[K6BW] Space Station contact from Santa Rosa Junior College April 2nd

[Bill Smith]

Hello Sonoma County Hams,
The ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) ground station at the Santa Rosa Junior College, W6SRJ, will be conducting a rare lunchtime telebridge contact with the ISS on April 2nd. The SRJC hosts one of 7 NASA authorized stations (W6SRJ) which is part of the worldwide telebridge network to connect school kids to an astronaut aboard the ISS.  The kids are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talk to an astronaut live in space via Ham Radio.  For more information about ARISS, please visit http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm

The members/operators of the SRJC Telebridge Team are Tim Bosma W6MU, Don Dalby KE6UAY, Bill Hillendahl KH6GJV, Herb Sullivan K6QXB and Jeff Basham KK6JAB.

We have a upcoming "school" contact in which the telebridge audio will be carried live via the IRLP (Internet Relay Linking Protocol) Network, and it will be repeated live on two Downtown Santa Rosa Repeaters - 146.835, and 444.900 via the KK6JAB IRLP Node.  Both repeaters can be heard throughout Santa Rosa and surrounding areas.

The Telebridge audio will connect automatically at about 12:15pm, April 2nd.  The contact is expected to start at 12:35pm, and last between 9 and 12 minutes, and you'll hear updates of that time given by the Telebridge moderator.  The official contact script starts somewhere about 6-8 minutes before the expected "rise" of the ISS on Santa Rosa's horizon.

This is a rare contact during the lunch hour - and as with all contacts, interested hams are invited to visit the W6SRJ station in Lark Hall during the contact.  Contact me if you are interested in attending (kk6jab at arrl.net).  Please note that parking permits are required on the SRJC campus 24 hours a day, and parking is only allowed in white lined, student spaces.  You'll need to purchase a daily parking permit for $3 to park on campus.

If you are not near a radio, or not near Santa Rosa, you'll be able to listen to the live audio on the internet, by clicking on the "Live Streaming Audio" link at http://www.discoveryreflector.ca/.

If you have a chance to tune in, please do so .. you'll witness a piece of Ham Radio history.  Also, please feel free to forward this email to all your ham radio contacts.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at kk6jab at arrl.net.

Thanks and 73!

Jeff Basham, KK6JAB
on behalf of the SRJC ARISS Telebridge Team

Public Information Officer, San Francisco Section
ARRL - The National Organization for Amateur Radio