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I.S.S.
Contacting the ISS
ISS and Mir status report
October 30, 2000
By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-NA (Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division)
ISS:
.The first full time crew is scheduled to be launched to ISS on October 31, 2000. The docking of the Soyuz rocket to the ISS will take place on November 2, 2000. This first ISS mission will last approximately 4
months. The three-man crew will consist of Commander Bill Shepherd, a U.S. astronaut; Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko, a Russian cosmonaut; and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut. (Sergei is the most experienced when it comes to Amateur Radio operations).
For more information on this mission please check the NASA web pages.
ISS visibility:
The NASA web page has a program, which will calculate the potential for being able to visually see the ISS as it passes over your city. They have a listings for many different cities and countries.
Amateur Radio Equipment delivered:
The 2-meter voice and packet station has already been delivered to the International space station. It has been estimated that it will require the ISS crew 2 hours to unpack and install the amateur radio station.
The time line for this project is only one hour, so a little adjustment needs to be done to fit the task into the time line. At the present time, there is no official public start time for the amateur radio
station from ISS.
International Space Station Call signs:
The ISS is keeping the international flair by hosting several amateur radio call signs from around the world. So far the ISS has three calls signs from three different countries, Russia, USA and Germany. Also each
of the crewmembers of expedition 1, has their own personal Amateur Radio call sign.
William Shepherd, Expedition commander, KD5GSL
Yuri Gidzenko, Soyuz commander (unknown)
Sergei Krikalev, flight engineer, U5MIR
Russian Module call sign: RZ3DZR
Other club call signs issued: NA1SS and DL0ISS
Ground Station Link:
What will you need to Hear the ISS Amateur Radio 2-meter Station. That's a tricky question because there are good orbit pass and poor low orbit passes. On a good 45 degree orbit pass, since the ISS is only 250
miles high, you will be able to hear the 2-meter signal from the space station with a very small antenna (0 dBd to minus 12 dBd (rubber duck)). During a very low orbit passes under 20 degrees you may need a
much larger antenna. The Amateur Radio station on ISS will be transmitting in the satellite
2-meter band (ITU 144.000 - 146.000 mc). I have listed a frequency chart below. The ISS transmitter power output is approximately 3 watts, into a vertical antenna rated at minus 3 dBd. I do not have the coax
loss values at this time. This combination of power and antenna gain will provide an ERP rating of approximately 1.5 watts. The 1.5-watt value is not that bad, I was able to hear the RS-17/18 satellites from
my car antenna (minus 3dBd) and those satellites were only running 0.5 watts. If you only have a zero dBd gain antenna and a police scanner you will still be able to hear the ISS on some good orbits.
(note: if your antenna is rated in dB rather than the correct dBd value, subtract 3 to convert the dB value to the correct dBd rating)
Suggested receiving station:
Casual listening for ISS requires a 2-meter vertical or scanner antenna (0 dBd or better) Police scanner or amateur radio with the ability to receive in the 144 - 146 mc or MHz range, FM mode. Antenna cable should be a low loss RG-8 style cable less than 100 feet long (RG-213 best choice). You will not need to mount the antenna very high, just try to get above the roof ridgeline. And of course you will need to find / buy a satellite
tracking program. I recommend the InstantTrack 1.5. It's a simple easy to use program, which can be purchased from Amsat.
ISS frequencies:
The Amateur Radio frequencies for ISS have been posted.
Worldwide downlink for voice and packet: 145.800
Worldwide packet uplink: 145.990
Region 1 voice uplink: 145.200
Region 2 & 3 voice uplink: 144.490
You will need to dig out the manual for your radio and program in the following frequency combinations. Note that some of the older FM mobile and Walkie-talkie HT style radios over 15 years old may have some
difficulty in saving these combinations into memory. The channels listed below will help you compensate for the speed of the space station, called Doppler. If the smallest channel step your radio supports is 5k, then only program in channels 2, 5 and 8. If your radio supports the smaller 2.5k channel step, then program in all channels listed. After you have determined your smallest channel step supported by your radio, then program in the channels. You can either use the procedures for storing ODD-Splits or you can reprogram your repeater off set for each of the channels and then save the new combination in a new memory location. This channel procedure has been successfully used on the Mir Amateur Radio program for years and is the choice of usage for school schedules (you do not want to fiddle with VFO's during a 10-minute pass). I also recommend you program in all channels, no mater what part of the world you live in. The World Map ISS location display used by the ISS crew is not located next to the Amateur Radio station.
Voice operations Region 2 & 3 (North and South America and Pacific)
Chan Receive Transmit Offset (Meg)
1 145.802.5 144.488.5 -1.314
2 145.800.0 144.490.0 -1.310
3 145.798.5 144.492.5 -1.306
Packet operations Regions 1, 2 & 3 (Europe, North and South America and
Pacific)
Chan Receive Transmit
4 145.802.5 145.988.5 +0.186
5 145.800.0 145.990.0 +0.190
6 145.798.5 145.992.5 +0.194
Voice operations Region 1 (Europe)
Chan Receive Transmit
7 145.802.5 145.198.5 -0.604
8 145.800.0 145.200.0 -0.600
9 145.798.5 145.202.5 -0.596
Usage Example:
Lets assume ISS is approaching for a good 10 minute over head pass, running Packet. When ISS comes over the horizon the Doppler frequency error will initially be 3.5k plus 145.990 = 145.993.5. This means the
frequency ISS will appear to be transmitting on is 145.993.5. Set your radio to channel #4 for the first 3 minutes of the pass. Then for the next 3 minutes use channel #5 and for the last three minutes use channel
#6. Follow the same procedure for Voice operations. Since we are using the Mode FM, we do not have to have our Transmit and receive frequency exactly on frequency. We can be off frequency 1-2khz and still get
reliable Voice and Data. The MAREX-NA team has been using this procedure for 10 years with excellent results.
Mir:
As of this writing, the Mir station has been de-orbited. REST IN PIECE
QSL card:
A QSL card is a post card, which you can request to confirm you made a two-way or heard the crew on the Amateur Radio band. The QSL procedure for ISS is under development, please check the AIRSS web pages for the latest updates and QSL procedures for ISS.
Copyright 2000 Miles Mann, All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely distributed via the following means - Email (including listservers), Usenet, and World-Wide-Web. It may not be reproduced for
profit including, but not limited to, CD ROMs, books, and/or other commercial outlets without prior written consent from the author. Images received from the MAREX-NA SSTV system on the Russian Space
Station Mir are considered public domain and may be freely distributed, without prior permission.
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F