Contact the ISS

Last October, I had the honor of making such contact with the ISS. I posted about this on my website here: https://rz01.org/na1ss/

The ISS has radios on board that allow amateur radio operators to send and receive APRS messages, talk to other hams via their built-in FM repeater or to receive SSTV images. They also have amateur TV stuff on board but I have not explored this yet. Crew members with an amateur radio license can pick up the mic of the radio that acts as a FM repeater to make contacts with other hams on the earth.

You can contact the ISS via a handheld setup (FM radio and a yagi antenna in your hand) or with a stationary setup like mine: https://rz01.org/leo-sat-ground-station-v3/

My daughter is deaf and goes to a specialist deaf secondary school in the UK.

Five years ago ARISS-UK pre-arranged a connection between the school and astronaut Mark Vande Hei on one of the ISS flyovers. Various students got to ask questions directly to Mark in orbit. It was the first contact between ISS and a deaf school.

https://www.arrl.org/news/ariss-confirms-october-12-as-date-...

When I was studying to get my Technician-class ham radio license a few weeks ago I was slightly curious as to why there were questions relating to space stations and satellites, like "any ametaur with a radio license can contact the ISS" and such, but I paid those thoughts no mind as I was being hasty trying to legally fiddle with my APRS tracker in a weather balloon.

I should re-review those exam questions; I might be licensed to do a lot more than I know I can.

I wonder what kind of messages they'll receive on the ISS - "Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ"?

I have used the APRS on the ISS to talk with other amateur radio operators. I also spoke to an astronaut briefly from my backyard using a Kenwood D72A and an Elk antenna.

About 17 years ago I recorded Richard Garriott's side of a conversation with a school in Warwick in England. The school was several hundred miles south, so well out of radio range, but obviously it's a clear path the thousand miles or so to the ISS!

https://gjcp.net/mp3s/iss-friday1106.mp3

There's a video somewhere on Youtube with another recording from Hampshire, just a short distance south of the school but still too far too hear them. It's crazy hearing the two different recordings of the same thing :-)

Last October, I had the honor of making such contact with the ISS. I posted about this on my website here: https://rz01.org/na1ss/

You can contact the ISS via a handheld setup (FM radio and a yagi antenna in your hand) or with a stationary setup like mine: https://rz01.org/leo-sat-ground-station-v3/

If you are interested in amateur radio in general, you might enjoy reading my "Declaration of Love to Amateur Radio": https://rz01.org/a-declaration-of-love-to-amateur-radio/

> You can contact the ISS via a handheld setup (FM radio and a yagi antenna in your hand) or with a stationary setup like mine: https://rz01.org/leo-sat-ground-station-v3/

A good few years ago I had a crack as using the ISS's crossband repeater when it was on and could hear myself clearly with a Kenwood TH-F7E and home-made dual-band crossed dipole.

Unfortunately no-one else could work me, because they'd boosted the satellite's orbit, the TLEs hadn't been updated, and so everyone with a nice motorised antenna positioner was aiming at the wrong part of the sky.

Me standing in my back garden pointing roughly in the direction of the fast-moving bright spot? Nah that worked perfectly :-D

I should re-review those exam questions; I might be licensed to do a lot more than I know I can.

Can't ham radio operators also be drafted involuntarily in times of disaster and war? Incidentally, America suspended all amateur radio operations during WWII.

I wonder what kind of messages they'll receive on the ISS - "Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ"?

I'm surprised they haven't been spammed by flat earthers & moon landing deniers so much that they have to stop picking up the radio.

Possibly explained by moon landing deniers being too stupid to operate radio equipment.

If you are interested in amateur radio in general, you might enjoy reading my "Declaration of Love to Amateur Radio": https://rz01.org/a-declaration-of-love-to-amateur-radio/

> You can contact the ISS via a handheld setup (FM radio and a yagi antenna in your hand) or with a stationary setup like mine: https://rz01.org/leo-sat-ground-station-v3/

A good few years ago I had a crack as using the ISS's crossband repeater when it was on and could hear myself clearly with a Kenwood TH-F7E and home-made dual-band crossed dipole.

Me standing in my back garden pointing roughly in the direction of the fast-moving bright spot? Nah that worked perfectly :-D

I'm surprised they haven't been spammed by flat earthers & moon landing deniers so much that they have to stop picking up the radio.

