The New England Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society will meet on-line and in-person on March 21, 2023 at 7 PM and feature: “Management of AMSAT Orbital Elements Resources” by Ray Hoad, WA5QGD and Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P.”
Description: This presentation describes the history, format, preparation, and distribution process for Two Line Elements (TLE) satellite tracking data by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). This process supplies TLE on a weekly (or daily) basis to be used by radio amateurs to track and communicate via radio amateur satellites to other amateur radio stations. The source of TLE data is the U.S. Air Force SpaceTrack.org website.
Bios: Raymond F. Hoad received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1971 and 1973, respectively. After four years in the U.S. Air Force, he joined what is now ONCOR Electric Delivery, Fort Worth, Texas in 1977 as a System Protection Engineer. He retired as Consulting Engineer-Relay from the ONCOR System Protection Group in August 2014. He is currently a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He is a life member of ARRL and AMSAT-NA and currently serves as AMSAT-NA Orbital Data Manager. He holds an Amateur Extra License.
Joe Fitzgerald was originally licensed as KA1EMW in 1980 and is an active member of the HF contesting and amateur satellite community. His interest in amateur satellite telemetry has led him through two engineering degrees and he presently works managing the telemetry and control of electric grids around the world.