Amateur radio satellite
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An amateur radio satellite is an artificial satellite built and used by amateur radio operators for use in the amateur radio satellite service.
History
The first amateur radio satellite was OSCAR-1, launched on December 12, 1961, in the United States.
Other programs besides OSCAR have included Iskra (Soviet Union) circa 1982, JAS-1 (Fuji-OSCAR 12) (Japan) in 1986, RS (Soviet Union and Russia), and CubeSats. (There is a list of major amateur satellites in Japanese Wikipedia).
Hardware
The first amateur satellites contained telemetry beacons. Since 1965, most satellites carry a linear transponder for two-way communications in real time. Some satellites have a bulletin board for store-and-forward digital communications, or a digipeater for direct packet radio connections.
Orbits
Amateur satellites have been launched into low Earth orbits and into highly elliptical orbits.
References
- Martin Davidoff: The Radio Amateur’s Satellite Handbook. The American Radio Relay League, Newington, ISBN 978-0-87259-658-0.
External links
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