All,
The ARISS team has been quite engaged with Pavel Vinogradov as he continues the testing and verification of the SSTV system on ISS. We expect this to continue over the next few weeks.
Those active on the bands have noticed that the Kenwood radio system has been up and down over the past week or so. This is expected to continue as Pavel checks out the SSTV software, configures and optimizes the radio, and performs the integration checks necessary to make the SSTV system as autonomous as possible. Since this is a "spare time" activity for Pavel, please bear with us as we go through this aspect of system setup. It is not possible right now for Pavel to switch between modes (e.g. voice, packet and SSTV) on the Kenwood and continue the methodical process of system setup and reconfiguration.
As has been the norm for school contacts (due to the current ISS vehicle attitude), we will use the Ericsson radio in the FGB for 2 meter voice operation when the crew desires to do voice QSOs.
We appreciate your patience in this matter as we reconfigure the Kenwood system to support additional modes and operations.
73, Frank H. Bauer ARISS International Chairman AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs