Amplifier needed for International Space Station Contact in August
Hi folks: As most of you know, SBARC is arranging a special contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station and a local Boy Scout troop (tentatively set for the week of August 18 to 22). We have every element necessary for the primary station plus a back up station, except we need to borrow a couple of two-meter amplifiers. The ARISS folks require that we have 80 watt transmit capability on two-meters, and our radios will fall just short of this. So, we need your help! Please let me know if have an amplifier available that is capable of at least 80 watts. We will need to borrow it in the days leading up to the week of 8/18. This is your chance to help out on a very special SBARC event. Check out the "background" below and the attached draft application for more info. Thanks in advance! Ken Owen, N6KTH AMSAT Area Coordinator n6kth@n6kth.com (805) 448-5726 BACKGROUND: The history is as follows. Glenn Schiferl, a scout leader and head of the UCSB Physics computing services, approached co-worker Bob Pizzi (AC6PZ) and informed him that the astronaut on the next launch to the ISS wanted to do a contact from the ISS with a local BSA group. Bob said SBARC would back up the effort. Since an astronaut is requesting this contact, all of the normal approvals and application delays will be bypassed. We have arranged to have the contact take place on the patio on the roof of the physics building. There are plans in the works to involve the astronomy department and to include an educational component with the scouts. This could be a huge media event, and it's a great opportunity to set up the SBARC rover and spend the day promoting the club and amateur radio. NASA will promote this event as well. An ISS contact of this type involves kids submitting questions in advance, and a few get the opportunity to ask the questions of the astronaut. THE RADIO EQUIPMENT: There will need to be two, two-meter FM ham stations capable of space communications (see the attached block diagram). The primary station will have full tracking capability (azimuth & elevation rotors, tracking software and interface) a circularly polarized beam, pre-amps and a power amplifier. The backup station will only need to have an omni-directional antenna, but it will also need pre-amps and amps. Ken, N6KTH has the critical equipment necessary for the tracking station, and he, plus two of the other principle organizers all have Yaesu ft-847s that will be used as the rigs for both stations.
Ken Owen wrote:
Hi folks:
As most of you know, SBARC is arranging a special contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station and a local Boy Scout troop (tentatively set for the week of August 18 to 22). We have every element necessary for the primary station plus a back up station, except we need to borrow a couple of two-meter amplifiers. The ARISS folks require that we have 80 watt transmit capability on two-meters, and our radios will fall just short of this.
So, we need your help! Please let me know if have an amplifier available that is capable of at least 80 watts. We will need to borrow it in the days leading up to the week of 8/18. This is your chance to help out on a very special SBARC event. Check out the "background" below and the attached draft application for more info.
Thanks in advance!
Ken Owen, N6KTH AMSAT Area Coordinator n6kth@n6kth.com (805) 448-5726
KA6OFZ and I have some history with this having done both a shuttle and ISS contact from Monroe School. The ISS contact was horizon-to-horizon and we borrowed a rig from Dave Jacobs K9KBX. I don't know if it was 80 watts output but it was close. With the beam it was far more than that ERP. The antenna and az-el rotors were borrowed from the Club and I spent a bit of time cleaning and lubricating the rotors and repairing the antenna. I don't know if they are still available. For the earlier shuttle contact earlier we used a 40-watt Icom mobile rig and a 4-element quad which also was marginally adequate for a horizon-to-horizon pass, but a bit rougher copy. The antenna on the shuttle in the early days was a loop in the window, not nearly as good as the dedicated antenna used on ISS. Info here: http://www.west.net/~jay/ariss.html I also have a pile of DVD copies of the contact with the complete audio and video of the kids, also showing the equipment setup. SBARC put the DVD together, shot the video and edited it. If you would like a few copies, let me know.
BACKGROUND: The history is as follows. Glenn Schiferl, a scout leader and head of the UCSB Physics computing services, approached co-worker Bob Pizzi (AC6PZ) and informed him that the astronaut on the next launch to the ISS wanted to do a contact from the ISS with a local BSA group. Bob said SBARC would back up the effort. Since an astronaut is requesting this contact, all of the normal approvals and application delays will be bypassed.
We have arranged to have the contact take place on the patio on the roof of the physics building. There are plans in the works to involve the astronomy department and to include an educational component with the scouts. This could be a huge media event, and it's a great opportunity to set up the SBARC rover and spend the day promoting the club and amateur radio. NASA will promote this event as well.
An ISS contact of this type involves kids submitting questions in advance, and a few get the opportunity to ask the questions of the astronaut.
Depending on the pass, you should have a good 10 minutes or so of communication. Make sure you have enough questions prepared. We had 16 kids and they each got to ask two questions.
THE RADIO EQUIPMENT: There will need to be two, two-meter FM ham stations capable of space communications (see the attached block diagram). The primary station will have full tracking capability (azimuth & elevation rotors, tracking software and interface) a circularly polarized beam, pre-amps and a power amplifier. The backup station will only need to have an omni-directional antenna, but it will also need pre-amps and amps. Ken, N6KTH has the critical equipment necessary for the tracking station, and he, plus two of the other principle organizers all have Yaesu ft-847s that will be used as the rigs for both stations.
We printed out AZ/EL/time on paper and manually tracked the ISS with the rotator controlss instead of via software. This worked fine and added a bit more interaction to the contact than having it all automated. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay@impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV
Hi Jay: Yes, I heard about your previous contact, and I appreciate your advice. I have Yaesu rotors and tracking software, and we're planning on using two FT-847s (one mine, and one owned by KBX). I assume that you must have used his 847 before, which put out 50 watts. The ARISS folks are asking that we have 80 watts (which seems excessive to me) but we'll accommodate them. So, we are looking for amplifiers. Ken Owen, N6KTH AMSAT Area Coordinator -----Original Message----- From: Jay Hennigan [mailto:jay@west.net] Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 10:26 AM To: n6kth@n6kth.com; sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com Subject: Re: [Sbarc-list] Amplifier needed for International Space Station Contact in August Ken Owen wrote:
Hi folks:
As most of you know, SBARC is arranging a special contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station and a local Boy Scout troop (tentatively set for the week of August 18 to 22). We have every element necessary for the primary station plus a back up station, except we need to borrow a couple of two-meter amplifiers. The ARISS folks require that we have 80 watt transmit capability on two-meters, and our radios will fall just short of this.
So, we need your help! Please let me know if have an amplifier available that is capable of at least 80 watts. We will need to borrow it in the days leading up to the week of 8/18. This is your chance to help out on a very special SBARC event. Check out the "background" below and the attached draft application for more info.
Thanks in advance!
Ken Owen, N6KTH AMSAT Area Coordinator n6kth@n6kth.com (805) 448-5726
KA6OFZ and I have some history with this having done both a shuttle and ISS contact from Monroe School. The ISS contact was horizon-to-horizon and we borrowed a rig from Dave Jacobs K9KBX. I don't know if it was 80 watts output but it was close. With the beam it was far more than that ERP. The antenna and az-el rotors were borrowed from the Club and I spent a bit of time cleaning and lubricating the rotors and repairing the antenna. I don't know if they are still available. For the earlier shuttle contact earlier we used a 40-watt Icom mobile rig and a 4-element quad which also was marginally adequate for a horizon-to-horizon pass, but a bit rougher copy. The antenna on the shuttle in the early days was a loop in the window, not nearly as good as the dedicated antenna used on ISS. Info here: http://www.west.net/~jay/ariss.html I also have a pile of DVD copies of the contact with the complete audio and video of the kids, also showing the equipment setup. SBARC put the DVD together, shot the video and edited it. If you would like a few copies, let me know.
BACKGROUND: The history is as follows. Glenn Schiferl, a scout leader and head of the UCSB Physics computing services, approached co-worker Bob Pizzi (AC6PZ) and informed him that the astronaut on the next launch to the ISS wanted to do a contact from the ISS with a local BSA group. Bob said SBARC would back up the effort. Since an astronaut is requesting this contact, all of the normal approvals and application delays will be bypassed.
We have arranged to have the contact take place on the patio on the roof of the physics building. There are plans in the works to involve the astronomy department and to include an educational component with the scouts. This could be a huge media event, and it's a great opportunity to set up the SBARC rover and spend the day promoting the club and amateur radio. NASA will promote this event as well.
An ISS contact of this type involves kids submitting questions in advance, and a few get the opportunity to ask the questions of the astronaut.
Depending on the pass, you should have a good 10 minutes or so of communication. Make sure you have enough questions prepared. We had 16 kids and they each got to ask two questions.
THE RADIO EQUIPMENT: There will need to be two, two-meter FM ham stations capable of space communications (see the attached block diagram). The primary station will have full tracking capability (azimuth & elevation rotors, tracking software and interface) a circularly polarized beam, pre-amps and a power amplifier. The backup station will only need to have an omni-directional antenna, but it will also need pre-amps and amps. Ken, N6KTH has the critical equipment necessary for the tracking station, and he, plus two of the other principle organizers all have Yaesu ft-847s that will be used as the rigs for both stations.
We printed out AZ/EL/time on paper and manually tracked the ISS with the rotator controlss instead of via software. This worked fine and added a bit more interaction to the contact than having it all automated. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay@impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV
participants (2)
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Jay Hennigan -
Ken Owen