Winners of the LEDSAT radio amateur competition
After the successful launch of the Vega VV19 mission on 17 August at 01:47 UTC, radio amateurs from all over the world listened in for the first signals from LEDSAT, the 1U CubeSat from Sapienza University, Rome, participating in the Fly Your Satellite! program.
The first beacons were transmitted around 04:20 UTC after deployment of LEDSAT’s antennas and the first recordings of LEDSAT came in at 05:56 UTC on the morning of the launch from the island nation of Mauritius, off the east coast of Madagascar.
A big “Thank you” to all who listened for LEDSAT and to all those who sent in their recordings of LEDSAT’s first beacons from orbit, from both the Fly Your Satellite! team and the LEDSAT team. LEDSAT student team leader, Paolo Marzioli, had some words to share about the competition:
"We were all extremely happy to see how much our small project has resonated through the radio-amateur community, their incredibly helpful support to small satellite missions is not new to us but it's always incredible to see people literally in all continents talking about your satellite. We congratulate the winners and all the participants in the competition: Thanks for your interest and your support! We're looking forward to the future months and years to come."
From all the recordings of LEDSAT sent in, the first confirmed entry from each continent were identified. Here are the winners of the radio amateur competition along with their call sign:
- Asia: Edward Chuang - BX1AD
- Africa: Jean Marc Momple - LG89UX - “Congratulation to the LEDSAT team and long life to the satellite, wish you all success with the mission.”
- Europe: Dmitry Pashkov - R4UAB
- North America: Scott Chapman – K4KDR - "Congratulations on getting LEDSAT into orbit - best of luck with the mission!"
- South America: Roland Zurmely - PY4ZBZ
The winners will receive a certificate along with a small prize. The rest of the entrants will also receive a certificate as a token for their help and enthusiasm for the competition.
The Fly Your Satellite! team hopes to hear from you again on future missions!