OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

Lituanicasat-1-frequencies
Lituanicasat-1-frequencies

In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, “LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission.”

On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, “It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN.”

The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that transponder is off, if you cannot hear it –  the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS.

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information]

First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers

This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014,
at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International
Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. Proposals for papers, symposium
presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of
interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative
title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than
August 1. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for
inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org

[ANS thanks the 2014 Baltimore Symposium Committee for the above
information]

AMSAT-NA Moving to New Offices

AMSAT-NA Is Moving!
AMSAT-NA Is Moving!

After 30 years in the same location, AMSAT-NA is moving to a new office.  The office will be closed Friday, 25 April, and will reopen Friday, 2 May.  During the move, our e-mail will be operational, however responses will be delayed.  Purchases through the AMSAT Store may be made normally, but they will not be processed until the move is completed.

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Jerry Buxton, N0JY selected as AMSAT’s VP-Engineering

AMSAT-NA Engineering VP Jerry Buxton, N0JY
New AMSAT-NA VP-Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY

In a special AMSAT Board of Directors meeting held via GoToMeeting on Tuesday, April 1st, the board unanimously approved the selection of Jerry Buxton, N0JY of Granbury, TX as AMSAT VP-Engineering.  Jerry replaces Tony Monteiro, AA2TX who passed away on March 26th.

Given the significance of completing Fox-1 for delivery on time later this year, the Board recognized that the Fox Program must continue under leadership that is focused on completing AMSAT’s latest satellite.  Selecting a new VP-Engineering is an important step towards maintaining the momentum that was developed under Tony’s leadership and to avoid creating an engineering  leadership vacuum as work continues on the satellite.  The Engineering Team deserves to have the new leadership identified in order to be in position to make the appropriate engineering decisions.

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