From Newsgroup: rec.radio.amateur.space

*AMSAT *News Service *ANS-228*
*August 16, 2026*

In this edition:

* Call for Presentations: 44th AMSAT Space Symposium
* AMSAT CubeSatSim Featured in *QST Magazine*
* More AMSAT Contests and Awards
* Norwegian Amateurs Experiment with Satellite Voice Control
* ARISS Receives Challenger-7 Recognition
* Voting Still in Progress for Board of Directors
* Satellite DXpedition To The Bahamas This Week
* Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for August 14, 2026
* ARISS News
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts from All Over

The AMSAT-< News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and informat
ion
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 <http://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/ ------------------------------
Call for Presentations: 44th AMSAT Space Symposium

Do you have a story to tell the amateur satellite community? AMSAT invites proposals for presentations at the 44th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, to be held October 8-11, 2026, at the Wyndham Jacksonville Hotel & Conference Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

Presentations are welcome on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. Suggested subjects include current and future satellite projects such as the GOLF program and the CubeSatSim; ARISS and human spaceflight activities; ground station, antenna, and portable station design; software-defined radio; telemetry collection and analysis; satellite
operating techniques and achievements; educational programs and youth
outreach; and reports from DXpeditions and roving operations. Whether you
have built it, flown it, coded it, taught it, or worked it through a
satellite, your fellow attendees want to hear about it.

Prospective presenters should email a tentative presentation title and a
brief abstract to symposium [at] amsat.org as soon as possible.
Presentation time slots are limited, so early submissions are encouraged,
and information on submitting final papers and presentation materials for inclusion in the Symposium Proceedings will be provided to presenters. A digital copy of the Proceedings is included with every Symposium
registration.

Symposium presentations begin Friday afternoon, October 9, and continue
through Saturday, October 10, leading into the Annual General Meeting. Live streaming will bring the sessions to members unable to attend in person r
Co
all the more reason to make sure your work is on the program.

Registration for the Symposium is now open at https://launch.amsat.org/event-6789663, with early bird pricing available through September 8. Hotel reservations at the Wyndham Jacksonville rC
o the
property formerly known as the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Airport/I-95 r
Co may
be made through the booking link at
https://www.amsat.org/2026-amsat-symposium/ or by phone at 1-800-227-6963
using group code AMS.

*[ANS thanks the AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information.]* ------------------------------
*Registration is Now Open!* <https://launch.amsat.org/event-6789663>

<https://www.amsat.org/2026-amsat-symposium/>
------------------------------
AMSAT CubeSatSim Featured in *QST Magazine*

The AMSAT CubeSatSim, the CubeSat Simulator, is a small, low-cost,
spacecraft simulator that serves as a tool for academic education, public demonstrations, and theory and design disciplines. It can be used in a classroom, lab or training setting to introduce the basics of satellite operations, or it can be used to teach STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Math) exercises.

*First page of the *QST Magazine* article by Mark Samis, KD2XS. (Image
credit: *QST Magazine*)*

The September issue of *QST Magazine* has an article about the project. The article rCLMeet the CubeSatSimrCY is written by Mark Samis, KD2
XS. Mark is a
long-time key contributor to the CubeSatSim Project and is the Project
Manager for the ARISS STAR Project.

ARRL members will find the article beginning on page 54 of the September
issue, available by logging in on the ARRL site, https://www.arrl.org/qst.
By special permission from ARRL and *QST*, all may read a PDF version of
the article on the CubeSatSim project website at: https://CubeSatSim.org/Meet-the-CubeSatSim.pdf.

The CubeSatSim and the low-cost CubeSatSim Lite are available on the AMSAT Store <https://www.amsat.org/shop/>.

