Dear all,

ANDE (NO-61) has de-orbited last week - after spending ~370 days in space.

During its short life many radio amateurs used the satellite. Most of them found it initially a challenge to hear the downlink. Yet, over time more and more stations joined. Many stations improved their antenna systems and got to hear ANDE. In the very last days, while the passes got even shorter, there were up to 8 stations actively digipeating via the satellite in a single pass.

We have seen more and more HAMS enhancing their satellite radio-stations and set-up a SatGate (= automated internet forwarding of all data received on 145.825 MHz, the 2mtr APRS downlink of multiple satellites). During December up to 78 stations worldwide non-stop forwarded data they received ! A great achievement, providing value also after ANDE. Radio amateurs have proven to be able to get their act together on very short terms and set up dedicated digital communication links using very small satellites. Note that all of this has been fully operational for a period of 4 weeks non-stop.

All systems on-board ANDE have been functioning fine until de-orbit. We did not observe any major deviation in the telemetry data (eg in temperature). Just a few hours before the decay in the morning of Dec 25, JA0CAW received his last telemetry packet (2007/12/24 22:27:43) and W6MSU was still able to digipeat (2007/12/24 21:14:13). That whole last day of Dec 24 many stations around the world used the tiny APRS satellite... which was running its entire life on batteries only !

ANDE has successfully completed its mission and served as a great APRS satellite.

Now - back to the competition & fun part: the AWARD ! ===================================================== Many radio amateur stations from around the world participated in the special ANDE de-orbit event and have received and forwarded valuable telemetry of the satellite during its last days in space. For everyone that participated we have made available a special AWARD.

Everyone that made QSOs via ANDE or received telemetry during its final 10 days in space can submit his/her achievements and apply for the AWARD. On the AWARD your callsign and achievements will be mentioned:

ANDE APRS QSOs: 1 point for each 2 way APRS QSO in the period Dec 15-24 Example: 00:01:31:24 : KB1GVR]APU25N,ANDE-1*,qAO,K8YSE-6::KC2PCR :GA Doug 00:01:31:42 : KC2PCR]APRS,ANDE-1*,qAO,KB\2CEV::KB1GVR :G'Afternoon Mark ;)

ANDE Telemetry reception (in total 55 telemetry points can be achieved): 10 points for telemetry packets of Dec 24, 2007 9 points for telemetry packets of Dec 23, 2007 8 points for telemetry packets of Dec 22, 2007 7 points for telemetry packets of Dec 21, 2007 6 points for telemetry packets of Dec 20, 2007 5 points for telemetry packets of Dec 19, 2007 4 points for telemetry packets of Dec 18, 2007 3 points for telemetry packets of Dec 17, 2007 2 points for telemetry packets of Dec 16, 2007 1 point for telemetry packets of Dec 15, 2007

Of course your participation is what counts most, not the final score !

We ask 4 euro for submissions in Europe and 6 euro outside Europe. This is only for printing & shipping the awards, any surplus will be donated to an AMSAT satellite project.

For all details on submission/payments/status etc: http://www.ande-deorbit.com On this website we have maintained an overview of all participating stations that forwarded data. There is also an overview of all the telemetry since Nov 14, when we started this event. A draft version of the award itself can been pre-viewed as well !

Have a look yourself !

Finally we would like to thank all radio amateur stations world-wide that have contributed and participated in the event. Without your help this would not have been possible. It has really been a lot a fun !

Looking forward to your submissions & feedback on the website !

73's Mike, DK3WN Henk, PA3GUO http://www.ande-deorbit.com