Uncategorized

In this edition:

• W2RS Memorial AMSAT CW Activity Day
• ARISS SSTV Event Underway
• N4AKV Earns AMSAT VUCC Award/r
• GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers January 2025 Rankings
• NASA’s Deep Space Network Upgraded
• Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for December 27, 2024
• 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 http://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 [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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-364 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Dec 29

W2RS Memorial AMSAT CW Activity Day

The Annual W2RS Memorial AMSAT CW Activity Day occurs each year on January 1st. The event runs 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC January on New Year’s Day.

In March 2022, the AMSAT community lost one of our pioneers when Ray Soifer, W2RS, became a silent key. In addition to his numerous contributions to AMSAT and the worldwide amateur satellite community, Ray was also the long time organizer of AMSAT’s CW Activity Day – previously AMSAT Straight Key Night – held in conjunction with the ARRL’s event on New Year’s Day.

In recognition of Ray’s long time service to AMSAT and his keen interest in CW operating via satellite, AMSAT’s CW Activity Day is now known as the W2RS Memorial AMSAT CW Activity Day.

Send your reports including stations worked and satellites used to info at amsat dot org.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information.]

ARISS SSTV Event Underway

Well underway for the holidays and New Year, ARISS’ Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event began on December 25 and will continue until January 5, 2025.

Series 23 consists of 12 pictures celebrating ARISS memories of 2024. Ending time for the transmissions is tentatively January 5 at 14: 20 UTC.

On the ISS, the Service Module radio is being used and the ISS callsign is RS0ISS; Images are transmitted on 145.800 MHz FM and the SSTV mode is PD120.

Everyone is invited to upload their decoded images in the ARISS gallery, area “Series 23 Holiday 2025” at: https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV. Once you’ve submitted your image, just click on the dedicated button and you can apply for the official ARISS SSTV award.

Also, European stations can request the ARISS QSL by contacting the European QSL bureau: https://www.ariss-eu.org/index.php/ariss-station/european-qsl-bureau.

To support everyone interested in such events, the European Space Agency released tutorials about how to receive pictures transmitted over amateur radio by the International Space Station: you can find them on https://issfanclub.eu/2024/11/08/esa-tips-how-to-get-pictures-from-the-international-space-station-via-amateur-radio-2/

No two-meter radio? it’s always possible to decode the audio signals coming from the WebSDR at Goonhilly Earth Station https://vhf-goonhilly.batc.org.uk/

Follow @ARISS_intl on X for official updates, since changes can occur.

Reminder, the images are sent on a (roughly) 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off schedule. So if you don’t hear anything, give it wait two minutes.

Many FM rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM. Handhelds generally have a single wide filter fitted as standard. Free decoding software is available for Android and Apple smartphone. Check your phone’s app store by searching SSTV”. PC users can download the free RX-SSTV program.

You can get predictions for the ISS pass times at https://www.amsat.org/track/ or from a myriad of free smartphone apps.

More useful information to receive the pictures can be found at https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-UK for the above information.]

The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Are Almost Gone!
ONLY 4 DAYS LEFT!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

N4AKV Earns AMSAT VUCC Award/r

Congratulations to Jonathan Eernisse, N4AKV, for his outstanding achievements in providing satellite contacts! Jonathan has roved an impressive 102 grid squares, earning him the AMSAT VUCC/r Award #19. 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 Jonathan. 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, Jonathan, 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.]

GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers January 2025 Rankings

The January 2025 rankings for the Top 100 Rovers (Mixed LEO/MEO/GEO) in satellite operations, as determined by @GridMasterMap on Twitter, has been released. The ranking is determined by the number of grids and DXCC entities activated, taking into account only those grids where a minimum number of QSOs logged on the gridmaster.fr website have been validated by a third party. Grid numbers do not directly reflect the exact number of activations. Satellite operators are encouraged to upload their LoTW satellite contacts to https://gridmaster.fr in order to provide more accurate data. Figures updated December 26, 2024.

[ANS thanks @GridMasterMap for the above information.]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

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

https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

NASA’s Deep Space Network Upgraded

Installation of the latest antenna took place on Dec. 18, when teams at NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, installed the metal reflector framework for Deep Space Station 23, a multifrequency beam-waveguide antenna. When operational in 2026, Deep Space Station 23 will receive transmissions from missions such as Perseverance, Psyche, Europa Clipper, Voyager 1, and a growing fleet of future human and robotic spacecraft in deep space.

“This addition to the Deep Space Network represents a crucial communication upgrade for the agency,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program. “The communications infrastructure has been in continuous operation since its creation in 1963, and with this upgrade we are ensuring NASA is ready to support the growing number of missions exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

“With the Deep Space Network, we are able to explore the Martian landscape with our rovers, see the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning cosmic observations, and so much more,” said Laurie Leshin, director of JPL. “The network enables over 40 deep space missions, including the farthest human-made objects in the universe, Voyager 1 and 2. With upgrades like these, the network will continue to support humanity’s exploration of our solar system and beyond, enabling ground breaking science and discovery far into the future.”

Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-364-Deep-Space.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information.]

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your 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

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 27, 2024

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/.

The following satellites have been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

SSS-2B Catalog No. 56184: Decayed from orbit on or about 23 December 2024.

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

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.

Upcoming Contacts

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

The Slow Scan TV experiment continues until January 5, 2025. Transmitting PD120 mode on 145.800 MHz.

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.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

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

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

No operations listed as of December 23, 2024.

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.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager for the above information.]

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.