Possibly explained by moon landing deniers being too stupid to operate radio equipment.

Lasers in space are fun! We[1] are actually doing this for real but automated and inversed -- launching a satellite with a laser to beam data down to Earth. Like these searchlights, but from orbit!

[1] A bunch of students at https://satlab.agh.edu.pl

Can't ham radio operators also be drafted involuntarily in times of disaster and war? Incidentally, America suspended all amateur radio operations during WWII.

Just to clarify, no, we cannot be involuntarily drafted because we are amateur radio operators. However, should we be drafted in time of need, our experience in radio does help direct the likely path we would end up taking.

You also bring up an interesting time in ham radio history that a lot of newer hams are largely unaware of; WWII. Amateur radio thrives on communication globally, so anyone from the US could talk to anyone from any other country. The need for restrictions of the bands became obvious in the years leading up to the US entering the war, with various countries that were once accessible by radio going dark. The US logically followed suit, but operators were still monitoring.

There's a great article on this time in amateur radio history here; https://bw.billl.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Radio-Histor...

Ham operators are understood to have a role in coordinating disaster communications but it's on a voluntary basis. They're no more or less subject to being drafted than anyone else. Your name and address does end up in a public database, however. (I'm talking about the United States. I have no idea about anywhere else.)

> Can't ham radio operators also be drafted involuntarily in times of disaster and war?

Approximately anyone can.

Lasers in space are fun! We[1] are actually doing this for real but automated and inversed -- launching a satellite with a laser to beam data down to Earth. Like these searchlights, but from orbit!

[1] A bunch of students at https://satlab.agh.edu.pl

There's a great article on this time in amateur radio history here; https://bw.billl.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Radio-Histor...

> Can't ham radio operators also be drafted involuntarily in times of disaster and war?

Approximately anyone can.

> Name and address end up in a database

You can get your license using a PO box... it's not perfect, but its better than giving everyone your home address.

Does not registering for selective service impact your ability to get a ham licence? I know it impacts some things.

> Name and address end up in a database

You can get your license using a PO box... it's not perfect, but its better than giving everyone your home address.

Does not registering for selective service impact your ability to get a ham licence? I know it impacts some things.

All you'll need to do is show up with a photo ID and take a written exam, but you will likely have trouble getting a photo ID without registering for selective service (if you're a male 18-25). That's how they got me, I refused to register because I believed the draft was unjust, but was pressured into getting a driver's license and had to sign my draft card to get it.

Could you get a driver's license in another country?

To be honest we've reached the end of my expertise but I think that would work. This thread from 2007 says it will work as long as you don't represent a foreign government.

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/ham-license-for-no...

Looking at the current form 605 it still doesn't seem to list any citizenship requirement, only that you do not represent a foreign government.

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/VEs/NCVEC_Form_605_July_2022...

I think the deciding factor would be whether you can convince the examiner the ID is legitimate.

I have used the APRS on the ISS to talk with other amateur radio operators. I also spoke to an astronaut briefly from my backyard using a Kenwood D72A and an Elk antenna.

https://gjcp.net/mp3s/iss-friday1106.mp3

To be honest we've reached the end of my expertise but I think that would work. This thread from 2007 says it will work as long as you don't represent a foreign government.

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/ham-license-for-no...

Looking at the current form 605 it still doesn't seem to list any citizenship requirement, only that you do not represent a foreign government.

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/VEs/NCVEC_Form_605_July_2022...

I think the deciding factor would be whether you can convince the examiner the ID is legitimate.

My daughter is deaf and goes to a specialist deaf secondary school in the UK.

https://www.arrl.org/news/ariss-confirms-october-12-as-date-...

An “aural” deaf school? This seems like a fairly harmful approach. I know that approaches to deaf education are quite fraught, but pushing students to communicate orally and not allowing sign language in the classroom seems like it’ll set a lot of students back educationally. It essentially turns deafness into a learning disability, which it doesn’t need to be if you just allow sign language. (It also shuts the students out of mainstream Deaf culture, which I imagine a lot of them will resent later in life.) I am surprised that a school with this philosophy still exists, frankly.

They’ve been doing this for over a century, it’s probably the top deaf school in the UK, and has the support of nearly the entire deaf community.

