August 08 offers 14 passes during the 9 AM–3 PM window — 11 FM and 3 linear transponder opportunities. Top passes: RS-44 (excellent at 79°, 11:24 AM), AO-123 (excellent at 68°, 09:39 AM), ISS-FM (good at 42°, 09:50 AM). Note: RS-44 and AO-123 at 09:32 AM overlap — assign two operators.

August 15 offers 13 passes during the 9 AM–3 PM window — 11 FM and 2 linear transponder opportunities. Top passes: SO-50 (excellent at 75°, 09:57 AM), AO-123 (excellent at 71°, 09:44 AM), RS-44 (excellent at 65°, 10:24 AM). Note: SO-50 and JO-97 at 09:57 AM overlap — assign two operators.

ISS passes Saturday August 08 (9 AM–3 PM ET):

• 09:50 AM peak 09:55 AM — 42° NW — 10 min — Good
• 02:43 PM peak 02:48 PM — 29° NNE — 10 min — Fair

RS-44 continues to offer cross-Atlantic DX opportunities on low-to-moderate eastern passes where the footprint covers both New Jersey and Europe simultaneously. Passes below ~55° from ENE/E/ESE favor cross-Atlantic geometry. All times ET, 8 AM–10 PM window only.

AMSAT’s StOTA Days are the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month — student-to-student satellite contacts encouraged. All satellite operators welcome to get on and make students feel welcome.

Upcoming StOTA Tuesdays — Woodruff Middle School (2:00–3:30 PM ET window):

Equipment on site: Yaesu FT-991A (FM satellites). Good targets: JO-97, AO-123, SO-50, ISS FM repeater.

Hamvention 2026 — May 15–17, Xenia OH: AMSAT forum Saturday May 16, 1:50–3:10 PM, Forum Room 2. TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Friday May 15, 6:30 PM, $75, Kohler Presidential Banquet Center — purchase deadline May 11 at 5 PM EDT. AMSAT booth: Building 1, booths 1007–1010 and 1107–1110.

44th AMSAT Space Symposium — October 8–11, 2026 · Crowne Plaza JAX Airport, Jacksonville FL. Rooms $109/night. Watch AMSAT News Service for registration details.

W2MMD on SatNOGS: The clubhouse ground station is Station #223 — one of the most capable receiving sites in the Northeast. Schedule an observation at network.satnogs.org/stations/223.

Ten-Koh 2 (NORAD #68261, Nihon University 6U CubeSat, V/U linear transponder): Weak signals only — faint CW on 435.860 MHz. Okuyama Lab requesting SatNOGS reception reports. Upload a waterfall — null results are also useful data.

• SO-50: Arm with 2-second 74.4 Hz tone burst before transmitting (10-minute timer)
• AO-7: Mode B only when in sunlight — shuts down in eclipse (no battery)
• RS-44 & FO-29: Inverting V/u transponder — transmit LSB on uplink, receive USB on downlink
• AO-73 (FUNcube-1): Active in eclipse — inverting V/u: up LSB 435.130–435.150 / dn USB 145.950–145.970 MHz
• JO-97 (FO-118): Also has linear transponder: up LSB 435.100–435.120 / dn USB 145.855–145.875 MHz
• Pass predictions ±2 min — data from N2YO.com, coordinates 39.73°N 75.21°W