[sarex] Re: ARISS Frequencies

-- Regards Tony. VK5ZAI J.A.(Tony)Hutchison P.O.Box 470 Kingston SE South Australia 5275 Australian ARISS Co-ordinator and Satellite ground Station. Web Site :- http://www.electric-web.org Frank H. Bauer wrote: >All, > >I have seen the back and forth chatter on frequencies. Let me say that the >ENTIRE ARISS international team have discussed this subject and debated it >for over 10 years now. And the Mir and Shuttle teams have worked on this >for about 13 years before the ARISS team. Collectively, we have spent many >hours in international meetings discussing this issue. And the ARISS team >has developed and implemented an INTERNATIONAL human spaceflight plan for 2 >meters. This plan represents the best compromise that can be developed, >given the substantial differences that exist in band planning from one area >to the next. > >Several things to think about: > >1) We have many astronauts/cosmonauts using the equipment. > >2) Those on-board that use the ARISS equipment do not like to hear the >uplink chatter of Packet, APRS or SSTV. > >3) 1 & 2 above result in the need to separate the uplinks of these >non-voice modes from voice. > >4) One of the big joys (and learning experiences) of ARISS is to hear the >downlink of the on-board crew member. One cannot do this well when some >local ham is transmitting on the same freq. This is especially true in big >cities where there are a lot of hams. I personally experienced the >frustration of hams transmitting on the downlink many times while Mir used >simplex. And the reason that DXers use split mode is to prevent this >issue, so that all can hear the DX station. > >5) ARISS is the ultimate DX, so split operation emulates the DX operations >done on the ground. > >6) Remember---unless the repeater is in use, you cannot hear who is >transmitting from the ground and when they will stop. So it is generally >hard to know when to start. For simplex operations, this results in >frequency collisions with people on the ground uplinking at the same time >that the on-board crew is downlinking. > >7) I am really surprised at all the chatter about wanting to get crew >members to talk more on the radio. We just had Bill McArthur on >board. And Pavel is working hard to get SSTV on the air. Kenneth Ransom >and Sergey Samburov have done an outstanding job in getting the on-board >crews motivated to use the ham radio systems. I think this community has >been around long enough to realize that it is the crew member's prerogative >to pick up the mic. Simplex or split. > >8) Constant complaints or slams at the space agencies and our crew members >will ultimately limit or eliminate our future operations on ISS and other, >future vehicles. Remember, there are many that subscribe to these systems >that are members of the various space agencies. And we have also have >several crew members that subscribe to these systems. > >9) Because of the significant frequency contention on 2 meters, we have >developed a dedicated, international human spaceflight frequency segment on >70 cm. > >10) If we continue to foster a great relationship with the international >space agencies, Human spaceflight opportunities beyond low Earth orbit >could potentially be in our future. Many of us in the ARISS program are >working this very aggressively. These opportunities will dictate the use >of much higher bands with smaller antennas and less doppler. We need to >prepare for these opportunities by using some of our higher bands on >ISS. Something to think about for the future. > >Personally, I really appreciate the feedback from the amateur >community. This is how we learn and grow. But we need to do this in a >very constructive way. And while we reminisce about Shuttle or Mir, we >need to realize that THESE are the good old days. Let's use them to the >best of our abilities. > >WRT the simplex issue and additional 2 meter frequencies, it is my opinion >that we have all beat it to death. We have squeezed just about all we can >get from 2 meters. And for those in the US---please remember that our 2 >meter band is 2 times larger than that in many other countries. > >Thanks for all the interest in ARISS. And don't forget that our next >international meeting will be in the US this year in conjunction with the >AMSAT-NA meeting in San Francisco. This is your opportunity to interact >and participate more fully in the ARISS program. I hope to see you there! > >73, Frank Bauer >ARISS International Chairman >AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs > > >---- >Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA. >To unsubscribe, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex > > > >