Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, made over 1800 general contacts from over 130 DXCC entities while onboard the ISS. He is now looking for confirmation (QSL cards) of those contacts. On June 22, ARRL ran a story, "Astronaut still needs QSLs for DXCC from space.

http://www.arrl.org/

Students assembled at the Kuwait Scientific Center (www.tsck.org.kw), Kuwait, are scheduled to take part in an ARISS contact with NA1SS. This telebridge event is currently planned to take place on Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 1126 UTC and will be supported by WH6PN, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Please visit www.discoveryreflector.ca for any changes regarding this event.

Live audio will be available on IRLP and EchoLink through the ARISS Audio Distribution Project.

IRLP users can connect to the main channel of "Discovery" Reflector 9010. The audio feed will begin approximately 10 minutes before the scheduled contact time. Streaming audio is also available through www.discoveryreflector.ca:8000/listen.pls (expect a 2 to 3 minute delay on this stream).

Ground stations in Europe report the crossband repeater mode on ISS is
active. Jeff even made a brief appearance at the mic.

Enjoy and good luck on Field Day.

Kenneth - N5VHO

ARISS Contact Schedule and Successful school list updated 2006-06-21 21:30
UTC

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

Kuwait Scientific Center, telebridge via WH6PN (***)
Contact is a go for: Wed 2006-06-28 11:26 UTC 88 deg via WH6PN(***)
Watch for IRLP, Echolink, and web coverage.

Total number of ARISS school contacts is 244.

73de SWL-CHMY, Christian

Unlike any other FM satellites that operate in Mode V/U (Mode J) the ISS is operating in Mode U/V (Mode B). While this seems to be of little consequence to most owners of dualband handheld transceivers, mobile rigs and base stations, some important factors can spell the difference between success and failure. Let's consider these.

Downlink/Uplink Frequencies

The ISS repeater downlink is 145.800 MHz, which is the normal FM voice and the RS0ISS packet system downlink worldwide. (The non-repeater FM voice uplink frequencies are 144.49 MHz in Regions 2 and 3 and 145.20 MHz in Region 1. The packet uplink frequency is 145.99 MHz worldwide.)

NASA senior managers over the weekend cleared the shuttle Discovery for a July 1 flight to the International Space Station. Three radio amateurs will be among the seven crew members, and one of them, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Mission Specialist Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, will stay on the ISS as part of the Expedition 13 and 14 crews, marking the first three-person crew since NASA grounded the shuttle fleet in 2003. The announcement followed a lengthy flight readiness review. Discovery will carry no Amateur Radio equipment when Commander Steve Lindsey and his six crewmates lift off to begin the 12-day STS-121 mission. Others on the flight include Pilot Mark Kelly, Mission Specialists Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, KC5ZTB, Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE, and Piers Sellers. The shuttle is the only vehicle capable of transporting the components remaining to complete the ISS, including the ESA's Columbus module, which has been outfitted to house Amateur Radio equipment. The Discovery crew will test new hardware and techniques to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies to the ISS and make repairs. Now aboard the ISS are Expedition 13 Commander and cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and Flight Engineer and NASA Station Science Officer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, who arrived in late March.

Youngsters in New Jersey and Michigan recently had a chance to learn firsthand about life in space when they spoke via ham radio with astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, aboard the International Space Station. Both contacts were arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Using the ARISS station NA1SS, Williams chatted June 5 with pupils at Salt Brook Elementary School in New Providence, New Jersey, and June 6 with students at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

source: arrl.org

Bill McArthur claims to have worked 130 DXCC entities while on orbit but to date has only received cards from 30 of those entities.

If you worked Bill during Expediton 12, please send your card to:
ARRL Headquarters
ARISS QSL - Exp 12
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA

You can also send QSL's to the address on the following web link but they will take longer to get counted. http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's

The following is a list of confirmed entities as of June 20, 2006:

1. Alaska
   
2. Antarctica
   
3. Argentina
   
4. Australia
   
5. Belgium
   
6. Brazil

We are not tracking any major issues which would delay launch," said NASA Launch Director, Mike Leinbach. "Our countdown starts on June 28 leading to T-0 on July 1. We see no reason why we can't go July 1 from our perspective. We are in good shape with Discovery on the Pad and good shape with Atlantis as well." The STS-121 mission will visit the International Space Station and continue evaluating new shuttle safety improvements. At least two spacewalks are planned during the 12-day mission, which also includes repair work to the station. More You find: [url]http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html[/url]

19 June 2006
ESA PR 19-2006. ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, of Italian nationality, was today assigned to the crew of the Space Shuttle flight which in summer 2007 will launch Node 2, an Italian-built U.S. connecting module, to the International Space Station.

For his first space flight, Nespoli will serve as mission specialist, joining five NASA astronauts: Air Force Col. Pamela A. Melroy, who will command the STS-120 Shuttle mission (a veteran Shuttle pilot and the second woman to be named commander); Marine Corps Col. George D. Zamka, on his first space flight, who will serve as pilot; and mission specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Army Col. Douglas H. Wheelock and Navy Capt. Michael J. Foreman, also on his first space flight.