Dear AMSAT family and friends, We are excited to announce the second edition of the HB9RG Trophy!
Following its successful premiere, AMSAT-HB is pleased to continue this satellite competition in 2026. We cordially invite all interested radio amateurs, from seasoned experts to newcomers, to participate in this friendly challenge.
The HB9RG Trophy is designed to encourage activity on amateur radio satellites and provide an engaging experience for everyone in our community.
You can find all the necessary information, including the rules and schedule, at the following links:
The ITU Space Explorer gives you access to the Space Networks Systems Database of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU. The database contains Appendix 4 data of geostationary satellite filings, non-geostationary satellite filings and earth…
The ITU Space Explorer gives you access to the Space Networks Systems Database of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU. The database contains Appendix 4 data of geostationary satellite filings, non-geostationary satellite filings and earth…
The ITU Space Explorer gives you access to the Space Networks Systems Database of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU. The database contains Appendix 4 data of geostationary satellite filings, non-geostationary satellite filings and earth…
The ITU Space Explorer gives you access to the Space Networks Systems Database of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU. The database contains Appendix 4 data of geostationary satellite filings, non-geostationary satellite filings and earth…
Thailand’s KNACKSAT-2 satellite is preparing for deployment from the International Space Station, with release currently scheduled for February 3, 2026 at 08:55 UTC (03:55 AM EST). The mission continues Thailand’s university-led CubeSat development program following the earlier KNACKSAT-1 mission. The project is led by King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok in Thailand, working with domestic and international partners to advance satellite engineering, payload integration, and on-orbit operations. The deployment is expected to be viewable live online via the project livestream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB4PIOS-hSs.
KNACKSAT-2 was transported to the International Space Station in late 2025 and is a 3U CubeSat designed to host multiple payloads. The satellite expands on KNACKSAT-1, which demonstrated Thailand’s ability to design and build a satellite domestically. Development and testing were conducted in cooperation with NBSPACE and other academic and research partners. The mission is intended to help Thailand develop multi-payload CubeSat platforms and prepare for future ride-share launch opportunities.
The satellite carries both educational and research payloads. Non-amateur missions include an Earth imaging camera, a store-and-forward IoT data collection system for remote sensors, ultraviolet radiation measurement instrumentation, and in-orbit evaluation of space-qualified components. These payloads are part of broader national workforce development programs coordinated through the Thai Space Consortium and academic partner networks. The satellite will be operated in orbit using ground stations located in Thailand.
KNACKSAT-2 also supports amateur radio operations through an APRS digipeater payload developed in cooperation with the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand. The amateur payload operates using coordinated frequencies through the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) satellite frequency coordination process. The APRS digipeater system uses 145.825 MHz for uplink and downlink using FSK modulation at 9600 bps with AX.25 framing. The amateur satellite callsign assigned to the mission is HSØK.
In addition to amateur payloads, the spacecraft transmits engineering telemetry on 400.630 MHz using FSK at 9600 bps with AX.25 framing and a one-minute beacon interval. Following deployment, project coordinators have requested assistance from the monitoring community to receive, decode, and submit telemetry reports from the 400.630 MHz downlink, which is outside the amateur radio allocation. Many satellite observers actively search for newly deployed spacecraft and contribute reception reports, helping mission teams verify spacecraft health and early on-orbit performance. The satellite is expected to rotate in orbit, and ground stations are recommended to use circular polarization, with RHCP preferred, to improve reception reliability.
KNACKSAT-2 continues the growing trend of university-driven satellite programs contributing technical capability, education, and operational experience to the global amateur satellite community. University-built satellites are playing an increasing role in expanding access to space while supporting educational outreach and new opportunities for amateur radio experimentation.
The FO-29 Control team sometimes receives requests regarding the operation of Fuji No.3, but as they have already reported, more than a quarter of a century after its launch, the situation remains unstable. They regret that they are unable to operate Fuji No.3 in accordance with your wishes under these circumstances, and they ask for your understanding and continued use of her.
During February, the control team plans to send a command to turn on the transponder at the following times, but please be advised that if it is not turned on for more than 2 minutes after they start sending the command, they will terminate the command work.
2025 has progressed more or less as usual, with an HF net on 3740 kHz almost every Sunday. The biggest change is probably that SM4EFW has been forced, due to age, to move to different accommodation and has therefore gone QRT.
There are still a few of us left, but it is starting to look like this may be the last year we run a purely AMSAT net.
Lars SM0TGU:
Activities: On April 26, 2025, AMSAT-SM participated in SSA’s 100th anniversary celebration in Västerås and gave a well-received presentation. The presentation was recorded by SSA but is currently only available to SSA members.
In July, we submitted a comment to the FCC (USA) opposing the proposal by “AST & Science” to use the entire 70 cm band for their communication satellites. This was noted, among others, by the AMSAT-NA News Bulletin.
In August, AMSAT-SM sent an open letter to several manufacturers of amateur radio handheld transceivers (HTs), proposing the production of a full-duplex model with good filtering between UHF and VHF. One manufacturer responded and was, for a period, willing to develop a new model, but this fell through because the manufacturer required a pre-order of several hundred units, which is impossible since AMSAT-SM is not a reseller. This was also highlighted by the AMSAT-NA News Bulletin. On X.com, this post became AMSAT-SM’s most read and shared ever (over 7,000 views).
During the autumn, we held a contest in which we raffled off a VHF/UHF Yagi from FW Cubelabs in Spain. The winner was Jan Emanuelsson SM7KOJ.
In November, we held a formally minuted steering group meeting. We adjusted some guidelines to better align with current activities.
Membership status: Five (5) new members joined during 2025. The current number of registered members is 321. During the year, we removed automatic registration due to excessive spam registrations. New member handling is now done manually.
X.com: Via X.com, we continue to see strong growth in followers – currently (January 9, 2026) 2,654 followers compared to 2,271 followers at the end of 2025. This makes us one of the AMSAT groups with the largest number of followers. X.com continues to be AMSAT-SM’s primary information channel together with the website.
Website: In connection with the antenna contest during the autumn, we took the opportunity to ask how our website could be improved. This resulted in several sections of the website being adjusted. A new article on how to get started listening to satellites will also be produced in early 2026. It is also intended that this article will be published in QTC. The cost of the website continues to be sponsored by Lars SM0TGU.
Finances: AMSAT-SM has approximately SEK 32,000 in the account. During 2025, Lars Malmrud SM5TSP also carried out an audit without remarks, which we appreciate.
—
In Swedish
Dags att summera AMSAT-SM aktivitet för 2025:
Håkan SM7WSJ:
2025 har rullat på ungefär som vanligt med ett HF nät på 3740 kHz så gott som varje söndag. Största förändringen är antagligen att vår gamla trotjänare SM4EFW varit tvungen att välja ett annat boende på grund av ålder och därmed QRT.
Vi är fortfarande några kvar men det börjar luta mot att det kan bli sista året vi kör ett rent Amsat nät.
Lars SM0TGU:
Aktiviteter: Den 26:e april 2025 var AMSAT-SM på SSAs 100-årsjubileum i Västerås och höll ett uppskattat föredrag. Föredraget spelades in av SSA men är just nu endast tillgängligt om man är medlem i SSA.
I juli lade vi en kommentar hos FCC (USA) mot “AST & Science” förslag att använda hela 70cm-bandet för deras kommunikationssatelliter. Detta uppmärksammades bla. av AMSAT-NA nyhetsbulletin.
I augusti skickade AMSAT-SM ett öppet brev till ett flertal tillverkare av amatörradio handapparater (HTs) med ett förslag att tillverka en full duplex modell med bra filtrering mellan UHF och VHF. En tillverkare hörde av sig och var under en period villig att utveckla en ny modell men det föll på att tillverkaren krävde en förbeställning på flera hundra exemplar, vilket är omöjligt då AMSAT-SM inte är en återförsäljare. Även detta uppmärksammades av AMSAT-NA nyhetsbulletin. På X.com blev detta inlägg AMSAT-SMs mest lästa och delade någonsin (över 7000 har läst inlägget).
Under hösten hade vi en tävling där vi lottade ut en VHU/UHF yagi från FW Cubelabs i Spanien. Vinnare blev Jan Emanuelsson SM7KOJ.
I november hade vi ett protokollfört styrgruppsmöte. Vi justerade några riktlinjer för att anpassa till rådande verksamhet.
Medlemsstatus: Fem (5) nya medlemmar har tillkommit under 2025. Aktuella registrerade medlemmar är 321 st. Under året har vi tagit bort den automatiska registreringen pga. för många spam-registreringar. Hanteringen av nya medlemmar görs nu manuellt.
X.com: Via X.com har vi en fortsatt stark ökning av följare – just nu (9 jan 2026) 2654 följare jämfört med 2271 följare i slutet av 2025. Det gör oss till en av de AMSAT-grupper med flest följare. X.com fortsätter att vara AMSAT-SM huvudsakliga informationskanal tillsammans med hemsidan.
Hemsidan: I samband med antenntävlingen under hösten passade vi på att fråga hur vår hemsida kunde förbättras. Detta fick till resultat att ett antal delar på hemsidan justerades. En ny artikel om hur man börjar lyssna på satelliter kommer också att tas fram under början av 2026. Det är även tänkt att denna ska publiceras i QTC. Kostnaden för hemsidan fortsätter att sponsras av Lars SM0TGU.
Ekonomi:
AMSAT-SM har ca 32 000 kr i kassan. Under 2025 har även Lars Malmrud SM5TSP gjort en revision utan anmärkning vilket vi uppskattar.
Webbstatistik:
Som vanligt har vi ett stigande besöksantal jämfört med året innan. Nedan är de tre senaste åren.
TinyGS @tiny__GS is an open network of Ground Stations distributed around the world to receive and operate LoRa satellites, weather probes and other flying objects, using cheap and versatile modules. The project is based on the popular ESP32 boards.
The difference from the SatNOGS network is that you can only use the ESP32 LoRa boards with specific frequency range but on the other hand it is much more simple to setup.
So is this amateur radio with satellites? No, not at all, but it is a fun and very simple way to start listening on UHF satellites and maybe some can get interested in ham radio after setting up a station.
This is the way I set up everything and did my first test. It is not a full instruction, you can found everything you need at the TinyGS wiki:
First order a LoRa32 module. 433 MHz is the most used frequency so order that one. Note that the module also covers 400 MHz. I got mine from LILYGO official store on AliExpress.
In order to register on TinyGS you need to have a Telegram account. So register and join the TinyGS community.
Still waiting for the LoRa32 module? Then read the TinyGS wiki and be prepared before the installation.
When you get the LoRa32 module, go to https://installer.tinygs.com/ and just follow the instructions on that page. I followed Automatic Setup that includes how to setup a new station. If everything works fine you get this message:
I recommend that you change the admin password of the station dashboard to your own. Note! I have problem changing the password and it seams like the default password is 12345678 You can find it via the User Console -> Click on you station -> Click on the IP-address (Local IP) and then -> Configure parameters
If you have a TTGO LoRA 32 v2 you have to change the board type. According to the wiki: “…if you have this board, probably it is not detected automatically and you have to select it on the config panel manually. If you don’t do so the Lora communication will not work.”
Connect the LoRa board to an antenna. I just connected it to my UHF Yagi. Then wait a while to see if you get any data from satellites…
Hopefully in the next hours you will see that you have received satellites data!