*[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President rCo Education
al
Relations, for the above information.]*
------------------------------

*ItrCOs August! Time is running out for the 2026 PresidentrCOs
Club Coin!**Help
Support GOLF and FoxPlus.*

*Annual memberships start at only $120*

*Join the AMSAT PresidentrCOs Club today and help*
*Keep Amateur Radio in Space!* *https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/* <https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/> ------------------------------
More AMSAT Contests and Awards

*Steve Greene, KS1G, Earns GridMaster Award #80*

For the second week in a row, AMSAT has a new GridMaster. Bruce Paige,
KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards, has announced that Steve
Greene, KS1G, of northern Virginia has been awarded GridMaster Award #80, following close behind Adrian, N8AJM, who claimed award #79 just one week earlier.

The GridMaster Award is earned by completing confirmed two-way satellite contacts with operators in all 488 Maidenhead grid squares of the
contiguous United States rCo a feat accomplished by just 80 operators
since
the award was introduced by the Star Comm Group in 2014. Written
confirmations, via QSL card or Logbook of The World, are required for every grid, and all contacts must be made from a single location or from
locations within a 200-kilometer circle. With many of the 488 grids home to
few or no resident satellite operators, the award is as much a testament to patience as to skill rCo and to the rovers who venture into rare grid
s so the
chasers can finish the map.

KS1G will be a familiar callsign to many on the birds. A fixture of the northern Virginia satellite scene, Steve has spent years introducing
newcomers to the hobby through his rCLYour First FM Satellite Contact
rCY
presentations at area radio clubs, has captained Field Day satellite operations, and helped put Virginia on the air via satellite as one of the
K2B activators during the 13 Colonies special event. It is only fitting
that an operator who has helped so many others make their first satellite contact has now confirmed his 488th grid.

In announcing the award, Paige offered his congratulations along with his customary encouragement to the rover community to keep on rovinrCO.

Complete details on the GridMaster Award, including rules and the
application form, are available at https://www.amsat.org/gridmaster/, and upcoming rover operations rCo the lifeblood of every GridMaster chase
rCo are
listed at https://hams.at.

Congratulations, Steve!

*M|yNKCrCOs portable setup (Photo: Kris Conkas)*

*Kristijan Conkas, M|yNKC, Earns AMSAT Rover Award #94*

The AMSAT Rover Award program is on a roll. Just one week after award #93
went to Brazil, Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards,
has announced that AMSAT Rover Award #94 has been earned by Kristijan
Conkas, M|yNKC, of the United Kingdom rCo back-to-back awards spa
nning two
continents, and a reminder that roving is a worldwide pursuit.

A satellite enthusiast, Linux user, and self-described occasional maker, Kristijan is also known to many in the hobby as the author of NKCCluster, a mobile DX cluster client for operators on the go rCo so it is fitting
that
his award celebrates operating on the go, too.

The Rover Award recognizes operators who take their satellite stations on
the road, and is granted upon accumulating 25 points from grid squares activated outside the roverrCOs home grid: one point per grid via a single-channel FM transponder, two points via a linear SSB/CW transponder,
and three points via a digital transponder, with a bonus point for each
grid activated in a state, province, or DX entity other than the roverr
COs
own. Five-point bonuses reward publicizing an activation at least 24 hours
in advance rCo by tagging @amsat or #amsat on social media, or via th
e
AMSAT-BB rCo and posting photos of the operation afterward, while act
ivating
a grid while maritime mobile is worth ten points and a /MM endorsement on
the certificate. For European rovers, national borders come thick and fast,
and every outing hands fresh grids to chasers across the continent and, on
the right pass, well beyond.

In announcing the award, Paige offered his congratulations along with his customary encouragement to rovers everywhere to keep on rovinrCO.

Complete rules and application details for the AMSAT Rover Award are
available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/, and upcoming rover operations may be found rCo and publicized rCo at https://hams.
at.

Congratulations, Kristijan!

