Richard,

did CAMSAT have anything realistic to say about HO-68 ?

Yes, Alan Kung, BA1DU and CEO of CAMSAT was one of the speakers at the AMSAT Forum. He reported that HO-68 is suffering from a bad relay or relay driver that is used to switch from the beacon to the transponder. The likelihood of recovery is low, but not zero. As my schedule permits, I plan to post Alan's very informative presentation on the AMSAT web site. Watch for an announcement from ANS (the AMSAT News Service).

Here is the explanation from Alan's slide. Since I have a copy of his presentation, these are exact quotes, not my interpretation:

-- The current situation is the transponders will be difficult to switch the RF PA from beacon mode to transponder mode

-- The RF relay or its drive circuit is failing, it is a stick relay. Probability of success of switch is probably a few tenth

-- On the other hand, up to now the both solar and lithium-ion batteries are in very nice condition

-- The exhibitions of the thermal-control, onboard flight computer and TT&C are also excellent.

any new satellite radios announced by anyone ?

None that I saw or heard about.

I'll settle for ANY new radios announced by anyone ?

Elecraft showed their KX3. I'll have to let others give you the details.

73, Steve N9IP --