ANS-005 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service

ANS-005
January 5, 2025

In this edition:

• AMSAT Student Members Win QCWA Scholarships
• Fort Worth Cowtown Hamfest Asking for Volunteers for AMSAT
• VUCC & DXCC Satellite Standings January 2025
• Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for January 3, 2025
• ARISS News
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• AMSAT Ambassador Activities
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on https://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

AMSAT Student Members Win QCWA Scholarships

The Quarter Century Wireless Association has announced AMSAT student members Ruth Willet, KM4LAO and Grace Papay, K8LG as two of its 2024-25 Scholarship winners.

Ruth Willet, KM4LAO

Ruth was first licensed in 2015 and passed her Extra in May 2016. She was the first Carole Perry Young Professional Award winner in 2023 and named the ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award recipient in 2018.

Ruth is heavily involved in the Youth On The Air initiative in the Americas. She is Assistant Director, Satellite workshop leader, and a member of the “Youth Planning Committee.” She attended the first every YOTA Camp in Region 2 in 2021, both learning as a camper and teaching as the satellite workshop leader. During that camp, she served as the “YOTA Host” for the first scheduled contact with an astronaut through the ARISS program.

She is a member of the ARRL, the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society, the North Fulton Amateur Radio League, the Genesee County Radio Club, the Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County, the Young Ladies Radio League, the Young Amateur Communications Ham Team, AMSAT, CWOps, and the Straight Key Century Club.

Ruth attended Kettering University in Michigan and graduated with a double major in Engineering Physics and Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Acoustics. She is currently a graduate student at Penn State University pursuing a Master of Science in Acoustics.

Grace Papay, K8LG

Grace is a 3rd generation 19-year-old amateur radio operator from Holland, Michigan. Grace was licensed in 2021 and holds an Amateur Extra class license. She enjoys communicating via amateur satellites and has so far achieved via satellite DXCC, VUCC, WAS, and WAZ. She is actively working towards the AMSAT GridMaster Award.

Grace has participated in many contests both as a Single Op, Multioperator, and Multi-Multi. Grace has participated in many major contests including WAE, Sweepstakes, and several CQ WW contests. She was a member of the 2023 K3LR CQWW Phone team and the 2024 J62K CQ WW WPX Phone team.

Grace is a member of the ARRL, AMSAT, Holland Amateur Radio Club, Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team, the West Chester Amateur Radio Association, Northwest Ohio VHF Amateur Radio Society, and Dayton Amateur Radio Association.

Grace is attending Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio where she is studying electrical engineering.

The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Have Just Arrived!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today!

Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for January 3, 2025

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

This week there are no additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase an M2 LEO-Pack from the AMSAT Store!

When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.

ARISS News

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

ARISS school contacts are currently planned to resume the week of 2025-01-13 to 2025-01-19.

The current SSTV event ends Sunday, January 5 at 14:20 UTC. As always, radio enthusiasts around the world are invited to downlink the images at 145.800 MHz +/- 3 KHz Doppler shift and the transmission mode is PD 120. The images downlinked will follow the theme “Celebrating ARISS 2024” and as usual, there will be 12 images transmitted sequentially throughout the event. Those taking part in the event are encouraged to post their received images at our ARISS SSTV Gallery found at https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/ and also apply for an award certificate at the sit

Many times a school may make a last minute decision to do a Livestream or run into a last minute glitch requiring a change of the URL but we at ARISS may not get the URL in time for publication.  You can always check https://live.ariss.org/ to see if a school is Livestreaming.

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down),  If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

8R, GUYANA:
Watch out for Aldir, PY1SAD, signing 8R1TM from Georgetown between
Jan. 1 and Feb. 8. QRV on 160-10m (CW, SSB, digital modes) and via
satellites. QSL direct via homecall, LoTW, eQSL, qrz.com.

NA-057; HR, BAHIA ISLANDS: Alex, K6VHF, returns to Roatan Isl. and
operates as K6VHF/HR9 between the 5th and 12th. QRV on 160-6m and
via RS-44 satellite. QSL via K6VHF (d/B), ClubLog OQRS,
LoTW, eQSL.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager,  JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and DXNL 2439 – January 1, 2025 DX Newsletter, for the above information]

 Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get an AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space

AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, says,

“Think a 75-minute presentation on “working the easy satellites” would be appropriate for your club or event? Let me know by emailing me at k6lcsclint (at) gmail (dot) com or calling me at 909-999-SATS (7287)!”

Clint has NEVER given the exact same show twice: EACH of the 150+ presentations so far has been customized/tailored to their audiences.

Scheduled Events

January 8, 2025
West Valley Amateur Radio Association (WVARA) – Monthly Meeting – 7:00 PM
“Build A Satellite Roving Station for Your Next Road Trip or POTA Activation”
Santa Clara Valley American Red Cross
2731 N. 1st St.
San Jose, CA 95134
https://wvara.org/wordpress/
WU0I

January 11, 2025
Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society – TechFest
Gwinnett County Fairgrounds
Expo Center Building
2405 Sugarloaf Pkwy.
Lawrenceville, GA 30045
http://www.techfest.info/
K4RGK

February 14-15, 2025
Yuma HAMCON and Southwestern Division Convention
Yuma County Fairgrounds
Yuma, AZ
https://www.yumahamfest.com/
N1UW

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts from All Over

+ Club Log OQRS ADIF files now correctly include SAT_NAME and PROP_MODE for satellite contacts. Long-standing bug, now fixed thanks to a report from S9Z’s QSL manager. (ANS thanks G7VJR of ClubLog)

+ Congratulations to Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, for his outstanding achievements in providing satellite contacts! Mitch has roved an impressive 100 grid squares, earning him the AMSAT VUCC/r Award #20. The Reverse VUCC or VUCC/r Award, originally introduced by the Central States VHF Society and now carried on by AMSAT, recognizes the dedication of satellite rovers like Mitch. For more information about this prestigious award, you can visit the AMSAT website at https://www.amsat.org/reverse-vucc-or-vucc-r-award. Keep on roving, Mitch, and continue to inspire others in the AMSAT community with your remarkable achievements! (ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information)

+ Dave Bowman, G0MRF, reports that the last of the four boards for the FUNcube Lite payload on Jovian-1 have now been designed on KiCad and is ready for production. The entire payload needs to fit into a 0.7 U enclosure to prevent interference to the rest of the satellite. (ANS thanks G0MRF via X  – https://x.com/g0mrf/status/1874445171561312767 )

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

• Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
• Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
• Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
• Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm [at] arrl.net

ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002