APRS ON THE ISS

[Budd Churchward]

SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS007
ARLS007 ISS Packet System is Back on VHF

ZCZC AS07
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 007  ARLS007
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT  April 15, 2017
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS007
ARLS007 ISS Packet System is Back on VHF

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet
digipeater system is again operating on VHF - 145.825 MHz. The
failure of an Ericsson handheld VHF transceiver on board the ISS
last fall had caused ARISS to shift packet operation to 70
centimeters. A cargo resupply mission in February delivered a new
Ericsson 2 meter handheld, to replace the one that had failed, which
had been used in the Columbus module for school group contacts and
for Amateur Radio packet.

While the VHF transceiver was offline, ARISS shifted school contacts
from NA1SS to the Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver in the Russian Service
Module. NASA ISS Ham Project Coordinator Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, said
the VHF capability now back in Columbus can be used in conjunction
with passes involving the HamTV digital amateur television (DATV)
system, which operates on 2.4 GHz.

ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said recently that
ARISS continues to make progress on the development of the new
interoperable radio system on the ISS "that we hope to use to
replace our aging radio infrastructure in the Columbus module and
the Service module."

Packets digipeated in a valid APRS format via the ISS system and
picked up by an Internet gateway station are documented on the
"Amateur Radio Stations heard via ISS" page at,
http://www.ariss.net/ .
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