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

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

For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

Tom Schuessler, N5HYP is looking for volunteers for the upcoming Fort Worth Cowtown Hamfest. “The dates have slipped up on me, but, the hamfest is only three weekends away, January 17 and 18. Cowtown Hamfest, Fort Worth Texas. I have booked table space and at least one presentation for the weekend. Therefore, I Am looking for additional volunteers to help man the table, do demos and just talk amateur radio in space. The Cowtown club was the home of the late Keith Pugh, W5IU, who was an AMSAT Ambassador and ARISS mentor for many years before his passing. The Cowtown club recently dedicated a satellite station at their clubhouse in his honor and with some of his donated hardware. All this to say that the Cowtown Hamfest is a friend of AMSAT and so it is always good for us to make a good showing.” Contact Tom Schuessler via tschuessler (at) amsat.org or n5hyp (at) arrl (dot)net for more information or to volunteer. [ANS thanks Tom Schuessler, N5HYP, AMSAT Ambassador for the above information.]

The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology continues to grow. Fresh off a highly successful YouTube telethon that raised more than $41,000 for the program, some of next year’s dates have been announced. Applications are now open. The program is growing, and educators will have the opportunity to attend sessions around the country. “We love having the teachers here at ARRL Headquarters, but we wanted to bring this program nationwide,” said ARRL Education and Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA. Dates and details of the regional sessions are still being determined, but the hope is to touch many areas of the United States. The application process is straightforward. Interested educators can find the web form at www.arrl.org/ti. ARRL covers all the costs of the TI, including travel, but there is a $100 application fee if the teacher is accepted. More information available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-364-Teachers. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.]

The 39th Annual Small Satellite Conference is scheduled for August 11-13, 2025. The event will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Persons wanting to submit an abstract for a talk, poster or flash talk must submit their abstract by February 4, 2025 to be considered. Educators and researchers at universities can also apply for a University Exhibit. Complete information is available at https://smallsat.org/. [ANS thanks SmallSat.org for the above information.

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 [dot] org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

In this edition:

• AMSAT OSCAR-7 50th Anniversary: CodeStore Breaking New Ground
• GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers December 2024 Rankings
• Japan Launches World’s First Wooden Satellite to Test Timber in Space
• Open-Weather APT: Updates to the Web Based NOAA APT Image Decoder
• 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 http://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 [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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-336 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Dec 01

AMSAT OSCAR-7 50th Anniversary: CodeStore Breaking New Ground

There has always been a fascination among radio amateurs in digital modes of communications. In thinking about where this spacecraft sits in electronic history, it is all too easy to forget that it was designed at least three years before the appearance of the first 8-bit microprocessor. The notion of packet communications was still nearly 10 years into the future. The team wanted to demonstrate that they could store data at-will on a spacecraft in transit across the sky and then download it at another location. They wanted to demonstrate non-real-time digital communications to themselves and to the world.

Jan King, W3GEY, AMSAT OSCAR-7 Project Manager explains, “Thinking in retrospect, that experiment wasn’t the best it could have been. However, it was simple and it proved our resolve. The entry in 1972 on AO-6 and, then again, in 1974 on-board AO-7 was a demonstration experiment we called CodeStore. And, it did lead to far more ambitious packetized, store-and-forward data satellites in our future.

“It probably wasn’t the best choice at the time, but we chose the command frequency for the uplink. This meant we didn’t have to implement yet another receiver. However, this made the experiment far less accessible to hams than it could have. AMSAT did not want to share the knowledge of the command frequency and codes with anyone who didn’t have a need to know them. Thus, CodeStore was not an experiment that was shared with everyone as were the communications transponders. It could realistically only be used by authorized command stations. We had hoped for a universal store-and-forward demonstration, but what was in fact created was a broadcast tool and in that regard CodeStore was very successful.”

CodeStore was the brainchild of and was designed and fabricated by John Goode, W5CAY. In one small module, he housed an AFSK decoding system, which allowed uplink data to be clocked into a “long” shift register containing 896 bits. This was done with the memory IC’s of the day. What one could manage then was 14 IC’s each containing 64 bits of serial data storage. The contents of the shift register was sequentially downlinked first-in-first-out (FIFO) to the selected beacon when CodeStore was commanded to the RUN mode.

This number of bits is divisible by 8 so one might have expected that a downlinked message of 112 8-bit words. No, this was 1974 so Morse Code messages were downlinked. The idea was more individuals can copy a broadcast message if they don’t need specialized decoding equipment. King adds, “No one can deny that we could have made a better go of it if the notion of a remote terminal digital communications goal had remained pure. It did not.”

“Ultimately, its highest value was discovered to be to store the spacecraft’s NORAD TLEs as well as any critical AO-7 operating schedule modifications, which might be of importance to the users. CodeStore was already available for use on AO-6. So, users were already expecting this feature, which appeared regularly on the beacons.”

While CodeStore was used on both AO-6 and AO-7 to demonstrate non-real-time communications via satellite, it was never used by independent remotely located stations to demonstrate two-way communications in that way. The memory facilities required on-board and the lack of any firmware that even approached the capabilities of a file handling system did not exist in 1972-74. That would have to wait for another day when, once again, four AMSAT spacecraft in a small constellation would demonstrate a proper store-and-forward packet handling system. That was to occur in 1990.

CodeStore went into service as a broadcast device allowing users to receive, in Morse Code, the latest, (then) NORAD TLEs. CodeStore was a complete success. It saved command stations a tremendous amount of work, avoiding the need for a global network of operators who would otherwise be needed to relay the same data.

Persons wanting to read more about the life and history of AMSAT OSCAR-7 are invited to visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-ao-7-a-fifty-year-anniversary/.

[ANS thanks Jan King, W3GEY, AMSAT OSCAR-7 Project Manager for the above information.]

GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers December 2024 Rankings

The December 2024 rankings for the Top 100 Rovers (Mixed LEO/MEO/GEO) in satellite operations, as determined by @GridMasterMap on Twitter, has been released. The ranking is determined by the number of grids and DXCC entities activated, taking into account only those grids where a minimum number of QSO’s logged on the gridmaster.fr website have been validated by a third party. Grid numbers do not directly reflect the exact number of activations. Satellite operators are encouraged to upload their LoTW satellite contacts to https://gridmaster.fr in order to provide more accurate data.

Updated: 2024-11-29

[ANS thanks @GridMasterMap for the above information.]

Only four Weeks Left!
And the 2024 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Are Gone!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

Japan Launches World’s First Wooden Satellite to Test Timber in Space

Japanese researchers launched the world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, into space, marking an ambitious step toward exploring the viability of timber for lunar and Martian construction. This pioneering satellite, developed collaboratively by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, was sent to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on November 4, 2024. Once at the ISS, LignoSat will be released into orbit approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth.

LignoSat, a 1U-sized CubeSat, carries an Amateur Radio mission that will extract callsigns from the FM packet data signals uplinked, and respond to them by using the CW downlink with their call signs.

An educational mission is to educate students to learn about the characteristics of the satellite by acquiring its housekeeping data such as the internal temperature, the strain of the wooden structure, and the Earth’s magnetic field and calculating the rotational direction and rate of the satellite as well as observing the effect of the space environment on the wooden structure.

The satellite, whose name derives from the Latin word for “wood,” is a compact, palm-sized structure. LignoSat’s mission is to demonstrate the potential of wood as a sustainable and durable material for space exploration. Takao Doi, a former astronaut and a current researcher at Kyoto University, expressed that using timber could pave the way for constructing habitats that support human life and work in space indefinitely. “With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live, and work in space forever,” Doi said.

Doi’s team is working under a 50-year vision of building timber structures on the Moon and Mars, planting the seeds for future space-based infrastructure. The researchers opted for Honoki, a type of magnolia tree native to Japan traditionally used for sword sheaths, after conducting a 10-month experiment on the ISS. Honoki proved its resilience, leading to its selection as the core material for LignoSat. The satellite was constructed using a traditional Japanese craft technique without screws or glue, showcasing innovation steeped in heritage.

One of LignoSat’s key roles in its six-month orbit will be to measure the endurance of wood against extreme space temperatures, which oscillate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius (-148 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit) every 45 minutes as the satellite shifts from sunlight to darkness. The onboard sensors will also monitor how well wood mitigates space radiation’s impact on semiconductors, information that could be pivotal for designing data centers and other space-based structures. Kenji Kariya of Sumitomo Forestry emphasized the cutting-edge nature of this research, noting that despite appearing old-fashioned, wood could be integral to future space technology.

The environmental benefits of using wood in space are significant. Unlike conventional metal satellites that produce polluting aluminum oxide particles upon re-entry, wooden satellites would disintegrate more cleanly in Earth’s atmosphere. “A wooden satellite burns up with much less pollution compared to metal ones,” Doi stated. This feature could be an advantage as the space industry grapples with sustainability and the proliferation of space debris.

The team behind LignoSat is optimistic that their experiment could spur wider adoption of timber in space exploration. Doi even hinted at the potential for future partnerships, saying, “If we can prove our first wooden satellite works, we want to pitch it to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.” The successful deployment of LignoSat could mark the beginning of a new era where traditional materials meet advanced space technology, reinvigorating the timber industry and pushing the boundaries of sustainable innovation in space exploration.

A downlink on 435.820 MHz has been coordinated for CW, 4k8 GMSK AX25 telemetry and FM. More info at https://space.innovationkyoto.org/amateur-radio-operators/

[ANS thanks Kantaro Komiya and Irene Wang, Reuters, for the above information.]

Open-Weather APT: Updates to the Web Based NOAA APT Image Decoder

Dr. Sasha Engelmann and Sophie Dyer, the team behind the Open-Weather project have recently announced the launch of their new version of open-weather app, a web-based NOAA APT image decoder. The web-based program accepts a WAV file containing a NOAA satellite APT recording, demodulates and decodes it, and displays the resulting weather satellite image.

Sasha writes, “…Open-weather apt is the only public, maintained, browser-based decoder for Automatic Picture Transmissions (APT) from satellites NOAA-19, NOAA-18 and NOAA-15. It was developed to improve access to satellite signal decoding for all practitioners.

“We are excited to share a new and improved version available here! The new version includes the following updates and additional features:

Improved accuracy in decoding and finding sync positions (locates more sync positions than other comparable decoders)
Upload a WAV file of any sample rate (no more re-sampling with Audacity!)
Option to see the ‘raw’ image without syncing, and to ‘Find the Syncs’
Option to Rotate 180 degrees, often useful for viewing images from nighttime passes
Go deeper in your analysis: explore Signal Value and Image Value Histograms
Upload directly from open-weather apt to the Public Archive

“Open-weather apt is co-developed by open-weather with Rectangle (Lizzie Malcolm and Dan Powers), Bill Liles (NQ6Z) and Grayson Earle.”

Complete information at https://open-weather.community/decode/.

[ANS thanks RTL-SDR.com for the above information.]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

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

https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 29, 2024

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/.

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

AO-123 Provisional catalog number 99130 IARU coordinated downlink 435.4000 MHz.

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

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?

Get your 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

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

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.

Upcoming Contacts

South Carolina RWAs (Regional Workforce Advisors), Columbia, SC, direct via N4EE.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Nick Hague, KG5TMV.
The ARISS mentor is Don Hopson, K4CF.
Contact is go for Monday, December 2, 2024 at 16:22 UTC.
Watch for Livestream at https://dew.sc.gov/.

Simferopol College of Radio Electronics, Simferopol, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Ivan Vagner.
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR .
Contact is go for Monday, December 2, 2024 at 15:15 UTC.

CEIP INDAUTXUKO ESKOLA HLHI, Bilbao, Spain, telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor is Marcelo Teruel, IK0USO.
Contact is go for: Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 11:47 UTC.

