AMSAT News Service
ANS-117
April 25, 2025
In this edition:
- AMSAT at Hamvention
- AMSAT Field Day 2025
- Updated Satellite Frequency List Available from JE9PEL
- NASA Offers Free Ohio High School Engineering Program
- Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for April 25, 2025
- 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 https://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.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/
AMSAT at Hamvention 2025
The 2025 Dayton Hamvention will be held at Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, OH on May 16-18, 2025! AMSAT will have our usual robust presence and after-hours activities.
TAPR/AMSAT Banquet – Friday, May 16th
The 16th annual TAPR/AMSAT Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center on Friday, May 16th at 18:30 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) and AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) activities during the Dayton Hamvention. This year’s banquet speaker will be Phil Karn, KA9Q, who will highlight developments and use cases for his ka9q-radio software suite.
The Kohler Presidential Banquet Center is located at 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering, Ohio – about 20 minutes away from the Greene County Fairgrounds.
Tickets ($70 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store. The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Monday, May 12th at 17:00 EDT / 21:00 UTC. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. There will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door at the banquet center. Seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline.
AMSAT Dinner at Tickets – Thursday, May 15th
The annual AMSAT “Dinner at Tickets” party will be held at Tickets Pub & Eatery on Thursday, May 15th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT. There is no program or speaker – just good conversation. Everyone is invited regardless of whether or not they helped with setup or plan to work in the booth. Tickets has a great selection of Greek and American food and great company! Food can be ordered from the menu; drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar.
Come as you are; no reservations required. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention. Tickets Pub & Eatery is located at 7 W. Main St, Fairborn, OH 45324. (Telephone (937) 878-9022)
Volunteer at the AMSAT Booth – (Building 1, 1007-1010 & 1107-1110)
AMSAT is actively seeking volunteers to assist with booth activities and invites enthusiasts to dedicate their time. Last year, around 20 volunteers played crucial roles in fostering meaningful interactions with attendees. Volunteers, whether able to commit a few hours or the entire weekend, are warmly encouraged to participate.
For those eager to be part of AMSAT’s presence at Dayton Hamvention or request more information about volunteering, Phil Smith, W1EME, AMSAT Hamvention Team Leader, serves as the point of contact. To volunteer or inquire further, individuals can reach out to Phil via email at w1eme [at] astrocom.net. Your involvement not only enriches the event but also contributes to the vibrant amateur radio community.
AMSAT Forum – Saturday, May 17th
The AMSAT Forum will take place in Forum Room 2 at 1:35pm – 3:10pm on Saturday, May 17th. This will immediately follow the ARISS Forum in the same room at 12:40pm, so get there early and see both presentations!
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
AMSAT Remove Before Flight Key Tags Now Available
Yes, These are the Real Thing!
Your $20 Donation Goes to Help Fly a Fox-Plus Satellite
Includes First Class Postage (Sorry – U.S. Addresses Only)
Order Today at https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain
AMSAT Field Day 2025
It’s that time of year again; summer and Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a “picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!” The event takes place during a 27-hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2025 the event takes place from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 28, 2025 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 29, 2025. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 28 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event.
This year should be as much fun as last year since we have more than 10 transponders and repeaters available. Users should check the AMSAT status page at http://www.amsat.org/status/ and the pages at https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ for what is available in the weeks leading up to field day. To reduce the amount of time to research each satellite, see the current FM satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/fm-satellite-frequency-summary/ and the current linear satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/linear-satellite-frequency-summary/
If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellites, there are ISS, SO-50, PO-101, SO-124, SONATE-2 and possibly LilacSat. It might be easier this year to make that one FM contact for the ARRL bonus points with so many FM birds. The congestion on FM LEO satellites is always so intense that we must continue to limit their use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice.
More information, including rules and the submission form can be found at https://www.amsat.org/field-day/
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information]
The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Are Here!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today!
Updated Satellite Frequency List Available from JE9PEL
The JE9PEL updated unofficial Satellite Frequency List was update April 17, 2025 and is available for download as a semicolon separated CSV type data file for use in spreadsheets, databases and tabular form documents.
The list includes nearly 2,000 Active, Deep Space, Failed, Inactive, Non-amateur, Re-entered , To be launched and Unknown Satellites categories. Each entity listed includes available ID, Uplink and Downlink Frequencies, Beacon, Mode, Callsign and WeatherSat categories.
The list and other satellite related resources can be downloaded from this web page: https://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm
[ANS thanks JE9PEL for the above information]
NASA Offers Free Ohio High School Engineering Program
According to information from the Agency’s website, “NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is launching the NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute this summer. The free, work-based learning experience is designed to help high school students prepare for a future in the aerospace workforce.
“Rising high school juniors and seniors in Northeast Ohio can submit applications for this new, in-person summer program from Friday, April 11, through Friday, May 9.
“The NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute will immerse students in NASA’s work while providing essential career readiness tools to help them in future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-focused academic and professional pursuits.”
For more details see: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-offers-free-high-school-engineering-program-this-summer/
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for April 25, 2025
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/.
This week there are no additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.
[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]
Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase an M2 LEO-Pack from the AMSAT Store!
When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
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.
Scheduled Contacts
Wireless Institute of Australia AGM and Technical Expo, Bayswater, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via K6DUE)
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled crewmember is Takaya Onishi KF5LKS
The ARISS mentor is VK4KHZ
Contact is go for: Sat 2025-05-03 11:06:00 UTC 63 deg)
Many times a school may make a last minute decision to do a Livestream or run into a last minute glitch requiring a change of the URL but we at ARISS may not get the URL in time for publication. You can always check https://live.ariss.org/ to see if a school is Livestreaming.
As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.
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.
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
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.
Mark Saurman, N8TLV, will be operating as VYØSAT in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut in northern Canada, grid EP28, from 30-April/2025 1840Z to 3-May/2025 1945Z, weather and logistics permitting. Watch @VO1ONE on X.com for updates.
[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager, for the above information]
Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get an 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
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.
AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, says,
“Think a 75-minute presentation on “working the easy satellites” would be appropriate for your club or event? Let me know by emailing me at k6lcsclint (at) gmail (dot) com or calling me at 909-999-SATS (7287)!”
Clint has NEVER given the exact same show twice: EACH of the 150+ presentations so far has been customized/tailored to their audiences.
Scheduled Events
April 28, 2025 – 7:00 pm CDT
Denton County Amateur Radio Association (DCARA)
Denton Count Administrative Courthouse
1 Courthouse Drive
Denton, TX 76208
Also online. See https://dcara.net/club-calendar/ for link
AMSAT Ambassador: Tom Schuessler, N5HYP
May 16th thru 18th, 2025
Dayton Hamvention
Greene County Fair and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road
Xenia, OH 45385
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-at-hamvention-2025/
https://hamvention.org/
June 21, 2025
Rochester Amateur Radio Association Hamfest 2025
Barnard Fire Field
410 Maiden Lane Rochester, NY 14616
KB2YSI
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
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.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week’s ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm [at] arrl.net
ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002
