WD2XSH Experimental Stations to Be Active on November 3

SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX007
ARLX007 WD2XSH Experimental Stations to Be Active on November 3

ZCZC AX07
QST de W1AW
Special Bulletin 7 ARLX007
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT October 26, 2011
To all radio amateurs

SB SPCL ARL ARLX007
ARLX007 WD2XSH Experimental Stations to Be Active on November 3

A number of the WD2XSH experimental stations will be on the air on
Thursday, November 3 to mark the 105th anniversary of the Berlin
International Radiotelegraphic Convention. According to ARRL WD2XSH
Coordinator, stations operating in the band from 495-510 kHz will
call CQ on 500 kHz and then QSY to complete the QSO. Stations
operating in the band from 461-478 kHz will call CQ on 474.5 kHz and
then QSY. Other stations may operate beacons with special messages
in the bands from 508-510 kHz and 476-478 kHz. For a complete list
of stations participating in the WD2XSH experiment, as well as
information on how to send your reports, please see the WD2XSH
website at http://www.500kc.com/.
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/EX

ARISS Finalizes Plans for Silver Anniversary of Amateur Radio from Space

SB SPACE ARL ARLS009
ARLS009 ARISS Finalizes Plans for Silver Anniversary of Amateur Radio from Space

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team is currently celebrating the silver anniversary -- 25 years -- of Amateur Radio operations from space. According to ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, the crew on the International Space Station (ISS) has configured the radio to support cross-band repeater operations. They have also supported some SSTV downlinks and participated in a special test of 9600 baud packet radio operations on the simplex frequency of 145.825 MHz. After December 19, Bauer said he expects the ISS ham radio system to be on the 145.825 MHz frequency supporting 1200 baud packet. If PCSAT is configured during the week, he said double hop APRS is possible.

"During the week of December 21-26, we plan to support the cross-band repeater mode with a twist," Bauer said. "Our intent is to configure the radio for 145.99 MHz uplink -- including CTCSS tone of 67.0 and 437.80 MHz down. This will be performed in low power mode. We should also note that an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is planned for that week -- Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, RA3DT, plan to perform a spacewalk on December 22. As per standard procedure, the ISS ham radio system will be turned off for the EVA."

Bauer said that from December 28-January 3, the cross-band repeater will be reconfigured for what he called "a special experiment. This will be a test of our L-Band uplink capability, which, to date, has not been proven out. Plan for an uplink of 1269.65 MHz and a downlink on the standard frequency of 145.80 MHz, using low power," he said. "Given the substantial cable losses of the L-band system, we hope some 'big guns' are able to penetrate through, keep up with Doppler and make the connection."

A special certificate is being developed for those who communicate with the ISS from November 30, 2008 to January 15, 2009. This certificate will be awarded to those who have had two-way communications with the ISS on voice, packet (APRS) or through the voice repeater. Those who hear the ISS from space in any of the ARISS operations modes -- voice, SSTV, school contact, voice repeater or digital - will also be eligible to receive a certificate.

To receive the certificate, Bauer said to note the ARISS mode of operation (such as SSTV, voice or school) on your QSL and whether the contact was one-way (receive only) or two-way. "You should send your self-addressed, stamped envelope to the normal ARISS QSL volunteer distributor in your area of the world," he explained. "On the outside of the QSL envelope, please include the words '25th Anniversary Certificate.' Make sure your envelope is big enough to accept an 8.5 x 11 inch certificate and includes the proper postage."

If you do not know where to send your QSL, check the ARISS Web site to find the one that serves your part of the world.

"We will be sending your certificate to the volunteer distributors in bulk after the event is over," Bauer said. "This saves workload and money. So do not expect to see it until 1-2 months after the event closes on January 15." Bauer reminded hams that due to ISS flight requirements related to spacewalks and vehicle activity, the radio onboard the ISS may be off for some portion of this schedule. School contacts and general QSO opportunities by the crew will also preempt this schedule for short periods of time. "But remember that if you hear these," he said, "you still qualify for a commemorative certificate. Enjoy the ARISS ops on ISS!"

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And from AMSAT.ORG......

ARISS 25th Anniversary Adds New Modes to ISS Amateur Radio Operations

AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs and ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO announced, "Twenty-five years ago this week, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made history by being the first amateur radio operator to talk to hams from space. Owen's historic flight on the STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia mission was launched on November 28 and landed on December 8, 1983. Owen's ham radio adventure on STS-9 ushered in a host of outstanding outreach activities that continue today with the ARISS program."

Frank continued, "Many will recall that first set of contacts and downlinks with Owen. Those first contacts allowed each of us to share the excitement of space exploration through Owen's first-hand eyewitness accounts. Owen's ham radio legacy enabled space travelers that have flown on the Space Shuttle, the Space Station Mir and now the International Space Station to share their journey of exploration."

"Owen's son Richard, W5KWQ just a month ago carried the torch further to become the first 2nd generation amateur rdaio operator to talk to hams from space. What other hobby, except amateur radio, could or would open the communications lines of space travelers beyond that of the space agencies or international heads of state?"

To date, the ISS crew has configured the radio to support cross-band repeater operations, they have supported some SSTV downlinks and we have had the opporunity to participate in a special test of 9600 baud packet radio operations on the simplex frequency of 145.825 MHz.

Specifically, the following is being planned in the near-term:

December 15-19 - we expect the ISS Ham radio system to be on the 145.825 MHz frequency supporting 1200 baud packet. If PCSAT is configured during the week, double hop APRS is possible.

December 21-26 - we plan to support the Crossband repeater mode with a twist. Our intent is to configure the radio for 145.99 MHz uplink including PL tone of 67.0 and 437.80 MHz down. This will be performed in low power mode.

December 22 - Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov plan to perform a spacewalk. As per standard procedure, the ISS ham radio system will be turned off for the EVA.

December 28-January 3 - we plan to reconfigure the Crossband repeater for a special experiment. This will be a test of our L-Band uplink capability, which, to date, has not been proven out. Plan for an uplink of 1269.65 MHz and and downlink on the standard frequency 145.80 MHz using low power. Given the subtantial cable losses of the L-band system, we hope some "big guns" are able to penetrate through, keep up with doppler, and make the connection.

And at times, especially during the weekends, you might see some SSTV operations if the crew is available.

We will provide more updates in the near future. We would like to remind everyone that ISS flight requirements related to EVA and vehicle activity may require the radio to be off for some portion of this schedule. And school contacts and general QSO opportunities by the crew will also preempt this schedule for short periods of time. (But remember that if you hear these, you still qualify for a commemorative certificate).

Frank concluded, "In the meantime, enjoy the ARISS ops on ISS! And congratulations to Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on the 25th anniversary of his historic flight!!"

ARISS Commemorative Certificate Information

If you have had two-way communications with the ISS on voice, packet (APRS), or through the voice repeater, or have heard the ISS from space in any of the ARISS operations modes (voice, SSTV, school contact, voice repeater, digital) between November 30, 2008 to January 15, 2009 you qualify to receive an ARISS Commemorative Certificate.

Please note on your QSL the ARISS mode of operation (e.g. SSTV, voice, school, etc) and whether the contact with you was one-way (receive only) or two-way. On the outside of the QSL envelope, please include the words "25th Anniversary Certificate" Make sure your envelope is big enough to accept an 8.5 by 11 inch certificate and includes the proper postage. Please refer to http://www.ariss.org for additional details.

ARISS QSL Addresses:

USA: ARRL Headquarters, 25th Anniversary Certificate, 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA

Canada: Radio Amateurs of Canada, 25th Anniversary Certificate, 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217, Ottawa Ontario K1G 0Z5

Europe: F1MOJ - Mr CANDEBAT Christophe, ARISS-Europe QSL Manager, 25th Anniversary Certificate, 19 Chemin des Escoumeilles, 66820 VERNET les Bains, FRANCE

Japan: ARISS Japan QSL, 25th Anniversary Certificate, JARL International Section, Tokyo 170-8073 JAPAN

Russia: Alexander Davydov, RN3DK, 25th Anniversary Certificate, Novo - Mytishchinsky prospekt 52 - 111, Mytishchi 18, Moskovskaya obl., 141018, RUSSIA

For other countries, please use the US or Canadian address above until such time as an address for your country is available.

Please note that ARISS will be sending your certificate to the volunteer distributors in bulk AFTER the event is over. It will take 1-2 months after the event closes on January 15 to send out the certificates.

ISS Amateur Radio MAREX-MG News 4-21-2008

ISS Amateur Radio Status: April 20, 2008
By Miles Mann WF1F,

MAREX-MG News
http://www.marexmg.org/

Manned Amateur Radio Experiment

International Space Station, Voice link, April 21, 2008, 17:48 UTC Monday

Starting at: 17:48 UTC (1:48 PM Boston time); Ending at: 17:58 UTC

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, USA on 21 April

For the next few weeks the crew of the International Space Station will be treating Short-Wave-Listeners and Amateur radio operators to live down links from ISS via the Amateur Radio station on ISS. The crew will be conducting Weekly radio links to schools in North America. Everyone is invited to listen to the downlinks.

On Monday April 21, ISS will pass over the north western USA and will be actively talking to students.

The path of the International Space station will be entering the USA from the Pacific near Oregon, and heading north east into Idaho and Montana and south west Canada. The Best listening will Northern CA, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

Most people all along that line will be able to hear the Space Station with a modest outside antenna and a good scanner/receiver.

This week short-wave-listeners and amateur radio operators will be able to listen to the ISS via amateur radio directly. Listeners living within 500+ miles of one of the cities below should be able to hear the signals directly with a simple scanner or other VHF receiver (an outside antenna is recommended 0 dBd gain or better). ISS will be transmitting on 145.800 FM (5 kHz deviation). You will only be able to here one side of the conversation, since the school will be transmitting on an undisclosed uplink frequency (VHF or UHF).

If you do not have a tracking program, here is a live link to NASA that will show you where ISS is located.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html

Tips on listening:
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/issvoicetips.html

Link to Audio files from previous school schedules. All files recorded directly off the air via a public Amateur Radio down link frequency.

http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/issaudiofiles.html

Current ISS Crew Members as of August 2007

The new crew #17 consists of: Commander Sergei Volkov, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko,
Garrett E. Reisman and Gregory E. Chamitoff will serve as flight engineers during Expedition 17.
Orbital Tracking Data from April 12, 2008

ARISS [+]
1 25544U 98067A 08102.86951319 .00025933 00000-0 15720-3 0 2918
2 25544 51.6418 358.2303 0000954 5.6626 86.6887 15.77368848538066
Copy of memo from ARISS and SAREX

An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, USA on 21 April. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:48 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge between stations NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over most of the Western USA. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.
Audio from the QSO is planned to be fed into the EchoLink *AMSAT* (101 377) and *JK1ZRW* (277 208) servers during the contact.

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children is located in Orlando, Florida. It is one of 8 hospitals under the Orlando Regional Healthcare umbrella and addresses the unique medical needs of children in the Central Florida area, including a level one trauma center. The children who participate
in this contact will be patients at the hospital. It will be an exciting surprise and enriching experience that will make their hospital stay a memorable event.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. What kind of food do you eat, and is it good?
2. How long can you stay out on a spacewalk?
3. What experiments are you doing in space?
4. What duties are yours on the Space Station?
5. How do you communicate with your family?
6. What do you do if you get sick in space?
7. What can you see on Earth from Space?
8. How long will the Space Station last?
9. What skills do I need to be an astronaut?
10. What is your favorite thing to do on the Space Station?
11. How does the Space Station stay in orbit?
12. How does the air stay fresh on the Space Station?
13. If an object hits the Space Station, what would you do?
14. What was your launch in the shuttle like?
15. How much water do you use, and how do you get it?
16. Do the solar panels provide all the power for the Space Station?
17. How many computers do you use on the Space Station?
18. When and how will you return to Earth?
19. How do you exercise in space?
20. How many persons can stay on the Space Station?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact. Packet is transmitted on 145.825 simplex.

Next planned event(s):
1. Star City School, Shchelkovo, Russia - Mon 2008-04-23 09:24 UTC via ON4ISS.

2. The National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Washington, DC - Sat. 2008-05-03 15:52 UTC via NN1SS.

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries.

ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize
youngsters' interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).