unit, the so-called EBB (Elegant BreadBox), is operational. Parties involved were interconnected per teleconference. At Casale Monferrato, Claudio Ariotti IK1SLD and Piero Tognolatti I0KPT produced, received and webstreamed the signals in the different configurations as requested by B.USOC. ESA and ARISS observers participated to the EST teleconference. After debriefing, the EST was declared successful.