Category Daily Updates

Aug 18 2025

ISS Contact with IARU Region 1 YOTA Camp

RSGB Team members at 2025 YOTA Summer Camp

RSGB Team members at 2025 YOTA Summer Camp

Upcoming ARISS radio contact between the International Space Station, call sign OR4ISS, and young people at the IARU Region 1 YOTA Summer Camp, call sign FX5YOTA, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 09:18:53 UTC (10:18 AM BST) on 145.800 MHz FM.

YOTA ISS ContactAstronaut Mike Fincke KE5AIT will operate the amateur radio station call sign OR4ISS aboard the ISS and will call the radio amateur ground station call sign FX5YOTA in France. This is a live ARISS radio contact from the Youngsters On The Air – Summer Camp in Jambville, France.

The YOTA Summer Camp is a chance of a lifetime for these young RSGB members to represent their country and their national society:
• Leon, 2E0VUF (UK Team Leader)
• Emily, M7HPU
• Sophie, M7IJG, who will be among those asking Mike Fincke a question
• Sam, M0UEL
More information on the UK team at
https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/yota/yota-summer-camps/yota-paris-2025/

You can listen live to astronaut Mike Fincke aboard the ISS on 145.800 MHz (plus/minus 3 kHz Doppler shift).

Many FM rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM. Handhelds generally have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

The event will be streamed live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MARkTcR6Njo

English is the expected language of communication in this amateur radio contact.

Follow @ARISS_intl on X for official updates, since changes can occur.

Questions (as time allows):
1. What types of emergencies do you train for on ISS?
2. What’s the biggest question/curiosity you had about life before becoming an astronaut?
3. What was the most unexpected thing that happened to you in space?
4. What is the funniest thing to do in space?
5. How are crew and equipment on the ISS protected from solar radiation?
6. What were your first thoughts after seeing the Earth from above?
7. Can you describe how the ISS sounds like inside?
8. How does your body feel when you come back to Earth after being in space?
9. Was there an experiment where you had to improvise something?
10. How often do you get on the radio to make QSOs with HAMs?
11. Is amateur radio important for the ISS?
12. Back on Earth, how often are you active on the air and what’s your favorite band/mode?
13. How do you cope with being away from family for a long period of time?
14. What’s the first thing you would do back on Earth?
15. Can you describe your first ham radio contact from the ISS?
16. Will humanity be able to live on another planet/moon in the upcoming decades?
17. In your opinion, what skills are essential in becoming an astronaut?
18. Have you operated in Morse code as part of your amateur radio or other communication activities?
19. Does the time passed in space feel any longer or shorter than on Earth?
20. Is oxygen depletion highly affected by the growth of plants/micro-organisms on board?

The ARISS program is aimed at students and enthusiasts and aims to inspire them in the study of sciences with this amateur radio activity. The demonstration of amateur radio communication from space invites schools and universities to make use of these educational technical resources. We invite radio amateurs and space enthusiasts to tune in to this exciting moment.

Check out the ARISS website and follow ARISS on the official social media channels for more updates.
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
ARISS-Europe News Bulletins are distributed by AMSAT Belgium.

We can only maintain this service with your donation.
https://www.amsat-on.be/donation-ariss-europe-news-bulletin/

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Jul 25 2025

Jovian-1 U/V FM Transponder Test

 

2025-07-24 Jovian-1 U/V FM Transpnder

Jovian-1 U/V FM Transponder

David Bowman G0MRF reports the successful on-air test of the AMSAT-UK U/V FM transponder has been carried out.

Jovian-1 U/V FM transponder test siteDestined for the 6U Jovian-1 satellite, this mode U/V FM transponder had its first on-air test on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

A 70cm 20 watts ERP signal was transmitted over a distance of 59 km with a path loss of -150 dB and received by the FM transponder on a QFH antenna. The signal was re-transmitted on 145.895 MHz.

