Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club congratulates South West Regional College on its very successful Amateur Radio link up with the International Space Station

This pass Saturday Mike Fincke - KE5AIT was active on the International Space Station during the day.

At 1609 UTC he was active via NA1SS over the Caribbean, and had a QSO with Angel, WP3GW, while he was calling CQ.

There is a video posted on YouTube of the QSO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdzRWEzKH_M&feature=player_embedded

The planned operation of ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-V/KEDR on April 11 and April 12 from inside the International Space Station as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight was not successful. No earth stations on the ground reported hearing transmissions on the ARISSat-1 downlink(145.950 MHz for FM analog/145.920 MHz for digital). The planned retransmission of the satellite's FM downlink via the Kenwood TM-D700 transceiver --currently used for ARISS contacts--was also not successful as no reports were received of signals heard on 437.550 MHz.

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-098.01
ANS Special Bulletin ARISSat-1 Activation Aboard ISS Begins April 11

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 098.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 8, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-098.01

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND (AMSAT News Service) While awaiting deployment from the International Space Station (ISS) in late July, an amateur radio satellite specifically designed to interest students in scientific and technological careers will be activated and begin transmissions from the ISS in mid-April of this year.

My two way contact with Doug Wheelock on the International Space Station (ISS) from Robb Kunz on Vimeo.

There is update about the IR3UEF repeater operated by the Italian Amateur Radio Association (ARI, Chioggia Section) and interfering with the main ISS Downloank (145.800 MHz).

Tomorrow a scheduled ARISS contact will take place in Italy and Italian Astronaut Paolo Nespoli will respond to questions asked by the students. It's a joyful event for Italy and anybody who is interested will be able to participate by simply tuning a portable radio on 145.800 MHz.

Anybody except students who reside in the Venice area.

Why? The explanation is simple, but hard to believe: the Italian Amateur Radio Association (or ARI, Chioggia section) decided to install  the IR3UEF repeater right on 145.800 MHz, the worldwide ISS downlink.

Apparently, Italy is not the only country invading the ISS frequencies, but still a good example to start investigating this issue.

UPDATE
11 January 2001: The 145.800 MHz port of IR3UEF has been shut down. Read more

After more than 160 days in space, ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC -- along with Flight Engineers Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, and Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI -- has returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), landing in Kazakhstan on Friday, November 26. While on board the ISS, both Wheelock and Walker participated in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, and made 22 ISS-to-school and ISS-to-camp QSOs. In addition, Wheelock averaged about two dozen casual QSOs each week while on board the ISS.

How come some people haven't made a single contact while some others have made dozens?

If you are one of those who thinks that making multiple ISS contacts is a matter of having the right equipment or having some special skills I believe you should think again.

Here is why...

For all you that wonder what it is like for the astronauts to work ground stations during a general pass, Col. Doug Wheelock gives you a personal video tour of the ISS ham radio station while he answers calls from amateur radio operators on the ground.

Watch - Space Station Crew Uses HAM Radio to Call Earth