The Ericsson MP-A handheld radio in the Columbus module used for most school contacts recently started displaying an error message and is no longer working. In the meantime, the Kenwood TM-D700 radio in the Russian Service Module will be used for all school contacts. The good thing about this is the Kenwood is a mobile radio and is more powerful than the Ericsson, so it's much easier to hear. That's why the signal was so strong at only 3 degrees in this video. One of the bad things about this is the Ericsson powered the packet digipeater, so it's temporarily offline.
This is my reception of astronaut Takuya Onishi onboard the International Space Station talking to the Howell L. Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens FL.
I received this in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Monday October 17th, 2016.
73, John Brier KG4AKV