I’ve conducted a satellite communications demo with the group Amateur Radio Communications and Emergency Response Team (ARCERT) on February 8, 2020, in Marikina City. The satellite AO-91 was used in this demo, accessed using only a two-way radio and a DIY antenna.

Special thanks to stations who participated in the demo: DV2JB (Dagupan), JS6DRQ (Japan), DW9ILX (Davao), DV7DYH (Dumaguete), and 4G1AGI (Laguna).

To view all posts on amateur radio satellite communications, click here.
To view all posts on amateur radio, click here.

Related link: Accessing Amateur Radio Satellites

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

I have built an improvised trainer that uses a guitar tuner’s tone generator feature to generate the tone needed to operate a Morse code key. The tone generator (guitar tuner) and the power supply (two AA batteries) are tightly placed in a small pocket-sized enclosure with a straight key mounted at the top, making the Morse code trainer a bring-anywhere ultra portable tool for code practice.

To view all posts on amateur radio, click here.

Related link: Morse Code Exam (Philippines)

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

To view all posts on amateur radio satellite communications, click here.
To view all posts on amateur radio, click here.

Related link: Accessing Amateur Radio Satellites

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

I have just finished building a DIY controller as part of a home-brewed antenna rotator project. The controller allows simple clockwise and counterclockwise movement of the stepper motor using 4 buttons. The motor may be replaced with a larger one depending on the intended load. I have added an optional speaker for audible feedback.

To view the circuit diagram, head directly to Stepper Motor Controller using Arduino.

I have posted the sketch below:

//DIY Rotator Controller Sample Sketch
//November 30, 2019
//DIY Rotator Controller
//du1au@nightskyinfocus.com

#include <Stepper.h>  
//initialize Azimuth motor

const int stepperPin1 = 9;                           //Stepper pin
const int stepperPin2 = 10;                          //Stepper pin
const int stepperPin3 = 11;                          //Stepper pin
const int stepperPin4 = 12;                          //Stepper pin
Stepper AZstepper(6330, stepperPin1, stepperPin2, stepperPin3, stepperPin4);  
int motorSpeed = 3;                                  //Motor speed                                             
const int Button1 = 2;                               //Button pin
const int Button2 = 3;                               //Button pin
const int Button3 = 4;                               //Button pin
const int Button4 = 5;                               //Button pin
int speakerPin = 6;                                   //Tones feedback

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(stepperPin1, OUTPUT);                       //AZStepper pin
  pinMode(stepperPin2, OUTPUT);                       //AZStepper pin
  pinMode(stepperPin3, OUTPUT);                       //AZStepper pin
  pinMode(stepperPin4, OUTPUT);                       //AZStepper pin
  AZstepper.setSpeed(motorSpeed);                     //AZStepper speed
  playLongHighBeep();
 
}
void loop() {
  if(digitalRead(Button3) == HIGH){ //Orange
          playHighTone(); 
          AZstepper.step(1582); 
          playHighTone(); 
    }
   if(digitalRead(Button4) == HIGH){ //Yellow
          playHighTone(); 
          AZstepper.step(-1582); 
          playHighTone();         
    }
     while(digitalRead(Button1) == HIGH){ //Red
        AZstepper.step(1);  
         playLowTone(); 
    }
    while(digitalRead(Button2) == HIGH){ //Green
        AZstepper.step(-1);
        playLowTone();   
    }    
}    
void playHighTone()
{
  tone(speakerPin, 7040, 50);                           //High tone
}
void playLongHighBeep()
{
  tone(speakerPin, 2000, 2000);                        //Long high tone
}
void playLowTone()
{
  tone(speakerPin, 55, 50);                             //Low tone
}

To view all posts on amateur radio, click here.

Related link: Stepper Motor Controller

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

My portable satellite radio setup won 1st place (VHF-UHF category) in this year’s go-kit (portable equipment) contest as part of the 87th anniversary of the Philippine Amateur Radio Association. It is essentially a satellite phone with collapsible antenna which allows communication with anyone, anywhere in the Philippines and neighboring countries such as Japan, Malaysia, China, Korea, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even Australia, using only a transmit power of 5W.

The go-kit was built in April 2019 to help the STAMINA4SPACE test our country’s first amateur radio satellite DIWATA2.

Related links:
Portable Satellite Radio Setup
DIY Satellite Antenna
PARA Operators Spearhead Diwata 2 Testing

On October 28, 2019, I was invited by the UP Resilience Institute-NOAH to deliver a talk about amateur radio satellites.

Amateur radio satellites are orbiting relay stations that enable long distance communications using only a two-way radio and a home-brewed antenna. Unlike other communications systems like the cellular service and the Internet, satellites do not rely on ground-based communications infrastructure. If a locality is hit with a major disaster, damage to infrastructure will render the cellular phones and the Internet unusable, but satellites in space will continue to function. In this talk, I’ve discussed how to access these amateur radio satellites, and explained how to setup a home-brewed satellite phone for reliable communication in times of disaster.  

To view all posts on amateur radio satellite communications, click here.

Related link:
4th UP RI-NOAH Talk on Disaster Resiliency

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

I’ve received 6 SSTV images from the International Space Station (ISS) from August 3-4, 2019, from my amateur radio station in Bacoor, Cavite, using a DIY antenna and a portable radio. The app Robot 36 was used to decode the SSTV transmissions. For participating in the SSTV event, I was awarded a certificate.

To learn how to receive SSTV images from the ISS, click here.

Related links:
Satellite Communications
My Satellite Antenna

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)

I have recently finished preparing the plans for making a DIY dual-band satellite antenna.

To learn how to build one and get started with satellite communications, click here.

Night Sky in Focus
Astronomy and Amateur Radio
© Anthony Urbano (Manila, Philippines)