[SMCARA] ISS contact?

Tue May 6 19:43:17 EDT 2014

Thanks for the info AJ. I'll see if I can hear anything and maybe even try to contact next time it passes over. It looks like it's going to be about a week before we start getting passes locally.

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From: A.J. Farmer
Sent: ‎Monday‎, ‎May‎ ‎5‎, ‎2014 ‎2‎:‎49‎ ‎PM
To: Micah Reese
Cc: SMCARA

Hi Micah,

As you have already found, issfanclub.com is the best resource for
radio activity reports.   The ISS downlink is always at 145.800  Most
of the time the radio operates in APRS packet mode.  The signal is
very strong and you will be able to pick it up just fine with a
standard vertical antenna, even a mobile whip in your vehicle.  I
always leave 145.800 in my mobile scan list for this reason.  A
circular polarized 2M antenna will definitely help, but it is not
required.  If you do go that route, you will also need an Az/El
Rotator to precisely point the antenna and it gets complex and
expensive very quickly.

A easier and lower budget option is to use an HT with an "Arrow Antenna":
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html

Once you have your equipment ready to go, now it is a matter of
knowing when the ISS is overhead and having a bit of luck.

You can use this site to get a pass prediction table for the next week or so:
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT
Make sure to enter your location at the top right of the page.  Also
set to "All" passes (not just visible).  Higher Elevation passes are
going to be much easier to work, obviously.  Anything lower than 20
degrees above horizon at highest point are probably not worth the
effort.

1. Listen to overhead passes of the ISS.  If you hear packet, it's
best to continue to listen to the entire pass as you never know when
an astronaut will flip the switch to make voice contacts.
2. Watch http://www.issfanclub.com for any Voice contact reports.
Some crews are more active than others.  If things go for weeks or
months with no voice contacts (school contacts don't count), it's
likely things won't change until you get a new crewmember (like your
friend) that has an interest in making radio contacts.  Usually things
are hot or cold, no in between.
3. If things are hot, keep in mind that the astronauts are working
with a busy schedule.  Your best bet to have one of them get on the
radio is during their break time.  After dinner is usually a good
time.   You might be able to dig up their schedule via Google or
Nasa.gov.
4. Many of the astronauts are active on Twitter and tweet from space.
Your friend's Twitter handle is @astro_reid   It would be good to
follow him if you aren't already.  Related to scheduling, if you see
one or more astronauts tend to get on Twitter at certain times of the
day, this would indicate they have free time and it is likely this
might also be time they would get on the radio.

When they switch the radio to voice, it will be one of two modes:
1. 144.49 uplink
2. 437.800 uplink
To determine what uplink is being used most often, check issfanclub.com reports

If you hear a school contact in progress on 145.800, note that they
use a "secret" uplink frequency so the two above uplink frequencies
are invalid.

In the meantime, you can practice operating and make contacts with
other Earthbound HAMs on the only active FM repeater satellite, SO-50.
 Information here:

http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1015

Status and reports are here:
http://oscar.dcarr.org/

I wrote up some operating tips and put on my website here:
http://www.aj3u.com/?page_id=13

I hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any other questions.

A.J. Farmer, AJ3U

On Sun, May 4, 2014 at 7:50 AM,  <reesemn at gmail.com> wrote:
> I found out yesterday that I know someone who is now an astronaut and will be going to the International Space Station at the end of the month (Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, he was a test pilot at Pax). Has anyone made contact with the ISS and/or want to help me try? Anyone have a 2m circular polarized directional antenna I can borrow for a while? Or maybe seen some DIY plans for one?
>
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> Micah (N4CA)
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