Re: [amsat-bb] ISS ham radio setup

[Margaret Leber <maggie@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Estes Wayne-W10191 wrote:

> It would be interesting to know if the ISS hams use any computer 
 > tracking software or not.

I remeber seeing one of the early "Grid" laptops being used in the early 
days of the Shuttle program (before the TDRS constellation was 
comissioned) for exactly that purpose; telling the crew when they were 
within line-of-sight of various ground stations. (The Grids had been 
modified by the addition of a fan, since convection cooling doesn't work 
well in microgravity.)

Before the S-band capability was working aboard ISS I recall that the 
ARISS station was being used to communicate operationally with ground on 
VHF. I've gotta belive that orbital tracking is an everyday function on 
board ISS, not only to know what ground is beneith them but also to 
predict when they will be in eclipse.

Looking out the window prolly works a lot of the time too. :-)

73 de Maggie K3XS

-- 
-----/___.   _)   Margaret Stephanie Leber    / "The art of progress  /
----/(, /|  /| http://voicenet.com/~maggie   / consists of preserving/
---/   / | / |  _   _   _    `  _AOPA 925383/ order amid change and /
--/ ) /  |/  |_(_(_(_/_(_/__(__(/_  FN20hd / change amid order."   /
-/ (_/   '  K3XS  .-/ .-/    ARRL 39280   /___ --A.N.Whitehead ___/
/____ICQ 7161096_(_/_(_/__AMSAT 32844____/ <maggie@voicenet.com>


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