*[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards, for
the above information]*
------------------------------
*LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!*



*AMSAT is offering a limited-time promotion for new and renewing members
that includes a free digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur
Satellites. The promotion is being offered as AMSAT begins the 2026
membership year.*

[image: Getting Started]

*Anyone who joins or renews their AMSAT membership during the promotional period will receive a download link for the latest edition of Getting
Started with Amateur Satellites in their membership confirmation email.
JOIN TODAY at https://launch.amsat.org/ <https://launch.amsat.org/>
(Remember! Students join for FREE!)*
------------------------------
ARISS Receives Challenger-7 Recognition

ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) is honored to
receive the prestigious Challenger-7 Recognition, a national honor
celebrating organizations whose work reflects the spirit, vision, and
values of the Challenger 51-L crew.

rCLThis recognition is a tribute, not a competition,rCY says th
e Challenger
Center. rCLIt honors those who embody the Challenger crewrCOs v
alues of
exploration, learning, and inspiration, while also celebrating trailblazing organizations and programs that will carry this mission forward into the future.rCY

Nominations from nonprofit national STEM programs that have a
national-level impact on STEM learning and other STEM advocates were
submitted by members of the broader Challenger Center community, with
honorees selected by an appointed committee. The recognitions are part of
the Challenger CenterrCOs 40th Anniversary celebrations.

rCLThe ARISS team is humbled to receive the Challenger-7 recognition,
rCY said
ARISS-USA Executive Director and ARISS International Chair, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. rCLWe thank the Challenger Center community for this honor as
well as
treasure our long-standing partnership with them. The outcomes of our ARISS on-board astronaut experiences emulate the exploration and education spirit
of the Challenger crewrCoto engage and educate our next generation of
explorers in STEM while giving them the tools and inspiration to prepare
them for future STEM careers.rCY


*Jackie Blumer, KC9LEH, ARISS-USA Associate Director, and Frank Bauer,
KA3HDO, ARISS-USA Executive Director and ARISS International Chair, hold
the Challenger-7 Recognition certificate. (Credit, ARISS)*

Other awardees this year include AIAA, American Rocketry Challenge, and JanetrCOs Planet.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies
that support the ISS. In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASArCOs Space Communications
and
Navigation program (SCaN) and the ISS National LabrCoSpace Station Ex
plorers.
The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by
organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard
the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning
activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org.

*[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR Team, for the above information.]
*
------------------------------
*AMSAT Remove Before Flight Key Tags Now Available*
*Yes, These are the Real Thing!*
* <https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_car_flag-256716714380264543>*

*Your $20 Donation Goes to Help Fly a FoxPlus Satellite Includes First
Class Postage (Sorry rCo U.S. Addresses Only) Order Today
at https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain <https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain/>* ------------------------------
Norwegian Amateurs Experiment with Satellite Voice Control

Amateur radio operators from the Oslo Group of the Norwegian Radio Relay
League (NRRL), using an experimental satellite and homebrew ham equipment, successfully reprogrammed the satellite to respond to voice control.

On July 27, 2026, a verbal command, sent via a 23-centimeter signal from
the roof of the Oslo GrouprCOs club station, was received, transcribe
d, and
executed on board the OPS-SAT PRETTY satellite. The satellite then
activated the game DOOM in response, and downloaded images of the game as confirmation. Voice control of a satellite was a reality, performed by
radio amateurs in the Oslo Group!

*The satellite composed this postcard on board and downlinked it to the
ground after launching DOOM on the evening pass, the one commanded by a
live human voice. An operator spoke into the microphone: rCLLIMA ALFA
FOUR
OSCAR, PRETTY PLAY DOOM DOOM DOOM, PRETTY PLAY DOOM DOOM DOOM.rCY Tha
t is the
club call sign for legal identification, then the command twice, with DOOM repeated each time. Printed across the postcard is what the onboard speech-to-text made of it. The model is small enough to fit the satellite
rCOs
limited computer, so the transcription is rough, but the repeated DOOM
trigger word still got through. (Image credit: tanagraspace.com <http://tanagraspace.com>)*

The spacecraft is operated by Graz University of Technology in Austria and
the experimentation is coordinated by the European Space AgencyrCOs E
uropean
Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

The OPS-SAT PRETTY is a 3U CubeSat (10 x 10 x 34 cm) with a reconfigurable processing platform that allows a wide range of custom software and
firmware experiments, and is tightly connected to an onboard software
defined receiver (SDR).