Most of the students have either some degree of hearing or use cochlear implants. I think nearly all, if not all, students use either hearing aids or cochlear implants.

The classes are very small (eg 5-6 max usually), students are arranged in a U-shape around the teacher so they can read lips. And there’s a special wireless broadcast system so the teacher wears a microphone and sends the audio directly to hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Regarding deaf culture, most of the students use BSL on their own outside class, and my daughter learned BSL from her friends there that grew up with it. Coming from a mainstream primary, she found “her people” here, discovered deaf culture and a community that shares the same struggles she faces.

The idea is that by teaching in BSL the students are further restricted in their ability to function in a hearing society.

I’m curious if you are deaf yourself, or work with the deaf. All the teachers at the school are trained teachers of the deaf, some are even deaf themselves. And I haven’t heard any complaints about the aural nature of the learning (except from the reservations of a few parents before sending their kids there, and I don’t think any of these parents regrets this after their children started there.)

They’ve been doing this for over a century, it’s probably the top deaf school in the UK, and has the support of nearly the entire deaf community.

Most of the students have either some degree of hearing or use cochlear implants. I think nearly all, if not all, students use either hearing aids or cochlear implants.

The idea is that by teaching in BSL the students are further restricted in their ability to function in a hearing society.

Contact the ISS

Astronaut Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT makes personal contacts with hams during the US Field Day exercise in June 2014.

Some ISS crew members make random, unscheduled, amateur radio voice contacts with earth-bound radio amateurs, often called "hams". They can make radio contacts during their breaks, pre-sleep time and before and after mealtime. Astronauts have contacted thousands of hams around the world. The work schedules of the ISS crew dictate when they are able to operate the radios. The crew's usual waking period is 0730 - 1930 UTC. The most common times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour after waking and before sleeping, when they have personal time. They're usually free most of the weekend, as well.

The crew can operate the Kenwood radio in the crossband repeater mode, and hams can make contacts with the ISS station when the crew members are working. Hams can also communicate with each other using the ISS packet (computer) radio mode, or receive slow scan television mode images. It all depends on what equipment is in service in space.

A typical ground station for contacting the ISS station includes a 2-meter FM transceiver and 25-100 watts of output power. A circularly polarized crossed-Yagi antenna capable of being pointed in both azimuth (North-South-East-West) and elevation (degrees above the horizon) is desirable. But successful contacts have even been made with vertical and ground plane antennas.

Visit the the "Beginners" sections of the AMSAT-NA or AMSAT-UK websites for information on getting started with all modes of amateur radio satellite operation.

Frequencies in Use

The following frequencies are currently used for Amateur Radio ISS contacts (QSOs):
    Voice and SSTV Downlink: 145.80 (Worldwide)
    Voice Uplink: 144.49 for ITU Regions 2 and 3 (The Americas, and the Pacific and Southern Asia)
    Voice Uplink: 145.20 for ITU Region 1 (Europe, Russia and Africa)
    VHF Packet Uplink and Downlink: 145.825 (Worldwide)
    UHF Packet Uplink and Downlink: 437.550
    VHF/UHF Repeater Uplink: 145.99 (PL 67 Hz)
    VHF/UHF Repeater Downlink: 437.80

For a description of ITU regions, consult the ITU m ap.

Most ARISS operations are split-frequency (each station uses separate receive and transmit frequencies). The downlink is the earth station's receiving frequency. The uplink is the earth station's transmitting frequency. Earth stations can listen to the downlink frequency and transmit on the uplink frequency when the ISS is in range and crew members are on the air. Please do not transmit on the ISS downlink frequency.

Call Signs in Use

The following call signs are available for use on the ISS:

Russian: RS0ISS
USA: NA1SS
European: DP0ISS, OR4ISS, IR0ISS

Other call signs may come into use as the station and crew change.

QSL Cards

QSL cards are offered to confirm radio contacts with the ISS. Here's how to obtain one.

Orbit Prediction Software

Commercial and public domain software is available to help track when the ISS will be in range of your station, and where to point your antenna. Various online programs allow you to follow the path of satellites, including the ISS.

