This goes back to a comment I made earlier and was chastised for. However if by some freak of nature what if there was a "real" ham up there. Imagine chassing the ISS on 20cw on the other side of the world. Propagation characteristics, beam pointing, doppler correction, what grid square are they over, pile ups, etc, the head explodes!
73 Bob W7LRD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexander Sack" <pisym...@gmail.com> To: "KM9U" <arsk...@gmail.com> Cc: "amsat-bb" <amsat-bb@amsat.org> Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 6:57:53 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: [AMSAT-BB] ISS, what the heck happened? On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 7:40 AM, KM9U <arsk...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >>> So I think everyone read the announcement ARRL made before FD. Now >>> that FD weekend is at an end, can someone explain to me why NASA >>> couldn't let the astronauts have 10 minutes on the radio for one pass? >>> I mean were they having issues with the radio itself? > > During Expedition 24/25, Col. