What you heard was a scheduled ARISS contact: Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF aboard ISS was answering students questions for two schools in Belgium and Turkey. This was a telebridge (a.k.a phone patch) via K6DUE in Maryland, which is why you were able to hear the downlink.
You are correct that unscheduled contacts with ISS are uncommon. I have not heard reports of the current crew making random contacts over the US. However, ARISS contacts are frequently audible here. They are announced on this list and elsewhere, and you can find the questions to be asked in some of the announcements and posted on the ariss.org site. It’s always interesting to listen in.
Dave, W8AAS
On Apr 5, 2015, at 9:09 AM, John Brier [email protected] wrote:
Hi folks, A year ago I recorded what has become a relatively popular video on YouTube of a conversation between a Virginia school and Astronaut Mike Hopkins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_SvIVRv-Ok
I thought it wasn't common for the ISS to become active for unscheduled contacts, but today I am learning that is not true, they are randomly on the air. My first attempt at contacting them was an early morning pass on April 1st (5:30am local, 0930 UTC). I recorded a woman in the ISS talking about floating in space and such, but I had some interference/intermod and was never able to make contact. Any idea who this is? Does anyone know who she was talking to? It seemed like a conversation with only one other person. Man I wish I could have been that person! haha. Any other advice on making contact would be appreciated. I will be trying to make contact again this evening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQlYfInMS4
John Brier, KG4AKV, Raleigh, North Carolina _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb