The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory wants to use some amateur radio frequencies in 2020 for communication with their Neutron 1 cube satellite. They are asking the BIARC and other amateur radio clubs for letters of support from club boards, which they would use to support their application for a license from the FCC.

Please see the email below from KK4RNF for details. If you have thoughts about this feel free to reply to this message.

Tony Kitchen
WH6DVI
Chair, Public Service Communication Committee
BIARC

——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject:        Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory: S-Band and UHF Project
Date:   24 Jul 2019 15:16:20 -1000
From:   Craig Opie <opieca@hsfl.hawaii.edu><mailto:opieca@hsfl.hawaii.edu>

Aloha,

My name is Craig Opie (KK4RNF) and I am involved with a project at the University of Hawaii.  We build small satellites for research purposes and send them to space.  We are conducting an EMC evaluation of the 2400 to 2450 MHz Amateur frequency band. Our intention is to utilize this band for an upcoming small satellite mission slated for launch in Q1 2020.  The frequencies we would need to use is a center frequency at 2.430 GHz with a bandwidth of 20 MHz.  We require approximately 10 minutes per day for data transfer and our satellite is going to be in orbit with the ISS.  We will be coordinating with the amateur community here in Hawaii to let them know expected times the Satellite will be passing overhead well in advance. We are expecting an EIRP of approximately 6 dBW from the spacecraft and approximately -160.6 dBW isotropic signal at the groundstation.  Additionally, we have a redundancy communication method using UHF downlink at a center frequency of 435.0 MHz and bandw
idth of 10 MHz and a VHF uplink at 146.0 MHz.  We do not plan to use this as a communication method unless we have problems preventing our use of the S-Band.

What I am asking of your organization is to verify that we will not be interfering with normal HAM operations using these frequencies and bandwidths.  I have drafted letters that anyone in on the board of directors for your club can sign and return, so that we can provide this to the FCC and IARU to gain a license for the satellites current communications configuration.  This is a last minute change and without the approved license we will not be able to fly our satellite.  I know this is not your problem, it is ours, but I hope that we can work together on this to accomplish a mission that is of great importance to the nation and progress of science.  Please sign at your earliest convenience, scan and send back to me as soon as possible.  If you have questions, please feel free to call me (407)916-9576 or my colleague Isaac Rodrigues (808)462-8443.

Very respectfully,

73, Craig Opie
KK4RNF
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