[K6BW] Satellite news for field day

[Steve Johnson]

NASA Releases ISS North and South America Pass Times
for Field Day:
from The ARRL Letter, Vol 25, No 24 
Website: http://www.arrl.org/ on June 16, 2006 
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NASA Releases ISS North and South America Pass Times
for Field Day:
NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom,
N5VHO, has released a list of International Space
Station Field Day pass times for North and South
America (see
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/06/15/1/ for
pass times and any updates). The Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) Phase 2 ham
station will be in crossband repeater mode over Field
Day weekend, June 24-25. The chances of actually
talking to one of the crew members appear to be
minimal, however. 
"Keep in mind that these are not scheduled times for
the crew to be active," Ransom points out. He says
crew members Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and Pavel
Vinogradov, RV3BS, may work some stations personally,
but they're already booked pretty heavily during FD
weekend. 
"They will try to participate as time permits, but the
pass times for North America are not favorable,"
Ransom noted. The crew should be on its normal sleep
schedule of 2130-0600 UTC during Field Day weekend.
When they're awake, however, Williams and Vinogradov
will have their hands full preparing for the arrival
of the Progress 22 supply vehicle on Monday, June 26,
when the crew will deactivate the crossband repeater. 
The crossband repeater uplink is 437.800 MHz. The
downlink is 145.800 MHz. Ransom says the crossband
repeater should be up and running sometime after 1900
UTC on Thursday, June 22. He said this will give
stations a couple of days to practice working through
it and learn how best to deal with the Doppler on the
uplink, which can be considerable. The crossband
repeater will be available only to low-power (QRP)
stations following AMSAT criteria, Ransom said. A QRP
station may run no more than 10 W to a vertical or
handheld antenna. 
US pass times are not especially ideal for contacts
with the crew members. The only one on Saturday, June
24 (UTC) - over Mexico and the Eastern US - falls
during the crew's sleep period. Passes on Sunday, June
24 - from 0046 to 0105 UTC and from 0708 to 0728 UTC
over the Central US - may offer a better opportunity.
Stations in the US Southwest might look for crew
activity on Sunday from 0844 to 0900 UTC, while those
in Hawaii should check Sunday from 1152 to 1200 UTC
and again from 1327 to 1335 UTC. 
If Williams or Vinogradov do find time to get on the
air, Ransom says, they also will use the crossband
repeater mode. Williams will give a report of "NA1SS,
1 Alpha ISS," while Vinogradov will give a report of
"RS0ISS, 1 Alpha ISS." 
Contacts made via the ISS crossband repeater count as
satellite contacts for Field Day bonus points.
Contacts with the crew do not count for Field Day
bonus points. 
AMSAT is making its ECHO (AO-51) satellite available
for Field Day. One of AO-51's FM transponders (145.880
MHz up/435.150 MHz down, no CTCSS tone needed) will be
QRP only (10 W) for Field Day. 
Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, says PCSat2, which is mounted on
the outside of the ISS, will be in packet mode and
operating on 145.825 MHz simplex over Field Day
weekend. 
Source: 
The ARRL Letter Vol. 25, No. 24 June 16, 2006


 
   73 KI6ADA
  Steve Johnson