Category: Ham Satellite news

Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Vice President-Engineering has published a two-
minute video update on the progress of AMSAT projects. Among the
highlights are:

• The RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E satellite is ready for delivery and
  integration and is expected to launch by the end of the year.
• The University of Maine will use an AMSAT LTM-1 module for command
  and control of their upcoming CubeSat mission, MESAT-1. The LTM-1
  also provides a linear transponder for amateur radio use. AMSAT is
  in discussions with additional partners about flying LTM-1 modules.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, vendors have been delayed in
  supplying printed circuit boards for the GOLF-TEE project. The
  impact of the pandemic has also affected the amount of time
  AMSAT’s volunteer engineers have for their hobby work. Completion
  of GOLF-TEE is expected by the end of June 2021.
• Dependent on fulfilling its primary mission, the GOLF-TEE satellite
  may include a X-band downlink parrot of the V-band uplink and L/S
  band uplinks which are planned for GOLF-1.
• Research is underway to place GOLF-1 into a higher orbit while
  meeting regulatory requirements.
• GOLF-TEE is a candidate for a launch on an upcoming DoD mission.

From AMSAT-UK web we got info about the upcoming OSCAR QSO party!

The objective of the AMSAT-UK OSCAR Satellite QSO Party is to encourage all radio amateurs around the world to get on the air and make contacts via satellites during northern hemisphere summer. We would like to attract both seasoned die-hard operators as well as all newcomers who are just getting involved.

Read more at: https://amsat-uk.org/2020/07/20/oscar-satellite-qso-party/

Online leaderboard at: https://leaderboard.amsat-uk.org/

On the evening of July 17, 2020, Vlad Chorney, EU1SAT, tweeted
“Husky-1 ACTIVE!” with a screenshot from FoxTelem showing that he had
received telemetry from HO-107 (HuskySat-1) which had been silent for
nearly two months. About an hour after EU1SAT’s tweet, the satellite
passed over the eastern United States and AMSAT command stations
KO4MA and N8MH copied telemetry. On subsequent passes, the satellite
was successfully commanded.

Please continue to copy telemetry in FoxTelem. If you have removed
HO-107 from your tracked satellites during its period of inactivity,
please add it back. The transponder remains disabled while AMSAT
Operations evaluates the telemetry from the satellite.

[ANS thanks AMSAT Operations for the above information]

Genom butiken Zazzle kan man köpa AMSAT-designade produkter tex. kaffemuggar, T-shirts, knappar mm. Köper man dessa stödjer man AMSAT internationellt. AMSATs egna “butik” finns på:
https://www.zazzle.se/store/amsat_gear

Info from the FUNcube team:
We have reintroduced the upload rankings on a satellite by satellite basis.
Please excuse that the format needs fixing uo but we wanted to get it out there.
You will find an Uplink Ranking link on each satellite page:

http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/fc1-fm/satellite_ranking
http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/nayif1/satellite_ranking
http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/jy1sat-fm/satellite_ranking
http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/eseo/satellite_ranking

73
Dave, G4DPZ
on behalf on the FUNcube Team

CAS-6 har nu fått sitt AMSAT-namn TO-108.
CAS-6 has now become TO-108.

The CAS-6 (TQ-1) microsatellite was launched December 20, 2019 on a
CZ-4B launch vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China.
CAS-6 (TQ-1) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group
(CAMSAT) and in cooperation with China’s commercial satellite manufac-
turer. CAMSAT completed the design and manufacture of the amateur radio
payload, and manages the on-orbit operation of the payload. The satel-
lite carries CW and digital telemetry beacons and a linear transponder.
The deployment of the amateur antennas was delayed due technical and
COVID-19 issues, but was completed on June 20, 2020. Currently the
beacons are carriers only, and the transponder operates with about 2
seconds on and 5 seconds off.

At the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-6 team, AMSAT hereby designates
CAS-6 (TQ-1) as TQ-OSCAR 108 (TO-108). We congratulate the owners and
operators of TO-108, thank them for their contribution to the amateur
satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and fu-
ture projects.

Frequencies for the intended radio amatuer mission are:
• CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910 MHz
• AX.25 4.8kbps GMSK Telemetry: 145.890 MHz
• U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925 MHz, 20 kHz bandwidth
• U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280 MHz, Inverted

Operator reports indicate that the transponder is active only for brief
intervals of about 2 seconds, spaced approximately seconds apart. With
patience, and quick transmissions, QSOs have been completed.

CAS-6 (NORAD Cat ID 44881) has been added to the AMSAT distributions of
Two Line Element (TLE) sets beginning from June 25, 2020. Watch for
possible future changes to the satellite name in future TLEs.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations & OSCAR Number
Administrator; Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager; and
Alan Kung, BA1DU, for the above information]