Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution

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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/.

Thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for forwarding the above information.

Doomsday Radio awakens after 50 Years - Repeats “Degazator”

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Doomsday Radio awakens after 50 Years - Repeats “Degazator”

The current climate among the nations of the world is a very tense one indeed. But when a mysterious “Doomsday” radio station began broadcasting after 50 years of silence, the world began raising questions as to the purpose of these odd one-word broadcasts.

What could the strange repetition of the word ‘Degazator” mean?

How strange radio broadcast signals have revealed secrets about the world

Strange radio signals have often emerged from military or security projects around the world.

In 1976, at the height of the Cold War, a strange and unexplained radio signal was detected with no obvious origin. The Soviet Union remained silent on the signal, but amateur radio enthusiasts found that the signal came from Chernobyl, most likely being an early warning system for American missiles.

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Not Moonbounce, Rather Building- And Pedestrian-Bounce

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Not Moonbounce, Rather Building- And Pedestrian-Bounce

In late January, an Alphabet-owned Waymo self-driving car was cruising near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, when a young child suddenly darted into the street. Waymo’s LiDAR sensors detected the student, who had just emerged from behind a parked SUV, but it was too late. Despite slamming on the brakes and slowing from 17 to six mph, the driverless car struck the child, knocking them to the pavement. Luckily, reports show that the child only suffered minor injuries, but that’s likely little comfort to parents whose children live in the growing number of cities where driverless cars operate.

In this case, the Waymo detected the child once they came into view—but what if it could have “seen” them from around the corner? That is the general idea behind new research emerging out of the University of Pennsylvania, where a team of engineers have developed a sensor system that uses radio waves to help robots detect objects (or people) hidden behind walls.

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