[sarex] Re: ARISS Frequencies

[Tony, VK5ZAI]

Hello All,
Regarding the ISS split Frq's, I am in favour for the split, I monitor 
the ARISS Frq. 24 / 7days a week. Although I may not be in the shack at 
the time I'm generally within  hearing distance  and if I hear activity 
I come in to monitor it. I'm sure that if the ISS used simplex with 
others calling every orbit I wouldn't bother.
That's my bit regarding ISS frqs. and I would think I'm not the only one 
that follows this practice

-- 
Regards Tony.  VK5ZAI

J.A.(Tony)Hutchison
P.O.Box 470 Kingston SE 
South Australia  5275

Australian ARISS Co-ordinator
and Satellite ground Station.

Web Site :- 
http://www.electric-web.org



Frank H. Bauer wrote:

>All,
>
>I have seen the back and forth chatter on frequencies.  Let me say that the 
>ENTIRE ARISS international team have discussed this subject and debated it 
>for over 10 years now.  And the Mir and Shuttle teams have worked on this 
>for about 13 years before the ARISS team.  Collectively, we have spent many 
>hours in international meetings discussing this issue.  And the ARISS team 
>has developed and implemented an INTERNATIONAL human spaceflight plan for 2 
>meters.  This plan represents the best compromise that can be developed, 
>given the substantial differences that exist in band planning from one area 
>to the next.
>
>Several things to think about:
>
>1)  We have many astronauts/cosmonauts using the equipment.
>
>2) Those on-board that use the ARISS equipment do not like to hear the 
>uplink chatter of Packet, APRS or SSTV.
>
>3)  1 & 2 above result in the need to separate the uplinks of these 
>non-voice modes from voice.
>
>4)  One of the big joys (and learning experiences) of ARISS is to hear the 
>downlink of the on-board crew member.  One cannot do this well when some 
>local ham is transmitting on the same freq.  This is especially true in big 
>cities where there are a lot of hams.  I personally experienced the 
>frustration of hams transmitting on the downlink many times while Mir used 
>simplex.  And the reason that DXers use split mode is to prevent this 
>issue, so that all can hear the DX station.
>
>5)  ARISS is the ultimate DX, so split operation emulates the DX operations 
>done on the ground.
>
>6)  Remember---unless the repeater is in use, you cannot hear who is 
>transmitting from the ground and when they will stop.  So it is generally 
>hard to know when to start.  For simplex operations, this results in 
>frequency collisions with people on the ground uplinking at the same time 
>that the on-board crew is downlinking.
>
>7)  I am really surprised at all the chatter about wanting to get crew 
>members to talk more on the radio.  We just had Bill McArthur on 
>board.  And Pavel is working hard to get SSTV on the air.  Kenneth Ransom 
>and Sergey Samburov have done an outstanding job in getting the on-board 
>crews motivated to use the ham radio systems.  I think this community has 
>been around long enough to realize that it is the crew member's prerogative 
>to pick up the mic.  Simplex or split.
>
>8)  Constant complaints or slams at the space agencies and our crew members 
>will ultimately limit or eliminate our future operations on ISS and other, 
>future vehicles.  Remember, there are many that subscribe to these systems 
>that are members of the various space agencies.  And we have also have 
>several crew members that subscribe to these systems.
>
>9)  Because of the significant frequency contention on 2 meters, we have 
>developed a dedicated, international human spaceflight frequency segment on 
>70 cm.
>
>10)  If we continue to foster a great relationship with the international 
>space agencies, Human spaceflight opportunities beyond low Earth orbit 
>could potentially be in our future.  Many of us in the ARISS program are 
>working this very aggressively.  These opportunities will dictate the use 
>of much higher bands with smaller antennas and less doppler.  We need to 
>prepare for these opportunities by using some of our higher bands on 
>ISS.  Something to think about for the future.
>
>Personally, I really appreciate the feedback from the amateur 
>community.  This is how we learn and grow.  But we need to do this in a 
>very constructive way.  And while we reminisce about Shuttle or Mir, we 
>need to realize that THESE are the good old days.  Let's use them to the 
>best of our abilities.
>
>WRT the simplex issue and additional 2 meter frequencies, it is my opinion 
>that we have all beat it to death.  We have squeezed just about all we can 
>get from 2 meters.  And for those in the US---please remember that our 2 
>meter band is 2 times larger than that in many other countries.
>
>Thanks for all the interest in ARISS.  And don't forget that our next 
>international meeting will be in the US this year in conjunction with the 
>AMSAT-NA meeting in San Francisco.  This is your opportunity to interact 
>and participate more fully in the ARISS program.  I hope to see you there!
>
>73,  Frank Bauer
>ARISS International Chairman
>AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
>   
>
>----
>Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
>To unsubscribe, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
>
>
>  
>