With AMSAT’s Fox-1A set to launch on October 8 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, AMSAT is offering its book, Getting Started with the Amateur Radio Satellites 2015 by Gould Smith, WA4SXM (and friends) for a limited time as a download with any paid new or renewal membership purchased via the AMSAT Store. Fox-1A will go up on an Atlas V vehicle as an auxiliary GRACE (Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment) payload on the NROL-55 mission, which will carry 13 CubeSats into space.

“A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of satellite operation,” said AMSAT’s Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, in making the announcement. “The 132-page book is presented in PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite.”

The Fox series of CubeSats will provide FM transponders (70 centimeters up/2 meters down) that AMSAT says “will match the ground performance of previous FM satellites.”

General information on Fox-1A is available in the downloadable AMSAT Fox Operating Guide. FoxTelem software for decoding and submitting telemetry is available for download from the AMSAT website.