Everyone involved in the experiment agreed that amateur radio
infrastructure can support technically meaningful spacecraft experiments
when RF design, signal processing, craft software, and disciplined
operations are treated as one system.

rCLFor this satellite, the Satellite Experimental Processing Platform
(SEPP)
where the experiments run, is connected to an SDR, receive only,rCY s
aid team
member Eskil Hadland, LB6AJ. rCLAs far as I know, the TMTC (Telemetry
and
Telecommand) is outside of the SEPP. So I do not believe this satellite
will be able to talk back to us. Unlike other satellite operations for amateurs, where you can listen when you are aiming directly, we have been shouting towards the stars, and gotten data back hours later.rCY

The Project Page at partner Tanagra Space tells the whole story from end to end, with the postcard the satellite composed on board and the gameplay sequence it captured as it flew: https://tanagraspace.com/opssat-pretty-doomed/.

Thanks to the Oslo Group of the Norwegian Radio Relay League for taking
time to talk with the *ARRL Letter* about their accomplishments.

*[ANS thanks the ARRL Letter for the above information.]* ------------------------------

[image: SDR Gen 2 Ad - 2026]
------------------------------
Voting Still in Progress for Board of Directors

AMSAT members are reminded that voting remains open in the 2026 AMSAT Board
of Directors election. Three seats on the Board are being filled this year.
The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be elected
to the Board, while the candidates receiving the next highest vote totals
will be named First Alternate and Second Alternate, respectively.

Voting opened on July 15, 2026, and will conclude on September 15, 2026. Election results will be announced no later than September 30, 2026.

Current AMSAT members may review the official candidate statements and cast their ballots on the AMSAT 2026 Board of Directors Election website at https://launch.amsat.org/2026-BoD-Election

Members are encouraged to take a few minutes to review the candidatesrC
O
statements and cast their ballots. Your participation helps shape the
future of AMSAT and its mission to Keep Amateur Radio in Space.

*[ANS thanks Douglas Tabor, N6UA, AMSAT Secretary, for the above
information]*
------------------------------
Satellite DXpedition To The Bahamas This Week

Philippe, EA4NF, will be active on FM LEO satellites from the BAHAMAS (Providence Island & Discovery Island) under the callsign C6AUB from August
19 to 23, 2026.
(DXCC : C6 BAHAMAS / GRID : FL15 / IOTA : NA-001)

He will be operating in full-duplex mode using a portable transceiver
equipped with his standard Arrow antenna and his whip antenna.

August 19-23, 2026
FM LEO SATELLITES
QSL via LoTW as C6AUB

Keep an eye on PhilipperCOs Twitter feed for further updates : @EA4NF
_SAT

*[ANS thanks Philippe Chateau, EA4NF, for the above information.]* ------------------------------
Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for August 14, 2026

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/.

*The following satellites have been added to this weekrCOs AMSAT TLE distribution:*
*CO-128 (MARMOTSat) NORAD Cat ID 69872*
General Perturbations Data Support

AMSAT is pleased to announce that modern forms of what are called General Perturbations data are being disseminated via modern formats including
JSON, XML and KVN at https://newark192.amsat.org/gpdata/current/. The
reason this change is being made is that we are running out of 5-digit
catalog numbers and the TLE format is not viable for satellites launched
after July of this year. See https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php for details.

These data are presently considered in beta test for the next two months
while hosted on the test server newark192.amsat.org, and we are very open
to community feedback at webmaster at amsat.org. Testers may experience
outages and errors while we make improvements. We intend to put this into production on our main web server in July as we expect that satellites
launched after this summer will require one of the new formats to
accommodate longer object numbers. AMSAT will continue to publish TLE
bulletins for satellites launched before July 2026 indefinitely.