The first contact was between Mike Willis G0MJW and Graham Shirville G3VZV

AMSAT-UK Jovian-1 Announcement September 2024
https://amsat-uk.org/2024/09/29/amsat-uk-new-project-announcement-2/

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Jul 20 2025

23cm Restrictions in Europe

Galileo LogoThe 67th CEPT Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) Plenary Meeting, held June 24-27, approved ECC Decision (25)01 imposing restrictions on both Amateur and Amateur-Satellite operation in the 23cm band (1258-1300 MHz). It entered into force on June 27, 2025, with a preferred date for implementation of December 27, 2025.

In order to account for amateur service installations that are authorized and operational in the frequency range 1258-1296 MHz in many CEPT countries, administrations may, on national level, define a transitional period to comply, with the expectation this could take up to three years according to national circumstances.

The meeting minutes record:

6.2 APPROVAL FOR PUBLICATION OF DRAFT ECC DECISION (25)01 ON GALILEO AND ITS PROTECTION IN 1258-1300 MHZ FROM RADIO AMATEUR

The WG FM Chairman introduced the draft ECC Decision (25)01 on Galileo and protection measures in 1258-1300 MHz in Annex 06 to 026, which was endorsed by WG FM for publication by the ECC.

24 administrations indicated their intention to implement this Decision, while 1 administration indicated their intention to implement it partially.

Germany stated that they have to determine how to implement this Decision at national level.

The United Kingdom informed the meeting that it will implement decides 1 (designation of the frequency bands for Galileo) but will not apply the technical conditions on amateur and amateur-satellite in decides 2.

Meeting minutes https://cept.org/documents/ecc/89968/ecc-25-042_minutes-67th-ecc-meeting

Amateur-Satellite Service restrictions (bandwidth must be ≤ 150 kHz):

i) 1260-1262 MHz Maximum permitted EIRP:

  •   −3 dBW (500 milliwatts) for 0° ≤ θ < 15°
  • 17 dBW (50 watts) for 15° ≤ θ < 55°
  • 26.8 dBW (478 watts) for 55° ≤ θ < 90°

where θ = elevation angle of amateur station antenna

ii) 1262-1270 MHz: Maximum permitted EIRP = −17 dBW (20 milliwatts)

Read the full CEPT ECC Decision (25)01 to see the restrictions on the rest of the 23cm band https://docdb.cept.org/download/4782

The 24 administrations currently studying the implementation of ECC/DEC/(25)01 appear on the Status page at https://docdb.cept.org/implementation/28651

IARU Region 1 paper on ECC/DEC/(25)01 published July 21, 2025 https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ECC-Decision2501-support-paper.pdf

WRC-23 saw the publication of ITU-R Recommendation M.2164-0

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Jul 11 2025

SSTV from the ISS in July

ISS SSTV Series 28An ARISS SSTV event from the International Space Station will begin no earlier than July 14 with the expectation that the event will run through the weekend into the beginning of the following week.

This is all subject to Axiom Mission AX-4 schedule and other operational considerations. AX-4 is expected to depart from ISS on Monday, July 14 at 11:05 GMT (12:05pm BST)

The subject will be the 50th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) and the 40th anniversary of STS-51F.

STS-51F was the second SAREX flight and had the first use of SSTV in human spaceflight.

Start: Monday, July 14 1605 GMT (10:45am BST)
End: Sunday, July 20 1800 GMT (7pm BST)

Frequency: 145.800 MHz FM (+/-3.5 kHz Doppler Shift)
SSTV Mode: PD120 (Transmission cycle 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off)

You are invited to upload decoded images in the ARISS gallery, area “ARISS Series 28 Apollo Soyuz and STS-51F” at: https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/

Once you’ve submitted, just clicking on the dedicated button you can apply for the official ARISS SSTV award.

Also, you can request the ARISS QSL by contacting the European QSL bureau: https://www.ariss-eu.org/index.php/ariss-station/european-qsl-bureau

To support everyone interested in such events, the European Space Agency released tutorials about how to receive pictures transmitted over amateur radio by the International Space Station: you can find them on https://issfanclub.eu/2024/11/08/esa-tips-how-to-get-pictures-from-the-international-space-station-via-amateur-radio-2/

It’s always possible to receive the ISS SSTV signal by using the WebSDR at the Goonhilly Earth Station, the audio can then be fed into your PC or Smartphone SSTV App  https://vhf-goonhilly.batc.org.uk/

Follow @ARISS_intl on X for official updates, since changes can occur.

Reminder, the images are sent on a (roughly) 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off schedule. So if you don’t hear anything, give it 2 minutes!

Many FM rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM. Handhelds generally have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

You can get predictions for the ISS pass times at https://www.amsat.org/track/

Useful information on receiving the pictures and links for Apps to display the pictures can be found here:
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

You may be able to get publicity for the amateur radio hobby if you contact your local newspaper and tell them you’ve received a picture (doesn’t have to be perfect) from the International Space Station, see
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/02/04/iss-sstv-in-uk-press/

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Jul 4 2025

AMSAT-UK Support Student Payload on Sub Orbital Launch from Oman

Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 and support teams at Etlaq Spaceport Oman

Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 and support teams at Etlaq Spaceport Oman

A team of 6 students from the University of Surrey, the University of Portsmouth and the University of Southampton are integrating equipment they designed, manufactured and tested to a 12m high Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 rocket in Southern Oman.

Jovian-O and pod at Surrey university for vibration testing

Jovian-O and pod at Surrey university for vibration testing

The launch from Etlaq Spaceport, to an anticipated altitude of 500km, will be the first flight of the 2 stage Kia-1 rocket and is one of 5 planned test flights from Etlaq this year. The spaceport is located at 18 degrees latitude overlooking the Indian Ocean, making it an ideal location for launching vehicles into multiple orbits, including equatorial orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, polar orbit, medium Earth orbit, and geostationary orbit. The Spaceport should be fully operational by 2027.

The Universities payload, known as Jovian-O, will test a student designed 6U CubeSat deployment pod and its payload. The battery powered ‘satellite’ will not completely deploy from its pod, but remain tethered to it. However it will capture video and still images of the deployment process verifying correct operation of the pod. It will also flight test hardware from the imaging payload DAVE, ( Dual Aperture for Viewing Earth) which will fly on the future Jovian-1 orbital mission along with an AMSAT-UK educational outreach and U/V FM transponder.

Students integrating the Jovian-O 6U payload

Students integrating the Jovian-O 6U payload

The images transmitted from Jovian-O during this sub orbital test flight use 500kb/sec QPSK. AMSAT-UK provided a high gain 4W 435MHz amplifier for the mission and a deployable 435MHz antenna. Data will be received at Etlaq by the student’s portable ground station.

Follow @EtlaqSpace and @stellarkinetics on X

Duqm-2 launch https://www.etlaq.om/launches/duqm-2

University of Surrey https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/uk-students-launch-international-space-mission

Space South Central – Joint Universities Programme for In-Orbit Training, Education and Research https://www.spacesouthcentral.com/jupiter

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Jul 2 2025

Amateur Radio Satellites in TES Magazine

International Space Station - Image credit NASA

International Space Station – Image credit NASA

Amateur radio can open up a new world of opportunities for students, says teacher Chris Aitken MM0WIC, @skipperAitken on X, who shares his tips on how to start a club in the Times Educational Supplement – TES Magazine.

“In 2023 I officially started the Wick High School Radio Club, with a callsign of GM0WHS. The aim of the club was to expose our students to the wide range of activities available in amateur radio.

I remember our first activity: talking to another amateur in England via the SO-50 satellite. I stood with three students on the rugby pitch, antennas pointing to the sky and talking to another amateur, Nick M1DDD.

By the end of the contact, we had 30 students around us wondering what was going on. Their curiosity sparked, we answered questions on what we were doing and invited them to take part.”

Read the TES magazine article at
https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/general/why-i-started-amateur-radio-club-my-school

Online Amateur Radio Foundation Course M6KFAThere is no better way to explore the fascinating world of wireless communication than by becoming a radio amateur.

This free online 3-week amateur radio course will enable you to become a radio amateur and get an Ofcom amateur radio licence and callsign, details and booking information at
https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/book-a-place/

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