The ISS digipeater historically has been a widely used resource that's available nearly all the time. Amateur radio stations on the ISS need to be turned off for EVAs, docking, and undocking, but other than that, the digipeater was pretty much enabled all the time the US segment radio was not in use.
Unfortunately, both the radio and packet module seem to have issues, which is why the new hardware is so desperately needed. The new hardware should also enable more frequent activation of the ISS FM voice repeater and more frequent SSTV events as well.
More broadly, I would note that AMSAT's vision statement has three separate clauses:
...to deploy satellite systems with the goal of providing wide-area and continuous coverage (Both GOLF and our work on the Lunar Gateway are working towards this goal) ...AMSAT will continue active participation in human space missions (ARISS - now leading to Lunar Gateway) ...and support a stream of LEO satellites developed in cooperation with the educational community and other amateur satellite groups (after Fox, the focus here is now the linear transponder system AMSAT is offering to university cubesat groups)
All of these are crucial to our goal of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. I would note that without our participation in SAREX and ARISS over the decades, the opportunity for an amateur radio system on Lunar Gateway likely would not exist. The relationships that develop from our participation in a diverse set of missions help to lead to new and different opportunities.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Thu, Aug 22, 2019 at 5:52 PM Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
On 2019-08-22 15:53, Jerry Buxton via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Please don't confuse or commingle discussions of ARISS fundraising with AMSAT fundraising and the proliferation of ham radio in space.
Jerry,
No confusion intended. I was simply responding to Frank's original email, sent to the AMSAT-BB reflector as a follow-up to Michelle's rent-a-GEO discussion.
Given a limited pool of dollars, I'd rather see those dollars go toward something that any licensed amateur can use on our allocated frequencies anytime it is visible.
--- Zach N0ZGO _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb