When the ISS digipeater is active, you should have no trouble hearing it at all. It went off during the last shuttle docking and I've not heard it again since, but I don't check all the time.
It took me a few tries but I got APRS position reports and a few digipeater QSO's completed using an old Kenwood TM-241 feeding a Jpole at 8 ft with about 30' of RG58.
Important to be certain you have a good pass prediction. I'm using Orbitron and using UISS for the comm software.
While licensed since 1963, I am a total newbie to sat comm--so if I can do it with this stuff, pretty much anyone can.
Cheers Curt KU8L Livonia, MI
Rick Mann wrote:
I finally got my TNC hooked up, and was able to decode APRS packets. I wanted to try during a rather low ISS pass, see what I could get off of ISS, but got nothing. I tried both 145.825 and 145.8, hearing neither voice nor data.
In fact, I've never heard anything on ISS (except for the one scheduled contact I made with it :-D).
Is it currently operational for voice and/or packet? How often is someone likely to be using it (what are my chances of hearing something on any given pass)?
TIA,