[sarex] ARISS Operations

[Frank H. Bauer]

All,

The ARISS team has been quite engaged with Pavel Vinogradov as he continues 
the testing and verification of the SSTV system on ISS.  We expect this to 
continue over the next few weeks.

Those active on the bands have noticed that the Kenwood radio system has 
been up and down over the past week or so.  This is expected to continue as 
Pavel checks out the SSTV software, configures and optimizes the radio, and 
performs the integration checks necessary to make the SSTV system as 
autonomous as possible.  Since this is a "spare time" activity for Pavel, 
please bear with us as we go through this aspect of system setup.  It is 
not possible right now for Pavel to switch between modes (e.g. voice, 
packet and SSTV) on the Kenwood and continue the methodical process of 
system setup and reconfiguration.

As has been the norm for school contacts (due to the current ISS vehicle 
attitude), we will use the Ericsson radio in the FGB for 2 meter voice 
operation when the crew desires to do voice QSOs.

We appreciate your patience in this matter as we reconfigure the Kenwood 
system to support additional modes and operations.

73,  Frank H. Bauer
ARISS International Chairman
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs