i tried to log i heard ISS calling CQ today, but whenever i do nothing shows up on the issfanclub webpage. is it broken? am i doing something wrong? i know i heard that CQ call, and just missed as it was a low pass.

also, repeater mode is good practice for antenna pointing and doppler shift, if they could put it in repeater mode inbetween voice, then the voice contacts would likely be better quality as we have good pracitce.

73,
AF6MQ, CM88dx

There is one thought, that NASA, as well as the astronauts have totally forgotten, by not turning on the repeater.

Sure it may be a pain in the butt, but what happens when hams, get sick of it not being on ? We go off, and do something else don't we ?

What happened when the final four, or so, Apollo missions did their thing on the moon. Even back as far as Apollo 12, the general public lost interest, and it was only the near disaster of Apollo 13, that brought the public's interest back to the program. ISS is in danger of going the same route.

Ham radio, all over the world injects interest, just by the presence of the radio activity from the ISS. We talk to our friends, often not hams, that in turn reminds our communities that people are up there. We talk about it over repeaters, over HF about it. The news services on all media, don't even run any stories from ISS anymore, as there is little interest.

Today is Mike Barrett's birthday. Wish him a happy one on orbit.
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/birthday_barratt/

WASHINGTON -- The International Space Station module formerly known as Node 3 has a new name. After more than a million online responses, the node will be called "Tranquility."

The name Tranquility was chosen from thousands of suggestions submitted by participants on NASA's Web site, www.nasa.gov. The "Help Name Node 3" poll asked people to vote for the module's name either by choosing one of four options listed by NASA or offering their own suggestion. Tranquility was one of the top 10 suggestions submitted by respondents to the poll, which ended March 20.

"The public did a fantastic job and surprised us with the quality and volume of the suggestions," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations. "Apollo 11 landed on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago this July. We selected 'Tranquility' because it ties it to exploration and the moon and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station."

I have noticed the loss of two of my reports from the Amateur Radio Status listing.
Both Voice and Repeater headings should have an entry from the 14th April from
myself VK6MJ however the last voice report is listed as the 7th April and the last repeater
report is listed as 25th March. Both my reports were listed after submitting them but they
have now disappeared. 73 Martin VK6MJ

The International Space Station's Expedition 19 crew focused Tuesday on setting up spacewalk and experiment hardware as the clock counted down to NASA's announcement of a name for the newest station module.

In the Pirs Docking Compartment, Commander Gennady Padalka replaced umbilicals for the newest version of the Russian Orlan spacesuit. Padalka also inventoried food utensils in the Russian segment of the station.

Flight Engineer Mike Barratt spent much of his day working with AgCam, the Agriculture Camera experiment sponsored by the University of North Dakota. Positioned in the window of the station's Destiny laboratory, AgCam will capture images of vegetated areas on the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Images will be delivered to farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their stewardship of the land.

An Expedition 19 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Ulvila Upper Secondary School, Ulvila, Satakunta, Finland on 17 April. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0736 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between NA1SS and OH1F. The contact should be audible over Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

The Ulvila Upper Secondary School is located in western Finland. In the Ulvila Upper Secondary School there are approximately 320 students. The age bracket of students is 16 to 19 years on average. The variety of educational opportunities offered at Ulvila Upper Secondary School can provide a basis for the academic and personal growth. The main academic objective is to give the students means for taking part in studies at universities and polytechnics. We provide a large selection courses consisting of compulsory courses, specialization courses and applied courses. For example, in our school one can study also the basics of Astronomy and Space Physics in optional courses. We are very excited about the ARISS project.