Re: [amsat-bb] ISS Status Oct 26, 2000

["Keith N. Thews" <kthews@xxxxxxxx>]

Dear Miles and AMSAT-BB,
     What will the frequency be for air-ground communications? (143.625 ?
)  Please let me know. 

Keith


On Thu, 26 Oct 2000 14:46:08 -0400 Miles.Mann@ind.alcatel.com (Miles
Mann) writes:
> ISS and Mir status report
> 
> October 26, 2000
> 
> By Miles Mann WF1F,
> MAREX-NA (Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division)
> 
> ISS:
> The first full time crew is scheduled to be launched to ISS on 
> October
> 31, 2000.
> The three man crew will consist of Commander Bill Shepherd, a U.S.
> astronaut; Soy Commander Yuri Gidzenko, a Russian cosmonaut; and 
> Flight
> Engineer Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut.  (Sergei is the most
> experienced when it comes to Amateur Radio operations).
> 
> For more information on this mission please check the NASA web 
> pages.
> http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/index-n.html
> 
> ISS visibility:
> The NASA web page has a program which will calculate the potential 
> for
> being able to visually see the ISS as it passes over your city.  
> They
> have a listings for many different cities and countries.
> http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
> 
> ISS Amateur Radio Access:
> The 2-meter voice and packet station has already been delivered to 
> the
> International space station.  It has been estimated that it will 
> require
> the ISS crew 2 hours to unpack and install the amateur radio 
> station. 
> The time line for this project is only one hour, so a little 
> adjustment
> needs to be done to fit the task into the time line.  At the present
> time, there is no official public start time for the amateur radio
> station from ISS.
> http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/sts106photos.html
> 
> A formal request is being processed through channels to ask for the
> equipment to be turned on sometime during mid November 2000 by the 
> ISS
> crew.  Part of the reason for the early start date is to celebrate 
> 12
> years of amateur radio activity from the Russians in space.  
> November 8,
> 2000 marks the 12 year anniversary of Amateur Radio activity from 
> the
> Russian Space Station Mir.  It all began 12 years ago, when Mir 
> flight
> engineer Musa Khiramanovich Manarov U2MIR made the first two way 
> 2-meter
> contact from the Russian Space Station Mir to Leo Labukin UA3CR. At 
> the
> time of the contact, Leo Labutin, was visiting the Amsat convention 
> in
> Washington DC. That first contact ushered in a whole new chapter in
> accessible Amateur Radio satellite access.
> 
> Ground Station Link:
> What will you need to Hear the ISS Amateur Radio 2-meter Station.
> That's a tricky question because there are good orbit pass and poor 
> low
> orbit passes.  On a good 45 degree orbit pass, since the ISS is only 
> 250
> miles high, you will be able to hear the 2-meter signal from the 
> space
> station with a very small antenna (0 dBd  to  minus 12 dBd (rubber
> duck)).  During a very low orbit passes under 20 degrees you may 
> need a
> much larger antenna.
> The Amateur Radio station on ISS will be transmitting in the 
> satellite
> 2-meter band (ITU 144.000 - 146.000 mc).  The exact frequency will 
> be
> announced at the last minute.  The ISS transmitter power output is
> approximately 3 watts, into a vertical antenna rated at minus 3 dBd. 
>  I
> do not have the coax loss values at this time.  This combination of
> power and antenna gain will provide an ERP rating of  approximately 
> 1.5
> watts.  The 1.5 watt value is not that bad, I was able to hear the
> RS-17/18 satellites from my car antenna (minus 3dBd) and those
> satellites were only running 0.5 watts.  If you only have a zero dBd
> gain antenna and a police scanner you will still be able to hear the 
> ISS
> on some good orbits.
> (note:  if your antenna is rated in dB rather than the correct dBd
> value, subtract 3 to convert the dB value to the correct dBd rating)
> 
> Suggested receiving station:
> Casual listening for ISS and Mir
> 2-meter vertical or scanner antenna (0 dBd or better)
> Police scanner or amateur radio with the ability to receive in the 
> 144 -
> 146 mc or MHz range, FM mode.  Antenna cable should be a low loss 
> RG-8
> style cable less than 100 feet long (RG-213 best choice).  You will 
> not
> need to mount the antenna very high, just try to get above the roof
> ridge line if possible.  And of course you will need to find / buy a
> satellite tracking program.  I recommend the InstantTrack 1.5. It's 
> a
> simple easy to use program which can be purchased from Amsat.
> http://www.amsat.org/amsat/instanttrack/
> 
> Mir:
> The Mir Station is currently unmanned and all of the amateur radio
> equipment is turned OFF.  The new crew headed by Pavel Vinogravd has
> just competed retraining on the Amateur Radio Packet Email system 
> and
> Slow Scan TV systems (SSTV) The next manned mission to Mir is 
> scheduled
> for January/February 2001.  The January mission will be a short 2-3 
> week
> mission.  I was informed the tentative radio plan is to run Packet 
> Email
> for one week and SSTV the second week. (power supply load 
> limitations
> prevent both projects from being active at the same time).  The
> frequency for both projects will be the same 145.985 FM simplex for 
> Mir
> Packet and SSTV.
> Last week there was a successful Progress cargo rocket docking with
> Mir.  The Progress will use its engines to raise Mir into a higher
> orbit.  
> 
> The Mir station is having a funding problem.  A decision will be 
> made in
> November to either extend Mir for another year or to splash Mir into 
> the
> pacific ocean in February 2001.  Of course I hope will fly until 
> 2002
> and see the completion of the Destination Mir program. 
> 
> Mir Survivor a.k.a. Destination Mir:
> NBS says, that they are still planning on continuing with the 
> planned TV
> show Destination Mir.
> I have been checking the official Destination Mir web page, but have 
> not
> seen any good details on the program at this time.
> http://www.nbci.com/LMOID/bb/fd/0,946,-0-3377,00.html
> The shows producer Mark Burnett is in Australia filming the Outback
> version of survivor which will air right after superbowl Sunday in
> January 2001.
> 
> 
> Copyright 2000 Miles Mann, All Rights Reserved.  This document may 
> be
> freely distributed via the following means - Email (including
> listservers), Usenet, and World-Wide-Web.  It may not be reproduced 
> for
> profit including, but not limited to, CD ROMs, books, and/or other
> commercial outlets without prior written consent from the author. 
> Images received from the MAREX-NA SSTV system on the Russian Space
> Station Mir are considered public domain and may be freely 
> distributed,
> without prior permission.
> 
> DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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