| dc.description.abstract | After the planning phase autumn 2006, the work with the student satellite project evolved into sub-system design and prototyping. The work presented in this report considers a proposal for a VHF radio system intended for a small student satellite. The design process started on scratch, not looking much at earlier ncube designs, almost no documentation is to be found about actual construction and final measurements. Three design concepts where developed, one featuring an integrated transceiver, one as a self-designed FSK radio and the last one uses a GMSK-modem to solve modulation and de-modulation issues. As the design was chosen and the work of selecting components commenced, it became clear the chosen design would become not unlike the receiver proposed for ncube. The reason for this is component availability, especially the SA606 IF-sub-system and the GMSK-modem. During test and measurement, a few issues were discovered. The proposed low noise amplifiers seems to be a dead end for this frequencies, and alternatives must be found. The layout for the SA606 is improved and seems to function as required. Since the chosen layout is quite similar to the previous ncube 145 MHz receiver, it shows that the components selected for this designs are a good solution. However, the design is so extensive more work is required before a prototype is ready. It can be questioned if the first design proposal would have been less extensive and could have lead to a finished prototype withing the assigned time frame. Anyway, link budgets and power estimates shows that it is possible to build such a system within the defined limits. | nb_NO |
