Eric van de Weyer schrieb:
Hi Thomas,
Hi Eric
If you never ask you will never get an answer. I also agree with your mail. But without satisfying answers, such discussions will continue ever and ever again. And they do.
There have been many Ham astronauts up there over the years on MIR, the shuttles and now the ISS. Some of them had been hams for a long time, it is their hobby so they were keen to operate in their spare time from orbit. Others obtain their ham ticket mainly for the purpose of conducting the educational school contacts.
When there is a ham up there who has been a ham for years, he probably will get on the air and talk to as many people as possible in his free time. When there isn't, then they probably have other things that interest them to do in their spare time other than playing radio. That is their prerogative and decision. Sure, they can be encouraged to do it but in the end it is up to them. If they decide to do it then we reap the benefit but if they don't, we do not have any right to complain about it. Would you like it if someone came and told you what to do in your leisure time and I'll bet you probably get a lot more of it than they do?
I was lucky enough to be at a school contact a few weeks ago which was held in conjunction with the WIA's Centenary dinner in Canberra, Australia and the best part was to see the faces of the young people who talked to the ISS. That is what it is all about. There were over 200 people in the room and everybody was moved by it.
Just remember that the astronauts who want to make random contacts will because they want to, not because someone asked them to.
I really do get sick of hearing people get on here and complain that the astronauts aren't getting on enough for them. That's not what they're there for.
Climbs down off soapbox!
73....Eric VK2VE.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas Frey Sent: Wednesday, 30 June 2010 19:33 To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [sarex] Re: Ariss casual phone contacts
Dear Charlie
We all have read your message and I agree with it. But you can communicate our desire to the astronauts or you know the way to communicate it. Then you can tell us the result here.
Thank you very much in advance and also for your work done.
[email protected] schrieb:
Hi all,
Let me repeat a message that is sent out with every announcement I make with regards to ARISS activities and upcoming school contacts:
Lately there have been some comments on the various bulletin boards about having general contacts or leaving the packet or crossband repeater on. Remember that ARISS is a guest onboard the ISS and if the crew elects to
not
turn something on or to operate, then that is their decision. ARISS can only suggest; never demand. Like I indicate in my announcements. If the crew member is so inclined, then they get on the radio. As with anything in society, the ISS crew have many different interests and a very heavy work load. Some have been a ham for many years before
going
on orbit and thus may make a random contact; many have had next to no experience playing radio and get on only sporadically. There have been
quite a
few who have gotten their license right before going up so they often times only get on for the scheduled school contacts. If they had not
gotten
their license; then even the school contact list would have suffered as
for
some expeditions there were no scheduled hams going up. We can thank Kenneth N5VHO and the rest of the hams down at JSC for organizing the
classes and
pushing for everyone to have a license. You would not believe the small amount of time the astronauts have for studying and getting their license
as
they are in ISS training right up until they launch. So ARISS does like to thank the astronauts for their very valuable time. For every school contact, the crew is told how to leave the radio configured after the contact. If the crew does not re-configure the
radios for
general usage, then there is not much we can do about it other than to
remind
them. It is possible to have an astronaut visit. Travel expenses must be covered by the group wanting to have an astronaut appear. Check out all
of the
details at:
_http://www.nasa.gov/about/speakers/astronautappearances.html_
(http://www.nasa.gov/about/speakers/astronautappearances.html) 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors
In a message dated 6/29/2010 7:16:11 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Believe it or not... After flying the flag for AMSAT at several recent hamfests, This question came up a lot. Of course I answered that they are
extremely
busy, however, I also said that it was up to the astonauts time off and their personal interest of ham radio. I think the time to get astonauts and cosmonauts interested is before
they
go into space. They have to get the "bug!" They need to be brought to local clubs and introduced to local repeaters and groups that get together at Hamfests for the sake of Ham Radio. They can get an earful and become interested enough to orbit around the world Giving the thrill of speaking to the ISS to the thousands that await a "Casual QSO.!" 73, Dee, NB2F
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of patrick mcgrane Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 11:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [sarex] Ariss casual phone contacts
How about letting us know why there are no casual contacts anymore and only rehearsed and choreographed public shows. I read many times about how busy the astronauts are but it is glaringly apparent they have no interest or are refraining from unrehearsed
contacts.
