[sarex] Re: ISS amateur radio Mode

Wed May 2 01:47:14 PDT 2007

Also, according to a post right on this remailer about a week ago 
from Frank Bauer, it will be months or longer before any work is done 
to repair the D700.  Ham radio is a very, very low priority.  Here is 
that posting in case you missed it:

From: "Frank H. Bauer" <ka3hdo at comcast.net>
Subject: [sarex]  ARISS Status Report April 24, 2007
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ISS Ham Radio Enthusiasts,

I wanted to provide a progress report on the ISS Ham Radio activities.  And
to address some questions that have come up related to ARISS operations and
equipment upgrade and repair.

With the successful Shuttle return to flight, the International Space
Station Program construction has moved into high gear with delivery and
assembly of new ISS modules.  If all goes well, the new European Columbus
Module and Japanese Kibo module will be installed on ISS in the next 12
months.  This substantial workload on the crew is impacting ARISS
operations directly.

The launching of any new or replacement radios or computers has been
significantly curtailed due to the extremely limited upmass
capability.  There are just too many higher priority activities from an
international space agency perspective and frankly we are a lower
priority.  The extra workload on the crew has taken its toll on ARISS -
they have had very little extra time for Amateur Radio activities beyond
school contacts.  This is somewhat frustrating to the general ham radio
community and the ARISS International Team, though the team is pleased that
the crew has been able to speak so often with youth groups worldwide,
piquing their interest in Amateur Radio, science, technology, engineering
and math.

The ARISS team had been hopeful that Charles Simonyi would have been able
to restore the Kenwood D700 radio system to full functionality after an
accidental reprogramming of the radio occurred near the end of Exp 13.  The
ARISS team worked diligently with the Simonyi team to get Charles
licensed,  trained, and prepared to perform the Kenwood
reprogramming.  Unfortunately, the ARISS team hit a major hurdle a few
weeks before Charles' launch.  We learned that additional software
certification steps were required to allow the reprogramming software to be
used on the ISS computers.  Through heroic efforts by the team, final
software certification was successfully completed.  Unfortunately, this was
completed only a few days before Charles' return from space.  As a result,
the ARISS team was informed by the mission control team and some of our
international team partners that it there was insufficient time to allow
Charles to complete the restoration.  Thus, the Kenwood restoration was not
completed by Charles.  This last minute hiccup in software certification
was not predictable.  So there was no way the ARISS team could have better
prepared for Charles' flight.

At this point in time, it appears that a full restoration will require a
substantial, concerted effort with full cooperation from our international
colleagues and the Russian and US space agencies.  We need to make sure
that all components necessary for a successful reprogramming are
identified, purchased (if necessary), certified, tested and flown together
before the radio will be fully restored. Realizing this will be especially
challenging due to the upmass issue I described above.  This will likely
take several months to accomplish as the team will have to begin from
square one. In the short term, requests for some investigative analysis by
the crew will be made.  This will enable the ARISS team to determine if the
radio can be partially restored to provide some of the unattended
operations that it once provided.

With Charles' successful landing, we have started down this new path.  We
will continue to keep you informed of our progress.

In closing, we are aggressively working this issue, despite several
setbacks.  While our plans to have Charles reprogram the radio were
thwarted, we were happy that he could speak to so many hams around the
world during his short stay.  And capture the imagination of students
around the globe.

On behalf of the ARISS team, we thank all of you for your interest and
enthusiasm in Ham Radio on the ISS.

73,  Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chairman
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs

At 08:43 PM 5/1/2007, Roger Kolakowski wrote:
>Patrick...the D700 aboard the ISS is "broken" as in unable to do packet or
>crossband at this time or until it is "fixed"...additionally, I don't
>believe "mail" has been exchanged with the crew for years...as for crew
>contacts, as I count contacts, you have talked to ISS at least 3 times more
>than most people on this list.
>
>In reference to crossband repeat, that is my favorite also...now to find a
>way to fix the D700 that performs this function ...if you have any
>constructive ideas along this line I'm sure the ARISS coordinators (not just
>Bob Bruninga)would love to hear from you directly...
>
>This is not a "heated reply"...just reality.
>
>Roger (haven't heard ISS packet in at least 2 months)
>WA1KAT
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Patrick McGrane" <N2OEQ at aceweb.com>
>To: <sarex at AMSAT.Org>
>Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 12:39 AM
>Subject: [sarex] ISS amateur radio Mode
>
>
> > Greetings from patrick n2oeq
> >
> > Regarding my previous email about future modes, it seems every time I
>bring up a request or express an opinion, the packet crowd takes particular
>offense to my comments and reacts in an overly protective manner...Sorry to
>ruffle feathers but I prefer to talk to humans instead of playing with
>computers. Without the ability to exchange mail with the crew, I'm
>uninterested.
> >
> > Concerning the idea of using a subaudible tone, I thought that was
>constructive but what I am trying to do is appeal for a mode change.
> >
> > To bob; the frequency idea was also constructive but I'm sure you wish to
>maintain control of the D700. Arent years enough?  In my opinion , its time
>for a change or shared usage.
> >
> > I assure everyone I'm not stupid; I realize the crew is busy so quite
>throwing that at me. What I am asking for is the use of cross-band repeat
>with the D700. Then we could talk to each other on the ground and like the
>past, maybe the crew will be listening and get on and say hello.
> >
> > I'm making a request, not a demand, so spare me the heated replies.
> >
>
>----
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