State Budgetary Educational Institution “Vorobyovy Gory”, Moscow, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Alexander Gorbunov.
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR.
Contact is go for Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 11:00 UTC.

Shchyolkovo, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Aleksey Ovchinin.
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR.
Contact is go for Friday, December 6, 2024 at 10:10 UTC.

Publiczna Szkola Podstawowa im. Walentego Stefanskiego w Bodzechowie, Bodzechow, Poland, direct via SP7POS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Don Pettit, KD5MDT.
The ARISS mentor is Armand Budzianowski, SP3QFE.
Contact is go for Friday, December 6, 2024 at 11:49 UTC.

Completed Contacts

Colegio do Castanheiro, Ponta Delgada, Azores, direct via CQ8CDC.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Don Pettit, KD5MDT.
The ARISS mentor is Marcelo Teruel,IK0USO.
Contact was successful on Tuesday, November 26, 2024 at 14:57 UTC.

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.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

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

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

• ADØHJ is planning his last 2024 rove to the Missouri Ozarks area between December 5-8, 2024. Mitch has never been to that area so he is looking to do some sightseeing and activate eight new satellite grid squares. EM26-EM28, EM36-EM39, and EN30. He will be working RS-44 passes in the evenings. See https://hams.at for details.

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.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager, and Alex Ners, K6VHF, for the above information.]

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.

December 19, 2024
Central Kentucky Amateur Radio Society
CKARS Monthly Meeting
558 S Keeneland Dr.
Richmond, KY 40475
https://www.ckars.org/home
AI4SR

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

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

For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

• NASA has confirmed that one of its greatest ever missions, Voyager 1, is back in business with communications restored following an incident in October that had led to the veteran spacefarer losing its voice. When engineers commanded Voyager 1 to switch on one of its heaters to give the instruments a gentle thermal massage, a safety feature was tripped because of low power levels. It automatically switched off non-essential systems. The fault protection system took it upon itself to switch off the main X-band transmitter and activate the lower-power S-band transmitter instead. Because of the great distance between Voyager 1 and Earth, however, transmissions on the S-band antenna could not be heard by NASA’s Deep Space Network, meaning that Voyager 1 had effectively fallen silent. NASA engineers were able to resolve the problem early in November, and X-band communication resumed on Nov. 18, with the spacecraft once again returning data from its four remaining instruments. Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-336-Voyager-1. [ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]
• In addition to all the AMSAT OSCAR-7 publicity in the news this few weeks, AMSAT also received nice exposure about the ARISS program putting kids in contact with astronauts. Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-336-ISS. [ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]

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 [dot] org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

In this edition:

• AMSAT AO-7 to Celebrate 50th Anniversary
• AMSAT 42nd Space Symposium Presentations Now Available
• Back to Basics: What is the CubeSat Launch Initiative?
• VUCC Satellite Standing for November 2024
• FO-29 November Operating Schedule
• Telemetry Reports Wanted for Upcoming ASRTU-1 Satellite Launch
• Voyager 1 Resorts to Transmitter that Hasn’t Been Used Since 1981
• Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 1, 2024
• 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 http://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 [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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-308 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Nov 03

AMSAT AO-7 to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

It has often been reported that the oldest satellites still working in space are the space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyagers were both launched in 1977 to take advantage of the planetary alignment called, back then, the “Grand Tour”. Their images changed the human vision of our solar system.

But, are they really the oldest, still functional spacecraft in outer space? What if we include spacecraft that remained behind in Earth Orbit? Is it even believable that the oldest still working satellite in space wasn’t even designed or operated by NASA, USAF, ESA or any other space agency? What if this satellite was designed by Radio Amateurs and the final assembly occurred in a basement laboratory not far from Goddard Space Flight Center?

Then all things considered, AO-7, a SmallSat launched on November 15, 1974 is the oldest working satellite and is still providing service to hundreds of Amateur Radio operators around the world. In its first life, AO-7 lived a very healthy lifetime of 6.5 years. Not to over-state the case, AO-7 outlived both its commercial and government co-passengers launched by Delta-104.

In late 1980, AO-7’s poor, abused, NiCad battery began to show serious signs of increased series resistance. This was a sure sign to AMSAT command stations that the end was in sight. The cells had been originally matched for capacity by NASA. And, indeed the cells all failed within a matter of weeks of one another.

AO-7 stayed asleep for 21 years, to the nearest month. Then one day AO-7 woke up again. This was only possible if something caused an open circuit in the battery.

A very active user of AO-7, Pat Gowain, G3IOR, from the UK, made a telephone call to Perry Klein, W3PK, (first AMSAT President and designer of the VHF/HF transponder). This was on June 21, 2002. Pat wondered if we had launched a new LEO spacecraft? He was hearing Morse Code Telemetry again on the old beacon frequency of AO-7. He played Perry a tape recording. It sure sounded like AO-7 telemetry!

Many radio amateurs who were satellite enthusiasts very quickly began to observe the signals from AO-7 and the second life of the “Sleeping Beauty” of satellites began.

Over the next three weeks in November AMSAT News Service will honor this historic achievement with a series of short articles highlighting the life of AMSAT OSCAR 7. In the meantime be sure to visit a special page on the AMSAT website where you will find a collection of AO-7 articles and links at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-ao-7-a-fifty-year-anniversary/.

[ANS thanks Jan King, W3GEY, AMSAT AO-7 Project Manager for the above information.]

The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club coins are here now!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

AMSAT 42nd Space Symposium Presentations Now Available

The fifteen live presentations given at the recent AMSAT 42nd Space Symposium are now available online for viewing. The URL’s for presentations on Day 1 and Day 2 are shown along with the approximate timeline for each presentation.

