Categories
Hamradio from ISS

ARISS News 2025-12-01

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.

Successful Contacts

South-West State University, Kursk, Russia, direct via UB3WCL.
The ISS callsign was RSØISS.
The crewmember was Sergey Ryzhikov.
The ARISS mentor was A.R.C. ENERGIA, RV3DR.
Contact was successful on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 14:54 UTC.

Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow, Russia direct via R2AS.
The ISS callsign was RSØISS.
The crewmember was Oleg Platonov
The ARISS mentor was A.R.C. ENERGIA, RV3DR.
Contact was successful on Mon 2025-11-24 14:56 UTC.

Upcoming Contacts

Lincoln Magnet School, Springfield, Illinois, direct via K9OK.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Jonathan (Jonny) Kim, KJ5HKP.
The ARISS mentor is Charlie Sufana.AJ9N.
Contact is go for Friday, December 5, 2025 at 15:29 UTC.

Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev, Moscow, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
The ARISS mentor is A.R.C. ENERGIA, RV3DR.
Contact is go for Friday, December 5, 2025 at 11:00 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.]

Categories
Ham Satellite news

CatSat 10 GHz Downlink – Successful Reception

Re-post from ANS-327:

Mike Seguin, N1JEz, reports the successful reception of the University of Arizona’s CatSat’s 10 GHz downlink on 10.47 GHz on the morning of November 21, 2025. The satellite’s  linear transponder uses 10 GHz down and 5 GHz up. More information is available at https://catsat.arizona.edu/

Mike reports that signals were quite good in FN34xn in Vermont! His next step is to try the uplink on 5 GHz on 5.663 GHz.

Below is a link to a portion of the pass. It is an I&Q file recorded with HDSDR using the Winrad format.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15cuuhi-U5WDkVjiKHJeuP_argBhH0Cpz/view?usp=drive_link

Congrats to the CatSat team!!

Categories
Ham Satellite news SDR and software

SkyRoof SDR satellite software

SkyRoof is a Windows application for Hams and satellite enthusiasts by Alex Shovkoplyas VE3NEA.

The main features of SkyRoof are:

  • detailed information about all satellites that transmit in the Ham bands;
  • satellite tracking in real time;
  • pass prediction for the selected satellites;
  • visual representation of the current satellite position and future passes, using:
    • Sky View – the view of the sky from your location;
    • Earth View – the view of the Earth from the satellite;
    • Time Line – the satellite passes on the time scale;
    • Pass List – the details of the predicted passes;
  • SDR-based waterfall display that covers the whole satellite segments on the VHF and UHF bands, with zoom and pan;
  • SDR-based SSB/CW/FM receiver with RIT and Doppler tracking;
  • audio and I/Q output to external programs via VAC or UDP;
  • frequency scale with satellite names and transponder segments, Doppler-corrected;
  • CAT control of an external transceiver;
  • antenna rotator control.

Download at https://ve3nea.github.io/SkyRoof/

Categories
Members news

Notes from steering group meeting 2025-11-18

Notes from the AMSAT-SM steering group meeting 2025-11-18:

General meetings:

The guidelines previously stated that a general meeting could be convened if one tenth of the members requested it. In practice, this is impossible to carry out, as it would mean that at least 30 members would have to jointly request a meeting (since we currently have over 300 registered members).
The steering group decided to remove this point from our guidelines.

Audit:

Updated 2025-11-21:
We will continue with Lars SM5TSP as auditor for the time being.

No audit has been carried out since AMSAT-SM was transformed into a group. The steering group therefore decided to set the auditor position to vacant. Part of point 4 in the guidelines has been changed to the following:
“A person outside the steering group may have a role corresponding to an auditor (currently vacant). That person may conduct an audit if needed.”

AMSAT-SM’s finances remain strong, and the balance is about 32,000 SEK. We have extremely few fixed expenses, essentially only the cost of the domain www.amsat.se.

Our guidelines can be found here:
https://www.amsat.se/styrgrupp-riktlinjer/

The steering group consists of:

Satellite Officer SSA, responsible for the HF network
Håkan Harrysson – SM7WSJ

Financial Manager
Inge Björk – SM4JLX

Responsible for information, web, and social media. ARISS contact person
Lars Thunberg – SM0TGU


AMSAT-SM styrgrupp har ikväll (2025-11-19) haft ett kortare möte och beslutat om följande:

Allmänt möte:


I riktlinjerna stod det att allmänt möte kan sammankallas om en tiondel av medlemmarna så kräver. Denna formulering var en rest från AMSAT-SMs gamla föreningsstadgar. I praktiken är detta omöjligt att genomföra då det skulle innebära att minst 30 st medlemmar måste gemensamt kräva ett möte (då vi idag har över 300 registrerade medlemmar).
Styrgruppen beslutade att ta bort denna punkt från våra riktlinjer.

Revision:

Uppdaterat 2025-11-21:
Vi kommer att fortsätta med Lars SM5TSP som revisor tills vidare.

Ingen revision har genomförts sedan AMSAT-SM omvandlades till grupp. Styrgruppen beslutade därför att sätta revisorsposten till vakant. Del av punkt 4 i riktlinjerna har ändrats till följande:
“En person utanför styrgruppen kan ha en roll motsvarande revisor (för närvarande vakant). Den personen kan göra revision vid behov.”
AMSAT-SM ekonomi är fortfarande stark och kassan är på ca 32 000:-   Vi har extremt få fasta utgifter, i stort sett endast kostnad för domänen www.amsat.se

Våra riktlinjer finns här:
https://www.amsat.se/styrgrupp-riktlinjer/

Styrgruppen består av:

Satellitfunktionär SSA, ansvarig för HF-nätet
Håkan Harrysson – SM7WSJ

Ekonomiansvarig
Inge Björk – SM4JLX

Ansvarig för information, web och sociala medier. ARISS kontaktperson
Lars Thunberg – SM0TGU



73 från styrgruppen i AMSAT-SM
www.amsat.se 

Categories
Ham Satellite news

Funkamateur mentions AMSAT-SM’s letter to manufacturer

Thank you to Funkamateur and Andreas Bilsing (DM4TG) for mentioning AMSAT-SM’s letter to amateur radio manufacturers regarding developing a full duplex handheld radio.

Unfortunately the result of out open letter is so far… nothing.

Categories
Antennas

Homebrew Satellite Antenna Elevation Systems

Commercial elevation rotators are expensive and a major investment for many amateur radio operators. If you have the interest and the time, there are several possibilities for building your own elevation rotator.

If you search on Google, there are a number of projects available. Here are a few examples:

SatNOGS Rotator v3

Maybe one of the most famous projects from the SatNOGS community.
https://wiki.satnogs.org/SatNOGS_Rotator_v3

Sarcnet Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk1

Lots of instructions, pictures and design notes.
https://www.sarcnet.org/rotator-mk1.html

N6LN Antenna Rotator/Controller

A a homebrew azimuth/elevation antenna rotator for amateur radio satellite by N6LN, basic configuration was suggested by DO5TY (see below).

DIY AZ/EL Antenna rotator for under 150€

https://tysonpower.de/blog/diy-az-el-antenna-rotator-for-under-150

Also on Youtube:

VK4GHZ Homebrew Satellite Antenna Elevation System

This is a elevation build only.
https://vk4ghz.com/homebrew-satellite-elevation-system/

Saveitforparts DIY Satellite Tracking

A tracker partly built on SARCNET version.
https://saveitforparts.com/2024/03/10/a-cheap-diy-satellite-tracking-mount/

KA6PUW Azimuth/Elevation Rotator for Arrow Satellite Antennas

A tracker mainly built for the Arrow yagi:
https://ka6puw.tripod.com/azimuth1.html

Pawel Rozenek SARCNET version

A SARCNET version from Pawel Rozenek.
https://www.rozenek.com/working-through-amateur-satellites-how-to-make-a-very-cheap-antenna-rotator/