They could at least turn on the cross band repeater. The navy had enough control over the amateur radio with the packet. Frankly, I am personally no longer interested in talking to the
astronauts
but the repeater was a lot of fun. Someone please make it happen.
A mere citizen
pat
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
ISS Amateur Radio Status: July 13, 2010
SpaceCam planed for July 15-16 By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment
Hi everyone:
Notes from the Ariss blog http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ MAI-75 activation planned for July 15-16 (updated) An activity to support SSTV activation (MAI-75) has been schedule on July 15 and 16. Times fall between 12:00-15:00 UTC on the 15th and 10:00-12:00 UTC on the 16th . The system will be operating space cam in slide show mode and is expected to use the Martin 1 format. The times are just over 1 orbit each day (two passes over Moscow) so opportunities will be very limited. ***
That’s good news, it has been a while since we have had the Marex SpaceCam1 project on the air.
Tips for Working Slow Scan TV:
Will I be able to receive images from SpaceCam1?
Yes! SpaceCam1 will transmit and receive images on amateur radio frequencies, using standard SSTV formats. Although SpaceCam1 is capable of operating in several modes, the recommended format while in Slide Show mode is Robot 36. This format offers the best standard compromise between image quality and transmission time and heat stress.
In addition to two-way "interactive" operation, SpaceCam1 provides the following fully automatic functions:
Transmission from a live camera or disk at specified intervals “Slide Show" operation from a set of images stored on the system SSTV Repeater
What equipment will I need to receive the images?
Radio receiver with an outdoor antenna. The radio receive will need to be able to receive FM signals on 145.800 MHz radio band. A PC with SSTV software or a dedicated SSTV scan converter.
For information on how to receive SSTV images from the International Space station, check out the MAREX link: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
Over the next few weeks we maybe receiving images from the International Space station via Slow Scan TV (SSTV). The MAREX team will be collecting these images from the amateur Radio and SWL community and we will post the best.
We would like to collect all images received. However in order to properly catalog the images we request you use the following image naming format. After you receive you images; please rename the images using the following format, All Lower case letters
Year 06, Month 07, Day 31, (UTC time), Call sign, Short text description, .JPG
Example:
New format: 0607311905wf1f.jpg
I removed the first two numbers of the year and the “Z” for UTC time. All dates are assumed to be in UTC dates. The images coming down from ISS will also have a time stamp embedded into the image. You can also use these numbers to generate you file names. If you are a Short Wave listener and do not have a call sign, just place your Initials after the time (0607311905abc.jpg)
If we break this down Year =06 Month = 07 Day = 31 Time = 1905 UTC Call sign = wf1f Description (optional) = Windows shot Image format = jpg
Image Quality Please do not put any text over lays on the images, Example, do not put web page or advertisements in the image. Your own call sign and date are acceptable.
Send all images directly to MAREX at [email protected]
We would also like to know the following information in your email.
Name or Call sign Country / State Receiver Software decoding tool Elevation or range of ISS when you decoded the image.
Slide Show Mode: The MAREX SpaceCam1 software contains a feature called “Slide Show” mode. It allows the crew to preload a directory full of images that will be automatically transmitted to Earth. The crew will not need to keep pushing a button to send images. In theory the system can run for weeks at a time without crew involvement. The SpaceCam project will be able to transmit over 200 SSTV images per day (Robot 36 format).
Ariss has not announced any plans for a SSTV Uplink frequency.
SSTV Decoding Software http://www.barberdsp.com/
There are many choices in SSTV software, some Free, others with more features cost a few bucks. http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
So have fun, find your best setup and start practicing (on Earth) how to decode SSTV on 2-meters.
Marexmg Web page http://www.marexmg.org
ARISS Web page and other great Space projects http://www.rac.ca/ariss/
73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
-
MM -
Thomas Frey