 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.
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) program has announced that the Phase 2 ham station aboard the
ISS will be on the air in crossband repeater mode over Field Day weekend,
Saturday and Sunday, 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 active after 1900 UTC
on Thursday, June 22 to give stations time to practice working through
it and to learn how best to deal with Doppler shift 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.
 |
| Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS (left) and Jeff Williams,
KD5TVQ |
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 through the ISS crossband repeater count as a satellite contact
for Field Day bonus points, but contacts with the crew do not count for
Field Day bonus points.
AMSAT is making its ECHO (AO-51) satellite available for Field Day, Ransom
notes. One of AO-51's FM transponders (145.880 MHz up/435.150 MHz down,
no CTCSS tone needed) will be QRP only during the Field Day period.
Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, has indicated that PCSat2--which is mounted on
the outside of the ISS--will be in packet mode and operating on 145.825
MHz simplex during Field Day weekend.
See www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/06/15/1/
for pass times and any updates.
Source: The
American Radio Relay League
|
