Friday, April 29, 2016

First D-STAR Satellite Now in Orbit


OUFTI-1 cubesat
(from project homepage)
Belgium's OUFTI-1 cubesat, launched from French Guiana on April 25, is the first amateur satellite to carry a D-STAR payload into orbit. The satellite, built by students at the University of Liege, features an orbiting D-STAR repeater capable of relaying both digital voice and data transmissions. According to the ARRL Letter, it can operate either as a standalone repeater or as an extension of the ground-based D-STAR repeater on the university campus. The digital downlink is on 145.950 MHz.