UK Foundation holder talks to astronaut on space station

Callum Graham MM3YCG recently had a contact with astronaut Mike Fincke who was onboard the International Space Station Astronaut Mike Fincke holds the Amateur Radio callsign KE5AIT but for this contact he was using the International Space Station callsign of NA1SS.

Callum MM3YCG got his Foundation Amateur licence in July 2007 and has had contacts through a number of Amateur Radio Satellites. It is believed that Callum may be the first UK Foundation holder to contact an Astronaut onboard the ISS.

Watch the video 'MM3YCG, NA1SS International Space Station'

Callum worked Mike via the crossband repeater onboard the International Space Station (437.800 MHz uplink and 145.800 MHz downlink). Essentually it's a crossband contact rather than a repeater contact in the conventional sense since Mike was transmitting on the ISS Kenwood D700 also used for the repeater.

Traditionally Astronauts have called CQ on 2 metres and listened for a response in that band but it seems that working crossband is proving more popular. When the crossband mode was not in operation astronauts would call CQ on 145.800 MHz FM. If you were in Europe or Africa you would call them on 145.200 MHz (rest of the world uses 144.490). This is simply a matter of enabling the -600 kHz repeater shift in your radio.

If your radio has both 2.5 kHz deviation (Narrow FM) and 5 kHz deviation FM settings then you will get better results from the space station by selecting the wider setting. The Amateur Radio equipment on the ISS uses 5 kHz deviation FM which is standard across the Americas and Pacific.

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

N2YO Real Time Satellite Tracking website for the ISS and other satellites
http://www.n2yo.com/

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