AMSAT-SM - Official Website of AMSAT-SM SwedenWebmaster and member of the AMSAT-SM steering group.
As a request from our swedish webpage visitors the need for basic articles for beginners in swedish need to be improved and to be more easy to find on the webpage. Now it is possible to enter our “For beginners” page (“För nybörjare” in swedish) from several menus. See image.
As the need for articles in swedish are high most of these articles is in swedish. For english please visit AMSAT-NA or AMSAT-UK.
Re-post from ANS-313:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will commemorate the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station with a special worldwide Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) event in mid-November. The ISS has been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000, marking a major milestone in human spaceflight and international cooperation. ARISS, the first educational payload on the station, continues to play a key role in inspiring students, supporting STEM engagement, and connecting the global amateur radio community with astronauts in orbit.
The Series 30 SSTV event, titled “ISS at 25 and Scouts!” will feature 12 SSTV images celebrating the station’s 25-year milestone and Scouting. Transmissions are scheduled to begin Wednesday, November 12 around 1730 UTC and continue through Thursday, November 20 (time TBD). Downlink will occur on 145.800 MHz FM using the PD120 mode, following the standard ARISS pattern of approximately two minutes of transmission followed by two minutes off. A planned pause in images will occur to support an ARISS school contact with Azerbaijan on November 16 at 1450 UTC.
Radio amateurs and listeners worldwide are encouraged to participate, as ISS SSTV events are accessible to stations with a broad range of equipment. Many operators successfully receive images using only a handheld VHF radio and a phone-based decoding app, while more advanced satellite stations can produce particularly clean results. SSTV events continue to be a popular entry point for newcomers interested in amateur space communication.
Participants may upload their best received image to the ARISS SSTV portal at https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/ and then request a commemorative event certificate. Submitted images must be single, unedited SSTV frames in GIF, JPG, or PNG format, limited to 800×800 pixels and 800 kB. Once the image is uploaded, operators will be prompted to request their personalized certificate, and because submissions are only accepted for a short time after the conclusion of the event, prompt participation is encouraged.
In keeping with past ARISS activities, operators may also request a traditional ARISS QSL card to confirm SSTV reception. QSL requests must be mailed to the appropriate regional bureau with a self-addressed stamped envelope or sufficient return postage. Details and mailing addresses for each world region are available at https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html, and operators should include date, time, frequency, and mode with their report.
Additional updates and operating details will be posted on www.ariss.org and ARISS social media channels as the event approaches. AMSAT congratulates ARISS and the ISS program on 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the station and encourages radio amateurs everywhere to join in this special commemorative SSTV celebration honoring the ISS legacy and the role of amateur radio in space education.
[ANS thanks Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) for the above information]
Re-post from ANS-313:
The CatSat team has announced that preparations are underway to open public operation of the spacecraft’s linear transponder, offering the amateur-radio community a new microwave-band satellite resource. CatSat, a 6U CubeSat developed and flown by students, faculty, and staff at the University of Arizona in partnership with FreeFall Aerospace and Rincon Research, has been on orbit since July 2024 and is now entering the phase of its mission focused on community engagement and technology demonstration.
CatSat was launched aboard a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. Measuring roughly the size of a family-size cereal box, the spacecraft carries a suite of experimental payloads, including a novel inflatable antenna capable of enabling large-aperture communications from a small satellite platform. In addition to ionospheric monitoring via high-frequency (HF) radio measurements and imaging of the Earth, CatSat includes a linear transponder for amateur radio, extending the University of Arizona’s long legacy in space science down to hands-on student involvement.
The satellite orbits Earth in a nearly sun-synchronous polar orbit, circling the globe approximately every 90 minutes. As part of its student-driven mission, CatSat is demonstrating how cutting-edge antenna systems and commercial-off-the-shelf radio hardware can support meaningful research and amateur communications from a compact form factor. The mission is funded by the University of Arizona Office of the Vice President for Research and the Arizona Space Institute, with additional support from industry partners.
When the linear transponder is active, CatSat listens on 5.663 GHz (uplink) and transmits on 10.47 GHz (downlink), providing approximately 200 kHz of bandwidth. Patch antennas on the spacecraft’s −Y face offer roughly 60-degree beam coverage, and the attitude-control system can point the antenna footprint at ground stations for up to 10 minutes per pass. Power considerations limit each activation to about 15 minutes, a balance that allows the spacecraft to support both mission science and amateur communications.
Early on-orbit demonstrations used a 1-meter C-band uplink dish and a 6.1-meter X-band downlink dish to confirm transponder functionality, successfully relaying Morse code. The CatSat team is now constructing a more accessible ground station using 1-meter-class commercial antennas to show that amateur access is practical with reasonably sized equipment. Operators will be able to monitor schedule updates — informally known as the “five and dime” plan — through the CatSat mission website.
Commissioning passes targeting the CatSat ground stations in Tucson took place on October 29 and November 2, with one final activation scheduled for November 9 at approximately 7:50 PM MST (UTC-7) — just hours after this bulletin’s publication. As testing continues, dates may shift as the team evaluates performance and power-budget constraints. Operators can follow activation plans and future opportunities at https://catsat.arizona.edu.
Read the full announcement at: https://catsat.arizona.edu/news/catsat-team-preparing-public-linear-transponder-operations
[ANS thanks the CatSat Team and the University of Arizona for the above information]
And the winner is – Jan Emanuelsson SM7KOJ! Congratulation!
Under 2025 års antenntävling fanns det möjlighet att komma med förslag till förbättringar runt AMSAT-SM hur vi kan göra det lättare att komma igång med amatörradiosatelliter.
Det viktigaste som kom fram är att vi behöver bli bättre på att presentera nybörjarartiklar och att hitta dessa på hemsidan.
Här kommer några av förslagen, dock inte alla, och våra svar.
From ANS-299:
At the Annual General Meeting of AMSAT members, held as part of the AMSAT Symposium in Phoenix, Ariz. last weekend, newly elected AMSAT President Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, outlined some future directions for the organization.
Noting that membership in organizations and voluntary associations of all types has been declining across the board, in all areas of society, Glasbrenner suggested a two-pronged approach.
First, reduce the cost per member. AMSAT has already made major steps in that direction, by closing the office and changing to an all-volunteer administration, and also by changing the AMSAT Journal from print to a digital publication. The organization should seek more opportunities to economize.
Second, increase membership by creating a strategy to actively seek and invite new hams. The Board has just approved a free student membership to bring young hams into the organization. Reinstating a College Activity Night on the satellites, an AMSAT Youth Net, and publicizing youth satellite activities are priorities. Another possibility might be a two-tiered membership structure with a low-fee introductory membership.
Glasbrenner also noted that government budget cuts have caused NASA to eliminate the CubeSat Launch Initiative program (CSLI), which provided free launch opportunities to educational projects. AMSAT has benefited from CSLI, but has also purchased commercial launches in the past. He indicated that AMSAT should not wait to see if CSLI is reinstated or replaced with a similar program, but that the organization should move forward to fund commercial launches for GOLF-Tee and Fox Plus satellites that are nearing readiness in coming months.
Another challenge facing AMSAT is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). While orbital debris regulations forbid launches to higher orbits without meeting stringent technical requirements for deorbiting, reentry devices are largely unavailable or unproven. The GOLF program is meant to address this, but launches to higher orbits are also difficult to find. Future rules may mandate propulsion for collision avoidance in LEO.
A strategy to meet these orbital challenges is to focus on developing amateur radio payloads that can fly on other satellites. The Italian Greencube satellite, IO-117, was an example. To take advantage of these opportunities, AMSAT engineers must focus on developing payloads as a series, rather than as single projects, so that units are “on the shelf” and available on short notice. The SDR Gen2 transverter board – an updated version of the units flown on HuskySat and MESAT1 – is a major step in this direction, as is the updated PacSat board under development. The GOLF and Fox Plus programs are also being crafted to create satellites in a series with iterative improvements and an up-tempo launch cadence.
Finally, Glasbrenner called for strengthening international collaboration with other AMSAT organizations around the world, as well as establishing mechanisms for strategic planning at the Board of Directors level. His address was received enthusiastically by those in attendance.
[ANS thanks Mark Johns, KØJM, News Service Senior Editor, for the above information.]