AMSAT News Service

AMSAT News Service Bulletin posts. These are meant for the AMSAT News Service section of the website and will not be presented on the homepage.

CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102)

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On July 25, 2019, the CAS-7B (BP-1B) microsatellite was launched on a Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Space Center, China. CAS-7B (BP-1B) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT), and in cooperation with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). CAMSAT completed the project planning, design, build, and testing, and manages the on-orbit operation of the satellite. BIT provided the satellite environmental testing, launch support, and financial support. Many students from BIT were involved with the project, learning about satellite technology and amateur radio. The satellite carries a CW telemetry beacon and FM repeater that has been active since launch.

At the request of CAMSAT and the BIT team, AMSAT hereby designates CAS-7B (BP-1B) as BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102). We congratulate the owners and operators of BO-102, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

73,

Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA

AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator

Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, Elected AMSAT Vice President – Development

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On June 18th, the AMSAT Board of Directors elected Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, Vice President – Development. This position carries the responsibility for fund raising, marketing and public relations for AMSAT programs. In addition to enhancing the AMSAT and ARISS brands within their traditional spheres, this position is expected to broaden the appeal of its activities to a wider market. This includes the educational, corporate and philanthropic sectors.

AMSAT President Joe Spier explains, “The cost of planning, building and launching satellites has risen exponentially over the past years. It is essential that we not only raise the Amateur Radio community’s financial participation in these programs, we need to enlist the support of outside entities. We can only do this by demonstrating the value that Amateur Radio satellites bring to society’s best interests. This is especially true for youth and educational programs where AMSAT’s and ARISS’s growth lies.”

Frank comes to this position with a forty-five year career as a sales and marketing executive in the consumer and industrial markets. He was first licensed in 1963 and has been a long-term member of AMSAT and the ARRL. Frank also contributes to AMSAT as an AMSAT News Service Rotating Editor.

Frank Karnauskas, N1UW

ANS-167 AMSAT News Service Bulletins for June 16

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-167

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, 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 http://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 dot 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:  http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

  • AMSAT Field Day on the Satellites
  • Dollar-for-Dollar Match on your ARISS Donation Ends Monday!
  • AMSAT Operations Updates AO-85 Status / AO-92 Field Day Plans
  • AMSAT Engineering Slides From Ham-Com
  • BIRDS-3 Satellites Deploy From ISS on June 17th
  • IARU Region 1 Notes WRC-23 Proposals That Impact 144-146 MHz and 1260-1270 MHz Amateur Satellite Service Bands
  • Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 13, 2019
  • How to Support AMSAT
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Satellite Shorts from All Over

Read more

AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, Awarded Russian E.T. Krenkel Medal

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AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO

AMSAT President and ARRL Life Member Joe Spier, K6WAO, has been awarded the Russian E.T. Krenkel Medal, a prestigious award granted to individuals and organizations for outstanding global contributions to Amateur Radio.

Joe Spier, K6WAO is a long time supporter of Amateur Radio in Space and international cooperation. K6WAO is the President of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). He has also served AMSAT as Executive Vice President, and Vice President, Educational Relations.

He is a long term supporter of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) and scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics education. Spier is an AMSAT Life Member. He also is a Life Member of American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA).

The award’s namesake, Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel, was a radio amateur who, over the years, used the call signs RAEM, U3AA, and UA3AA. Born in Poland, Krenkel was an Arctic explorer who took part in the first Soviet “drifting station,” North Pole-1. He was made a “Hero of the Soviet Union” in 1938 for his exploits.

Krenkel’s son, T.E. Krenkel, is among the four signatories to the award certificate. The younger Krenkel, a professor at the Moscow Technical College of Telecommunication and Informatics, said his father was an avid radio amateur who served as the first chairman of the Central Radio Club in the USSR.

Krenkel’s image appears on postage stamps from the USSR and Russia, and he authored a biography entitled My Callsign is RAEM. In the era when all radio amateurs received QSL cards via Box 88, Moscow, Krenkel was allowed to have his own postal address on his QSLs and was issued the non-standard RAEM call sign.

Information about the Krenkel Medal can be found at: http://krenkelmedal.org/index.php?id=49

[ANS thanks the Russian National Academy of Researches and Discoveries for the above information]

The E.T. Krenkel Medal