*[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information.]*
------------------------------
Buying from DX Engineering?
Add AMSATrCOs *Getting Started With Amateur Satellites* to your order
.
<https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/amt-satellites>Available for $30 from
DX Engineering (free shipping on most orders over $99) https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/amt-satellites ------------------------------
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.

*Recently Completed*

Challenger Learning Center National Conference, Framingham, MA, telebridge
via VK4ISS
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember was Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN
The ARISS mentor was KA3HDO
Contact was successful: Wed 2026-08-12 16:31:39 UTC 58 degrees max.
elevation
Congratulations to the Challenger Learning Center National Conference
students, Sophie, mentor KA3HDO, and telebridge VK4ISS!

Australian Air League (AAL), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia,
telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember was Jack Hathaway KJ5NIV
The ARISS mentor was VK4ISS
Contact was successful: Fri 2026-08-14 10:56:13 UTC 76 degrees max.
elevation
Live Stream was at http://www.ariotti.com/ starting about 10-15 min before
AOS
Congratulations to the Australian Air League, Jack, mentor VK4ISS, and telebridge IK1SLD!

Many times, a school makes a last-minute decision to do a Livestream or
runs 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:

Mon 2026-08-17 19:05 UTC *radio power down*
Tue 2026-08-18 U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS) EVA (spacewalk by flight
engineers Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot, KJ5LTN)
Wed 2026-08-19 10:45 UTC *radio power up*

The crossband repeater remains configured in the Columbus Module (145.990
MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If a crewmember decides to pick up the microphone and turn up the volume, you may hear them on the airrCoso
keep
listening, as you never know when activity might occur.

Kenwood D710GA in the Zvezda Service Module rCo Call sign RS|yISS
. Please note
werCOre still in the process of troubleshooting and testing this radi
o. APRS
is currently active on 437.825 MHz. Feel free to check out status reports
at https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_APRS/.

Ham TV is currently transmitting a test signal at 2395.00 MHz.

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]*
------------------------------
*Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?* Get an AMSAT car flag
and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store <https://www.zazzle.com/store/amsat_gear>!

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.

*August 28-30, 2026*
*Wyoming HamCon, ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention*
Best Western (Downtown)
123 W. E St.
Casper, WY 82601
http://wyohamcon.org/
K0NMR

*October 8-11, 2026*
*44th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Membership Meeting*
Wyndham Jacksonville Hotel & Conference Center
14670 Duval Road
Jacksonville, FL 32218
https://www.amsat.org/2026-amsat-symposium/
*Registration is Now Open! <https://launch.amsat.org/event-6789663>*

[image: AMSAT Ambassador News Logo]

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/ <https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/>

*[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director rCo AMSAT Ambassador Program,
for the
above information]*
------------------------------
Satellite Shorts from All Over

+ As many may have noticed, UNNE-1B (HADES-E2) was not included in the
TR-17 mission. It is now expected to fly on the SpaceX Transporter-18
mission in October. UNNE-1B is a 1.5P PocketQube that uses the same
satellite hardware and software as the original UNNE-1 but will be launched
on a SpaceX mission instead of the originally planned RFA launch due to
delays to the latter. Like UNNE-1, the satellite will provide licensed
radio amateurs worldwide with an FM voice transponder and support for
FSK-based digital modes. It will also transmit telemetry reporting the satelliterCOs status, a CW beacon, and a prerecorded CODEC2 digital v
oice
message. All these functions are implemented using an SDR-based FM/FSK repeater. The FM/FSK repeater will be continuously available and activated
by carrier squelch, with no access tone required. As an educational
payload, students from Universidad Nebrija (Spain) are developing a small rCLguessing game.rCY The satellite will transmit one clue per w
eek as part of
its telemetry, and radio amateurs will have to collect all the clues to
solve the mystery. Details of the game will be published on the AMSAT-EA
and Universidad Nebrija websites, and all transmitted data will be publicly available. *(ANS thanks F|-lix P|iez, EA4GQS, president of AMSAT EA
, for the
information.)*

+ HamClock version 4.28 adds direct integration with Hams.at to provide satellite operators with personalized information about upcoming satellite activations. By configuring a Hams.at API key in HamClock, users can
receive upcoming pass alerts and additional details tailored to their
station and location. The integration includes satellite co-visibility calculations, allowing an operator to determine when both their station and
a rover or other station will have the same satellite in view. HamClock can also display probability or match information from Hams.at when evaluating opportunities to contact a rover activating a particular grid square. Other satellite features in HamClock include Doppler tracking, satellite group scheduling for planning passes, and a Sky View mode that displays
satellites relative to the stars. Additional information about HamClock, including the Open HamClock Backend project, is available at https://ohb.works/. *(ANS thanks Brian Wilkins, KO4AQF, for the above information.)*

+ While expanding InstantTrack to support the modern GP formats would
require the source code, AMSAT Executive VP Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, asked
ChatGPT to develop a patch that allows InstantTrack 1.55 to use Alpha5
TLEs. Running the patch utilities requires a DOS install with debug.exe.
The patch is available at https://github.com/prstoetzer/InstantTrack-Alpha5-Patch. InstantTrack can
be downloaded at https://www.mustbeart.com/software/it/getit.html. *(ANS
thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive VP, for the above information.)
*

+ The Federal Communications Commission voted on August 6 to advance a
proposal to enable satellites to beam data to consumer and IoT devices
already equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips. This includes harnessing
the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands commonly used by Wi-Fi routers. The Association
for Broadband Without Boundaries, which represents wireless internet
service providers, has been urging the FCC to revise the proposal, which tentatively concludes that opening up the spectrum rCLwill not presen
t an
increased harmful interference risk to authorized services.rCY ARRL,
the
National Association for Amateur Radio, is also raising concerns, telling
the FCC, rCLAmateur radio terrestrial operations would be uniquely im
pacted
by any interference resulting from adoption of the proposals.rCY In a
ddition,
Intel and Cisco chimed in, urging the FCC to only seek proposals that won
rCOt
disrupt access to existing consumer devices and equipment. Nevertheless,
the Commission voted unanimously to continue exploring the issue. *(ANS
thanks PC Magazine and fcc.gov <http://fcc.gov> for the above information.
Read the full article at https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-plan-to-share-wi-fi-bands-with-satellites-ra ises-interference-alarms <https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-plan-to-share-wi-fi-bands-with-satellites-r aises-interference-alarms>.)*

+ The Department of Transportation is proposing to exempt commercial space launch licensing from many environmental regulations, a move praised by industry but criticized by environmental groups. The department announced
July 28 its intent to file a proposed rule for public comment that would
exempt Federal Aviation Administration licenses for commercial launches and reentries, as well as launch sites, from 13 federal laws and associated regulations. Environmental groups, though, strongly oppose the proposal,
noting it would waive the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. *(ANS thanks SpaceNews for
the above information. Read the full article at https://spacenews.com/proposed-rule-would-exempt-commercial-launch-licensin g-from-environmental-regulations/?utm_source4tiveCampaign&utm_mediumemail&utm_content p%20Stories%3A%20Transportation%20Department%20propos
es%20waiving%20environmental%20regulations%20for%20launches&utm_campaignSNTW%20-%202026-07-31
<https://spacenews.com/proposed-rule-would-exempt-commercial-launch-licensi ng-from-environmental-regulations/?utm_source4tiveCampaign&utm_medium
ail&utm_content p%20Stories%3A%20Transportation%20Department%20pro poses%20waiving%20environmental%20regulations%20for%20launches&utm_campaign
TW%20-%202026-07-31>.)*


------------------------------
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

- Societies (recognized groups, clubs or organization).
- Students are eligible for *FREE* membership up to age 25.
- 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 weekrCOs ANS Editor,*

*Mark Johns, K|yJM*
*mjohns [at] amsat.org <http://amsat.org>*

*ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002. AMSAT is a registered
trademark of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. *


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