[South Florida DX Association] International Space Station FM Repeater on this weekend, strong signal

[Bill Dzurilla]

I read that the ISS space station repeater would be on
all weekend, and on my first attempt heard the
downlink loud and clear on 145.8 mhz, much louder than
the OSCAR satellites.  The uplink is at 437.8 mhz and
is a bit more difficult to get into (I could not get
in using a 2m beam as a 70 cm antenna), although
several have reported success using just a 5w dual
band HT and a whip antenna.

Each good pass lasts about 15 minutes and there is
only one channel, so QSOs need to be short, contest
style so everyone has a chance.  During the first few
minutes of the pass, transmit at 437.79 to account for
Doppler shift.  After about 3 minutes, go to 437.795,
then 3 minutes later to 437.8, then 437.805, and then
go to 437.81 near the end of the pass.  The repeater
may not be strong enough to break the squelch, so turn
off the squelch on your rig.  Best possible DX is
about 3000 miles.

You can obtain the time of each pass at:
http://www.issfanclub.com/tracking

For this weekend, here are the starting times of the
best passes for the Ft. Lauderdale area, all times
UTC:
February 2: 2149 (best)
February 3: 0551, 2035

73, Bill NZ5N


 


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?  
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.  http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping