ISS Repeater may shutdown during Shuttle mission

The International Space Station (ISS) 70 cm to 2 metre FM repeater may be switched off for a while during the STS-122 shuttle mission to the ISS.

Miles Mann WF1F of MAREX-MG mentioned on the AMSAT Bulletin Board that on Wednesday night the ISS ham station wasn't active. He commented that it is normal for NASA to shutdown some of the radio gear during a Shuttle or other Docking Mission.

He said that the Kenwood D700 had been running for 5+ days in cross-band repeater mode.

There had previously been some heat issues with the D700 (convection cooling doesn't work in space) so the fact the radio has been transmitting for so long is encouraging.

MAREX-MG (Manned Amateur Radio EXperiment) http://www.marexmg.org/

Kenwood D700 Turbo Fan Project
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/turbofanproject.html

SpaceCam1 Status
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/spacecamstatus.html

AMSAT Bulletin Board AMSAT-BB
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/maillist.php

Online Satellite Pass Predictions (Select ISS) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/

ISS Repeater Tips
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2008/
iss_repeater_tips.htm