Also available is the Symposium Banquet keynote address by Brian Abbott, NA7D, and the AMSAT General Meeting conducted by AMSAT President Robert Bankston, KE4AL.

Day 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdhYXX9AXlI

AMSAT-UK Payload on Jovian-1 CubeSat
David Bowman, G0MRF
0:00:58

CARD-SAT®: A Step Forward for Satellite Miniaturization
Adrian Totu, YO3HOT
0:58:15

Working QO-100 from Beyond the Nominal Footprint
Graham Shirville, G3VZV
1:18:55

AMSAT & ARISS Over the Past 40 Years
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
2:01:20

MO-122 (MESAT1) Commissioning Recap
Mark Hammond, N8MH
2:35:05

AMSAT-HB Update
Michael Lipp, HB9WD
3:08:05

Fox Plus Update
Mike Moore, K4MVM
3:24:45

Day 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G64Zm7rEmi0

AMSAT CubeSatSim Education Update and Software Overview
Alan Johnston, KU2Y
0:00:48

Integration of the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator for Education and Research
Rachel Jones, KO4HLC
0:44:00

ARISS Engineering Update – ISS, Lunar, and Commercial Activities
Randy Berger, WA0D
1:47:00

Automation and Remote Control of the Inter-Operable Radio System (IORS) on the ISS
Chris Thompson, VE2TCP/G0KLA
2:51:56

Getting Ready to Receive HamTV from the ISS
Graham Shirville, G3VZV
3:36:00

GOLF-TEE Flight Software and Bus Overview
Burns Fisher, WB1FJ
4:22:55

Determination of Orbiting Spacecraft Space Vectors Solely from In-flight Position Measurements
Joseph DiVerdi, K0NMR
5:20:00

AMSAT Engineering Update
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
6:02:00

AMSAT Annual General Meeting & Awards Ceremony
Robert Bankston, KE4AK, AMSAT President
7:15:30

Banquet Keynote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-pQmr97KA
Brent Abbott, NA7D, Chief Revenue Officer , Rogue Space
0:00:45

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

Back to Basics: What is the CubeSat Launch Initiative?

(Editor’s note: In this avocation, we sometimes toss around acronyms or titles with scant understanding of what they stand for. From time to time, ANS will offer short articles that can help up better understand the vocabulary of amateur satellites.)

The CubeSat Launch Initiative, or CSLI, is a NASA initiative that provides opportunities for qualified CubeSats to fly as auxiliary payloads on future launches that have excess capacity or as deployments from the International Space Station (ISS). In very simple terms that means that NASA will cover the cost of providing a CubeSat a ride to space in exchange for a report on the results of that CubeSat’s investigation.

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative provides opportunities for CubeSats built by U.S. educational institutions, and non-profit organizations, including informal educational institutions such as museums and science centers to fly on upcoming launches. Through innovative technology partnerships NASA provides these CubeSat developers a low cost pathway to conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations in space, thus enabling students, teachers, and faculty to obtain hands-on flight hardware design, development, and build experience.

CSLI provides a low-cost platform for NASA science missions, including planetary exploration, Earth observation, and fundamental Earth and space science. These efforts are a cornerstone in the development of cutting-edge NASA enabling technologies including laser communications, next generation avionics approaches, power generation, distributive sensor systems, satellite-to-satellite communications, and autonomous movement. Leveraging these missions for collaboration optimizes NASA’s technology investments, fosters open innovation, and facilitates technology infusion. CubeSat missions are enabling the acceleration of flight-qualified technology assistance in raising Technology Readiness Levels, which aligns to NASA’s objective of advancing the Nation’s capabilities by maturing cross-cutting innovative space technologies.

About half of all CSLI missions are conducting scientific investigations, most frequently Space Weather and Earth Science. Specific science investigation areas include: biological science, study of near Earth objects, climate change, snow/ice coverage, orbital debris, planetary science, space-based astronomy, and heliophysics. Sixty-six percent of all CSLI missions are conducting technology development or demonstrations. Communications, propulsion, navigation and control, and radiation testing lead the topics in this area. Other notable technologies are solar sails, additive manufacturing, femtosatellites, and smart phone satellites. The low cost of development for a CubeSat allows for conducting higher risk activities that would not be possible on large-scale NASA missions.

What is the difference between CSLI and ELaNa?

NASA’s Launch Services Program manifests CSLI payloads with a variety of launch providers. Each launch with manifested CSLI payloads is called an ELaNa mission (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) and is given an ELaNa mission number (e.g., ELaNa 49, ELaNa 50). Simply put, CSLI is the payload and ELaNa is the ride.

To be eligible for CSLI, a CubeSat investigation must be of clear benefit to NASA by supporting at least one goal or objective stated in the NASA Strategic Plan. This plan can be found on NASA’s Web site http://www.nasa.gov.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information.]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

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

https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for October 1, 2024 to November 1, 2024.

DF2ET 1500 1602
KF7R 1154 1175
HB9AOF 743 907
W8LR 887 888
IK3ITB 604 800
N7ZO 650 669
N6UTC 600 651
F6GLJ 501 609
JA1GZK 500 575
HB9GWJ 514 553
DJ7NT 348 432
SP5ULN 156 404
JF3MKC 275 280
W6IA 246 278
WA3YDZ New 271
IC8TEM New 147
YB1RQX/P New 100

Congratulations to the new VUCC Satellite holders.
YB1RQX is first VUCC Satellite holder from OJ21

DXCC Satellite has still not been updated since May

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ for the above information.]

FO-29 November Operating Schedule

FO-29 will be turned on at the following times in November and will remain active following each activation until the satellite’s under-voltage control (UVC) disables the transmitter. The estimated time (UTC) to turn on the analog transmitter are as follows:

2nd 02:10?
3rd 03:00?
4th 02:05?
9th 02:45?
10th 01:50?
16th 01:35?
17th 02:24?
23rd 02:09?
24th 01:15?
30th 02:43?

[ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information.]

Telemetry Reports Wanted for Upcoming ASRTU-1 Satellite Launch

The LilacSat team is seeking for first day telemetry reception stations all over the world, especially in Europe and Africa.

ASRTU-1 (BJ2CR / RS64S) satellite is planned for a Soyuz 2.1b launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome. Separation is expected on November 5, 2024 at approximately 03:36 UTC.

The satellite carries a V/U FM repeater, UHF SSDV and 10G hi-res image downlink.

The telemetry downlink frequency is 435.400 MHz, 9600bd BPSK. A SDR dongle or a rig that supports bandwidth > 12kHz IF output (e.g. IC-705 or IC-9700) is required.

LiveCD for decode can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-308-ASRTU-1.

The preliminary TLE is shown below:

ASRTU-1
1 00000U 24001A 24310.15069444 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00014
2 00000 097.3998 174.6627 0017604 130.9343 144.0104 15.26720093000011

A special QSL card is planned for first day telemetry reports.

Follow the project at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/530294498525868/?multi_permalinks=913084726913508&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP – Operations for the above information.]

Voyager 1 Resorts to Transmitter that Hasn’t Been Used Since 1981

Following recent communication issues, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft resorted to using a backup radio transmitter that has been inactive since 1981.

The interstellar explorer experienced a brief pause in communications after putting itself in a protective state to conserve power. This was triggered by a command sent on Oct. 16 instructing the spacecraft to turn on one of its heaters.

The mission’s flight team first realized there was an issue with Voyager 1 on Oct. 18, when the spacecraft failed to respond to that command. The team later discovered that the spacecraft had turned off its primary X-band radio transmitter and instead switched over to its secondary S-band radio transmitter, which uses less power, according to a statement from NASA. The transmitter shut-off seems to have been prompted by the spacecraft’s fault protection system, which autonomously responds to onboard issues.

The spacecraft’s fault protection system switched to the S-band radio transmitter, which, prior to that date, hadn’t been used since 1981. Given the spacecraft is located much farther away in interstellar space today than it was 43 years ago, the flight team was not sure a signal on the S-band frequency could be detected — especially because it transmits a significantly fainter signal while using less power.

A command was sent to the S-band transmitter on Oct. 22. Two days later, on Oct. 24, the team was finally able to reconnect with Voyager 1.

Voyager 1, which launched in 1977. Its time in deep space has taken a toll on its instruments and caused an increasing number of technical issues. Earlier this year, the team had to fix a separate communications glitch that was causing the spacecraft to transmit gibberish. Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-308-Voyager.

[ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your 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

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 1, 2024

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/.

The following satellites have been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

UVSQ-SAT NORAD Cat ID 43758 Decayed from orbit on or about 26 October 2024
TianYi 6 NORAD Cat ID 43158 Decayed from orbit on or about 18 October 2024

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

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.

Upcoming Contacts

Instituto Privado Rivadavia, Alderetes, Tucuman, Argentina, direct via LU5KHF.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor is Brian Jackson, VE6JBJ.
Contact is go for Monday, November 4, 2024 at 13:02 UTC.

Scuola Primaria “Bandello”, Castelnuovo Scrivia, Italy, telebridge via VK6MJ.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor is Ferrario Gianpietro, IZ2GOJ.
Contact is go for Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 07:56 UTC.

Completed Contacts

Coastal Community School, Satellite Beach, FL, direct via KD4GPI.
The ISS callsign was NA1SS.
The crewmember ass Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor was Charlie Sufana, AJ9N.
Contact was successful on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 13:42 UTC.

Colegio Parroquial el Salvador, Yerba Buena, Argentina, direct via LU5KHF.
The ISS callsignwas NA1SS.
The crewmember was Don Pettit, KD5MDT
The ARISS mentor was Brian Jackson, VE6JBJ.
Contact was successful on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 15:32 UTC.

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.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

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

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

There are no operations listed.

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.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager, and Alex Ners, K6VHF, for the above information.]

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.

November 9, 2024
Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club
Marana Middle School
11285 West Grier Rd.
Marana, AZ 85653
https://www.tucsonhamradio.org/copy-of-hamfest-2022
N1UW

February 14-15, 2005
Yuma Hamfest & ARRL Southwestern Division Convention
Yuma County Fairgrounds
https://www.yumahamfest.com/
N1UW

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

For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

• As millions of people around the world celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams radioed home a message of festive cheer. “I want to extend my warmest wishes for a Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating the festival of lights today at the White House and around the world,” Williams said in a recent video message sent from the International Space Station. Speaking from the ISS’ window-filled cupola with Earth as her backdrop, Williams, who is an American with Indian heritage, spoke about her father’s efforts to keep Indian culture alive after he migrated to the United States in 1957. She also touched upon the symbolism of Diwali — the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and hope over despair. “Diwali is a time of joy as goodness in the world prevails,” she said. [ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]
• In a few years, as part of the Artemis Program, NASA will begin the creation of permanent infrastructure that will allow for regular missions to the surface (once a year) and a sustained program of lunar exploration and development. In a recent NASA-supported study, a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated a new method of sending spacecraft to the Moon. It is known as “multimode propulsion,” a method that integrates a high-thrust chemical mode and a low-thrust electric mode – while using the same propellant. To break it down, a multimode thruster relies on a single chemical monopropellant – like hydrazine or Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT) propellant – to power chemical thrusters and an electrospray thruster (aka. colloid thruster). The latter element relies on a process known as electrospray ionization (ESI), where charged liquid droplets are produced and accelerated by a static electric field. Electrospray thrusters were first used in space aboard the ESA’s LISA Pathfinder mission to demonstrate disturbance reduction. By developing a system that can switch as needed, satellites will be able to perform propulsive manuevers using less propellant, thus requiring fewer fuel transfers. Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-308-Propulsion. [ANS thanks UniverseToday.com for the above information.]
• Has orbital debris gone out of control? In 1978, NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais proposed a scenario where the density of objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) would be high enough that collisions between objects would cause a cascade effect. In short, these collisions would create debris that would result in more collisions, more debris, and so on. This came to be known as the Kessler Syndrome, something astronomers, scientists, and space environmentalists have feared for many decades. In recent years, and with the deployment of more satellites than ever, the warning signs have become undeniable. Currently, there is an estimated 13,000 metric tons (14,330 US tons) of “space junk” in LEO. With the breakup and another satellite in orbit – the Intelsat 33e satellite – the situation will only get worse. Read the full report at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-208-Debris. [ANS thanks UniverseToday.com for the above information.]

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 [dot] org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

In this edition:

• MESAT1 Designated MESAT1-OSCAR 122 (MO-122)
• ARISS Slow Scan TV Transmissions Begin Tuesday
• SDRplay Announces the nRSP-ST Networked Receiver
• VUCC Satellite Standing October 2024
• Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for October 4, 2024
• 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 http://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 [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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-280 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 OCT 06

MESAT1 Designated MESAT1-OSCAR 122 (MO-122)

On July 4, 2024 at 04:04 UTC, the MESAT1 satellite was launched on a Firefly Alpha launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Developed by the University of Maine, the satellite carries an earth imaging experiment and an AMSAT-provided LTM-1 linear transponder to provide services to amateur radio enthusiasts around the world. The satellite has been commissioned and the transponder is currently active.

At the request of University of Maine, AMSAT hereby designates MESAT1 as MESAT1-OSCAR 122 (MO-122). We congratulate the University of Maine, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP – Operations and OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information]

The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club coins are here now!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

ARISS Slow Scan TV Transmissions Begin Tuesday

ARISS is planning a Slow Scan Television (SSTV) experiment from the International Space Station, scheduled to start on Tuesday, October 8, at 16:00 GMT and running until Monday, October 14, at 14:10 GMT.

There will be an interruption on Friday, October 11, for planned school contacts over Europe.

The transmission frequency will be 145.800 MHz FM, using SSTV mode PD120. The ISS callsign will be RS0ISS.

The SSTV transmissions will be made using the station in the Russian ISS Service Module. The equipment used is a Kenwood D710 transceiver running about 25 watts output which provides a very strong signal enabling reception using simple equipment. Images received by amateurs world-wide during previous transmissions can be seen at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV.

Amateurs can receive the SSTV pictures directly from the space station by connecting the audio output of their two-meter transceiver via a simple interface to the soundcard on a Windows PC or an Apple iOS device. On Windows PC’s the free application MMSSTV can be used to decode the signal, on Apple iOS devices you can use the SSTV app for compatible modes. For Linux systems try QSSTV.

The ISS puts out a strong signal so even a 2M handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it but one’s chances of success are significantly improved with the use of a handheld beam antenna. The FM transmission uses 5 kHz deviation which is standard in much of the world. Many FM rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM. Handhelds all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

Reports are requested: please send ARISS uploading your decoded pictures in the official ARISS SSTV gallery: https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/

Useful information to receive the pictures can be found here at https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

Follow ARISS on X for official updates during the event https://x.com/ARISS_Intl.

[ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK for the above information.]

Registration Deadline Looms for 42nd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting

The 42nd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday through Saturday, October 25-26, 2024, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront in Tampa, Florida.

Highlights of all scheduled events include:

AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting, October 24-25
42nd AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, October 25-26
Friday Night Social and Auction, October 25
AMSAT Banquet and Reception, October 26
AMSAT Ambassador Breakfast (all are welcome), October 27

If you are interested in presenting or submitting a paper for inclusion in the Symposium Proceedings, please see https://www.amsat.org/2024-symposium/call-for-papers-2024.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for Symposium registrations if you want to include the Saturday evening banquet or Sunday breakfast is Friday, October 18th. Meals cannot be ordered after that date. Register now at https://launch.amsat.org/event-5833792.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

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

https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

SDRplay Announces the nRSP-ST Networked Receiver

SDRplay Limited has announced the imminent launch of the nRSP-ST, an all-in-one, plug-and-play networked SDR receiver. The nRSP-ST was demonstrated publicly for the first time at the UK National Hamfest this week.

(Editors Note: AMSAT News Service does not typically run new product announcements, but the nRSP-ST seems to provide satellite enthusiasts and operators with a radically new opportunity to deploy multiple stations to collect telemetry over wide-spread areas. This announcement does not constitute an endorsement by ANS.)

This SDR addresses the needs of radio enthusiasts who want a plug-and-play solution for remote reception. In addition to providing this functionality, SDRPlay claims to have addressed typical internet bandwidth limitations with the creation of a novel “IQ Lite” mode, which delivers channels of IQ data more efficiently. The device also introduces the ability to control and store IQ recordings at the remote location. SDRPlay thinks the nRSP-ST will be ideal for anyone wanting a wideband remote receiver without needing computer skills and hours of set-up time and ongoing maintenance at the remote location.

