[amsat-bb] Off Topic AO-27/ISS

When AO-27 goes in digital mode what is that D-Star??? I take it if I had that equipment would I be able to communicate with people or is that the sats time for basic telemetry/control operator stuff?

Also I have been hearing packet on AO-51, does someone expect a response? I am tempted to have my software loaded and see who it is. I would think responding would piss people off so I wont be doing that.

ISS... I have been hearing packet on 145.825 but have not been getting in, 8 hours since anyone has and the signal seems alot weaker than normal???

Thanks for any info/opinions!

Kevin KF7MYK