[amsat-bb] ARISS funding

[kw4wz at amsat.org]

Personally, I think the school contacts alone justify the ARISS program. 
  Having amateur radio be a part of human spaceflight is an excellent 
way to promote the hobby.

But we need the new hardware to get the APRS system back full time. 
Watching the ISS fly over while working the APRS rig is a great experience.

Besides school contacts, there have been six SSTV events this year that 
have been very popular.  Over 19 thousand reception reports were 
submitted from around the globe.
	73,
	Will KW4WZ

On 8/22/19 3:39 PM, John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> The Kenwood radios in the Russian service module are used for school
> contacts almost every week. Just check the "Upcoming ARISS Contact
> schedule" emails that go to this list.
> 
> You are right that, currently, ham equipment is not on and in use on
> every orbit, but it used to be. In the Columbus module there is an
> Erricson HT that was used for US and other non-Russian school contacts
> and also, the 145.825 digipeater. That used to be on whenever there
> wasn't a school contact, a docking/undocking, or some experiment that
> necessitated it being off. The reason it is listed as "rarely used" is
> because it's broken/on the fritz and that is the reason for the money
> request! The data you point to is not an indication of lack of usage,
> it's a symptom of the problem that keeps it from being used.
> 
> The money is needed for a new radio that would allow a similar
> situation, a (probably) usually on UHF/VHF crossband voice repeater in
> the form of a modified Kenwod TM-D710GA that the astronauts could jump
> onto. It will also do digipeating and SSTV.
> 
> The "rarely used" at least for the voice frequencies is to keep people
> from getting their hopes up to make a random unscheduled contact.
> Those are indeed rare, but even with the equipment we have now, it
> gets used and it affects thousands of students every year, not to
> mention hams. I'm sure someone from ARISS can speak to this, more
> accurately and better, than me.
> 
> 73, John Brier KG4AKV
...

-- 
Will Marchant, KW4WZ