You'll find one such pass prediction tool on the AMSAT website. Use the drop-down menu to select the "ISS" as the satellite you want to track and enter your longitude and latitude information. Click on the link provided on that page to view the current location of the ISS. You'll find this and other tools for satellite tracking on the AMSAT website at

www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/.Radios, Modes and Antennas on the ISS

The ISS amateur radios are a Kenwood D710E and a Kenwood D710GA.

The Kenwood TM-D710GA radio is located in the ISS Columbus Module, supports 2 meter (144-146 MHz) and 70 cm (435-438 MHz) operation. This radio provides a higher output power capability (restricted to a maximum of 25 Watts in ISS operation) supporting FM and packet operations. The higher power capability allows nearly horizon-to-horizon signal reception using simple hand-held radios or scanners. A set of 5 default options, or Programmable Memories, are embedded in the D710GA to support ISS operations.

The Kenwood TM-D710E radio is located in the ISS Service Module (Zvezda), supports 2 meter (144-146 MHz) and 70 cm (435-438 MHz) operation. This radio provides a higher output power capability supporting FM and SSTV operations. The higher power capability allows nearly horizon-to-horizon signal reception using simple hand-held radios or scanners. A set of 5 default options, or Programmable Memories, are embedded in the D710E to support ISS operations.

There are numerous channels programmed in the radios. Two of these channels on the 2 meter radio band support voice operations (145.80 down/144.49 up for ITU Regions 2 &3 & 145.80 down/145.20 up for ITU Region 1). It is necessary to use two uplink frequencies to operate in accordance with region-to-region IARU band plan differences.

The crew switches between one frequency to the other; scanning is not used. For example, if a crew member begins a QSO over the US, they can track US stations until they hit the Atlantic and then they will quickly lose US stations. They can then switch over to the other frequency and pick up stations in Europe or Africa.

Packet Operations

There is one radio on the ISS that operates as a packet digipeater. T

he Columbus D710GA can support those operation at about 10 watts and uses NA1SS. It will respond to the alias "ARISS".

For information about using the ISS packet system, check out this resource provided by JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM.

SSTV Operations

Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images can be transmitted from the International Space Station. An SSTV system is an integral part of one of the ARISS ham radio stations, NA1SS/ RS0ISS in the Service Module. It transmits and receives JPEG still images.This system utilizes the Kenwood D700 and D710 radios and the ARISS antennas mounted on the Service Module. The SSTV equipment also includes SpaceCam and MMSSTV software, a radio/computer interface module and data cables. A Kenwood VC-H1 is also used to provide near real-time automatically transmitted images (usually earth views) once every 3 minutes, when active.

A Kenwood D710 radio located in the Service Module was deployed by the Russian Space Agency, Energia to provide extended support of imaging experiments using various SSTV formats. It employs SpaceCam and MMSSTV software to transmit stored images.

See the European Space Agency's video, How to get pictures from the International Space Station via amateur radio

In preparation for future ISS SSTV events, a video demonstration of receiving SSTV from the ISS was created by avid ARISS supporter, John Brier, KG4AKV. In addition, John has provided an excellent online tutorial explaining in more detail how to configure a simple system to acquire and view the SSTV images. Links to both can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to9uX1sWC4 and https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/iss-sstv-reception-hints

To view or submit SSTV received images transmitted from the ISS, and to follow SSTV operations, check out the ISS SSTV blog site.

HamTV System

Currently available

Antennas

A set of four antenna systems are deployed in the ISS Service Module supporting the current installation of the Kenwood TM-D710GA radio. Each of the four antennas can support amateur radio operations on multiple frequencies and allow for simultaneous automatic and crew-tended operations. Having four antennas also ensures that ham radio operations can continue aboard the station should one or more of the antennas fail. Three of the four antennas are identical and each can support both transmit and receive operations on 2 meter, 70 cm, L band and S band. They also support reception for the station's Russian Glisser TV system, which is used during spacewalks. The fourth antenna has a 2.5-meter (8 foot) long vertical whip that can be used to support High Frequency (HF) operations, particularly on 10 meters. Currently, one of the 3 VHF/UHF antennas is disconnected and the HF antenna has no radio hardware available for use.

Three antennas are installed on the Columbus module, currently serving the Kenwood TM-D710GA radio deployed there. Frequencies available for transmission to and from Columbus are 2 meters, 70 centimeters, L-band and S-band. These antennas will also support the Ham TV DATV transmitter.

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Discussion

Discussion