[sarex] ISS VOICE 08/29/2002 - a bit of QRM

[Paul M Dunphy <pdunphy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 02:43 PM 29/08/2002 -0500, Harry M wrote, in part:
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>ISS VOICE PASS USA  15:05UTC / 10:05CDT / 1105 EDT (USA)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I worked RS0ISS with Valery at the mic from Tulsa, Oklahoma USA this
>morning.


<snip>

>  I complimented him and all the
>crews for doing a wonderful job for the world and mankind.
>
>73's
>Harry - KC5TRB
>Tulsa, Oklahoma USA

     He sure has been on voice quite a bit this past week or so.  I agree 
with all your comments, Harry.  After listening to nothing but packet for 
months, we've got a crew member (actually the Commander) who seems to love 
handing out QSOs to anyone he can hear.

     I heard him this AM commenting that there was either a repeater or a 
simplex conversation on his RX frequency (144.490 MHz), and it was making 
it difficult to hear.  Being new to extra-terrestrial use of 2 meters, I 
checked the 2-meter ARRL band plan, and that segment is not supposed to be 
used for simples or repeaters.  I believe Valery was in QSO with WF1F when 
he discussed this, and I missed about 20% of it because someone was 
blasting packets off the ISS while he was talking.  I guess some stations 
are configured so they can't hear the audio, and assumed there would be no 
voice activity.

     My understanding is there are two radios on board, and if one is left 
on packet, folks can inadvertently key up the packet side of things in the 
middle of a voice QSO.  Anyhow, these are all growing pains as we learn to 
use the ISS Ham facilities properly, and I must say it is a pleasant 
surprise to hear a voice on many passes.  This will only get better as time 
goes by, and hopefully the next crew will be just as enthusiastic.

73, Paul VE1DX

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