Hummm, since 12 and 10 (and perhaps 15) meters will be the only HF bands that are generally above the MUF,I wonder why they didn'g go with something like the Ranger RCI-2985DX?
Walt/K5YFW -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Radioguy Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [digitalradio] HF SSTV Digital from Space HF, Digital TV Operation from Space on the ARISS Horizon ISS SSTV system development coordinator Miles Mann, WF1F NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 25, 2006 -- Plans to deploy an HF transceiver and a digital TV system in space were among the highlights of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (<http://www.rac.ca/ariss>ARISS) 2006 International Delegates Meeting October 9-10 near San Francisco. The session also marked ARISS's 10th anniversary. In November 1996, delegates from eight countries met in Houston, Texas, to lay the foundation for the joint educational outreach program and map plans to establish a permanent ham radio presence in space. ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, called the establishment of ARISS "unprecedented, especially for a volunteer effort." "You all should be proud of what you've accomplished in the last 10 years," Bauer told this year's ARISS gathering. The ARISS goal in 1996, he noted, was "to consolidate all those ham radio voices into one voice." By making it possible for youngsters around the world to speak with the ISS crew via ham radio, he said, the program now touches some 15,000 students each year. At this year's gathering, ARISS delegates discussed expanding the complement of ham radio hardware and the operational capability of the two Amateur Radio stations on the ISS. On the near horizon are plans to launch and install a Yaesu FT-817ND transceiver on the ISS to permit operation on some HF bands from the ARISS Phase 2 station. That setup now features a modified Kenwood TM-D700E for VHF and UHF work, including school contacts, digipeating and slow-scan television (SSTV). An HF antenna already is in place on the space station. ARISS had intended to go with a Yaesu FT-100D transceiver, but there was no reliable way to ensure that the unit could be adapted to a reduced-output configuration. A multiband, multimode transceiver, the FT-817ND runs a maximum of 5 W output. It also includes VHF and UHF capability. ARISS also wants an ISS crew to install an Ericsson 70 cm FM transceiver, already aboard the station. It would go in the ISS Zvezda Service Module -- the crew's living quarters and site of the ARISS Phase 2 station. An Ericsson 2 meter FM transceiver has been in use since 2000 at the ARISS Phase 1 station in the Zarya Functional Cargo Block or FGB. A headset is lacking for the second Ericsson radio, however. A bit farther down the road, ARISS envisions installation of a digital Amateur Radio TV (DATV) system aboard the ISS Columbus module. A contribution of the European Space Agency, the Columbus module is awaiting launch at Kennedy Space Center. At this point, no Amateur Radio antennas have been installed on the unit. Delegate Graham Shirville, G3VZV, speaking on behalf of ARISS-Europe, outlined plans for a mode L/S transponder aboard Columbus as well as a DATV downlink on S1 band (2.4 GHz). "So, future ARISS contacts could have pictures as well as sound," Shirville told the delegates. He said ARISS-Europe is looking at a 100 W transmitter and a signal bandwidth of from 4 to 8 MHz. Shirville said ARISS-Europe has had "some fairly major problems" developing the antennas for the systems due to some very extreme launch load requirements. Antennas were to have been installed before Columbus came to the US. ARISS-Europe is hoping to fabricate the necessary antennas by year's end so they'll be ready before the module launches. The antennas will be delivered to Cape Kennedy and installed and tested there prior to launch. ARISS-Europe delegate Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, is exploring how to fund the antenna systems. NASA ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR -- a guest at the ARISS International Delegates Meeting and keynote speaker for the AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting banquet a few days earlier -- said the ISS crew members "very quickly get used to living on camera." He said the impact of ARISS school events on the crew's schedule has been fairly minimal. Bauer concurred. "Where we're developing hardware, we need to make it simple," he said. "Crews can't afford lengthy setup times." Present plans call only for downlinking digital video from the ISS. Discussion is under way regarding the possibility of uplinking video to the space station via Amateur Radio as well, but this remains in the preliminary stages. The SSTV system already aboard the ISS also came in for some discussion following a presentation by its development coordinator, Miles Mann, WF1F. After some successful initial testing, the SSTV has been off the air, ARISS-Russia delegate Sergei Samburov, RV3DR, explained. "We had had some challenging issues with the SSTV," he said. "We will be working to resolve these soon." Samburov said he would meet with Expedition 13 crew member Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, to debrief the cosmonaut on his experience with the SSTV system and come up with a troubleshooting plan to get the system back on the air. The possibility of having the ISS crew launch university-built CubeSats from the space station during space walks was another discussion topic. ARISS delegates will explore opportunities to work with schools that are constructing CubeSat projects with an eye toward enhancing the educational value of these tiny spacecraft and to entice the younger generation to consider Amateur Radio. As ARISS International Secretary-Treasurer and ARRL ARISS Liaison Rosalie White, K1STO, reminded the gathering: "The ARISS Team has always stressed that ARISS equals education." (ARRL Web) Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/join (Yahoo! 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