Polish Radio Amateurs Receive 3D-Printed ARTSAT2: DESPATCH QSL Card

Posted date: February 12, 2015in: NewsNo Comments

Michał Zawada, SQ5KTM, and a Polish team of radio amateurs who received signals from the ARTSAT2: DESPATCH (FO-81) spacecraft while it was more than 1.68 million miles from Earth have been rewarded with a QSL generated by a 3D printer. Zawada reported that the team heard FO-81 on December 9. One half of the “card” is a 3D depiction of the sculpture ARTSAT2 carried into deep space; the other half is a printed reception confirmation.

“The last signals received by us from ARTSAT2: DESPATCH were very weak, but clearly stood out on the waterfall diagram of the monitoring program,” he reported. “To avoid misinterpretation we asked for confirmation directly from the creators of the space probe — Tama Art University and The University of Tokyo.” Zawada said the data he and his team reported were analyzed, compared with the model and successfully authenticated, “and we have received confirmation with thanks.”

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