The nRSP-ST key features include:

• A truly “plug and play” integrated, networked general coverage receiver that combines a receiver, a host computer and other functionality in one box. Apply power and connect to the internet (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and the nRSP-ST is automatically accessible.
• The 14-bit ADC full featured wideband SDR receiver covers all frequencies from 1kHz through VLF, LF, MW, HF, VHF, UHF and L-band to 2GHz with no gaps.
• Remotely monitoring of up to 10MHz of spectrum at a time from a choice of 3 antennas.
• Multi-platform SDRconnectTM software that supports local operation or remote access on Windows, MacOS or Linux platforms.
• Supports multiple client connections with a simultaneous mixture of connection modes.
• All modes support visualization of up to 10MHz spectrum bandwidth.
• Two remote connection options: use a remote SDRconnect client or use the built-in web-server for remote access from any web browsing capable device, including Android/iOS tablets and phones.
• The ability to record IQ and audio files to a NAS (network attached storage) device if available on the LAN.
• Flash upgradable for future feature enhancements.
• The nRSP-ST with SDRconnectTM is configurable for whatever network bandwidth is available:

• In “Full IQ” mode, the nRSP-ST provides IQ data transfer of the visible spectrum bandwidth (e.g.for high-speed LAN or superfast internet connectivity).
• In “IQ Lite” mode, the nRSP-ST provides IQ data of channels up to 192kHz wide (e.g. for digital decoding by the client).
• In “Compact” mode the nRSP-ST provides compressed audio (ideal for slower internet connections).

SDRPlay is aiming to launch the nRSP-ST in the Fall of 2024 with a price of under $500 USD. More information is available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-280-nRSP-ST

[ANS thanks rtl-sdr.com for the above information.]

VUCC Satellite Standing October 2024

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for September 01, 2024 to October 01, 2024.

K8DP 1701 1737
WI7P 1078 1104
JK2XXK 1036 1086
JN2QCV 908 1016
EA2AA 982 1011
W8LR 859 887
JS1LQI 701 808
N8MR 731 755
KS1G 703 754
LY4AA 555 670
XE2YWH 118 595
W9FF 450 525
KO9A 472 524
VA3VGR 352 509
HP2VX 500 508
KA9CFD 283 500
N6PAZ 450 472
K4RGK 362 421
JE3HCZ 103 410
NJ2DX 365 404
K3HPA 300 350
SP7JS 207 253
RA0FF New 211
W2HRO New 192
DH0GSU 152 156
AE5AU 101 153
XE2YWH (DL82 – D 114 119
XE2YWH (DL82) 114 119
YC1RIK New 114
N5YIZ New 100
W4XP New 100

Congratulations to the new VUCC Satellite holders.
RA0FF is first VUCC Satellite holder from Asiatic Russia and QN16.
YC1RIK is first VUCC Satellite holder from OI33.

DXCC Satellite has still not been updated since May

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ for the above information.]

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your 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

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for October 4, 2024

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/.

The following satellite has been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

OreSat0 NORAD Cat ID 52017 Decayed from orbit on 29 September 2024.

MESAT1 has been redesignated as MO-122.

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

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.

Upcoming Contacts
School No. 2, Veliky Ustyug, Russia direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Ivan Vagner.
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR.
Contact is go for Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 10:50 UTC.

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tengku Ampuan Hajjah Afzan Pahang, Jerantut, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor is Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ.
Contact is go for: Monday, October 7, 2024 at 11:58 UTC.

European School of Varese, Varese, Italy, direct via IQ2XH.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor is Ferrario Gianpietro, IZ2GOJ.
Contact is go for: Friday, October 11, 2024 at 08:22 UTC.

Jaanimmarik Ilinniarvik School, Jaanimmarik Iliniavik, Kuujjuaq, QC, Canada, Telebridge via IK1SLD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Nick Hague, KG5TMV.
The ARISS mentor is Steven McFarlane, VE3TBD.
Contact is go for: Friday, October 11, 2024 at 13:13 UTC.

Greenville Jr HS, Greenville, IL, direct via AD9OV.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Don Pettit, KD5MDT.
The ARISS mentor is Gordon Scannell, KD8COJ.
Contact is go for Friday, October 11, 2024 at 14:32 UTC.

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.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

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

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

No operations listed.

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.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager, and Alex Ners, K6VHF, for the above information.]

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.

October 18-20, 2024
Pacificon 2024, ARRL Pacific Division Conference
San Ramon, CA
WUØI

October 25-27, 2004
AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
Double Tree Rocky Point Waterfront Hotel
Tampa Bay, FL

November 2-3, 2024
Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL State Convention
Stone Mountain, GA
https://stonemountainhamfest.com/
K4RGK

November 9, 2024
Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club
Marana Middle School
11285 West Grier Rd.
Marana, AZ 85653
https://www.tucsonhamradio.org/copy-of-hamfest-2022
N1UW

February 20-22, 2025
Yuma HAMCON
Yuma, AZ
N1UW

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

For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

• For those who missed the 2024 CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California last April, all recorded presentations are now available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/@cubesat5793/streams. CPCL is Cal Poly’s CubeSat laboratory where the CubeSat standard originated, and where the CubeSat Design Specification is maintained and published. In addition to providing the CDS, CPCL hosts the annual CubeSat Developer’s Workshop in San Luis Obispo, and provides a central point for CubeSat community resources. [ANS thanks cubesat.org for the above information.]
  
• The 2025 SmallSat Conference is scheduled for August 11-13, 2025 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The theme for the conference is Reaching New Horizons – New orbit. Same mission. Innovation and growing demand are driving the increased use of small satellites across a diverse global ecosystem. Both government and commercial sectors are pursuing proliferated networked constellations for global monitoring and connectivity. National space agencies and academia use small satellites for exploration, science, and fundamental research. The conference organizers have put out the first call for papers and for exhibitors. Abstracts are due by February 4 at 11:59 PM MT. More information is available at https://smallsat.org. [ANS thanks SmallSat.org for the above information.]
  
• SpaceX is pausing Falcon 9 launches again after the upper stage on the Crew-9 launch experienced an ‘off-nominal deorbit burn’ that led to missing its expected landing zone in the ocean—Crew-9, along with its two empty seats for stranded astronauts Williams and Wilmore, successfully reached the ISS without issue. [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.]

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 [dot] org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org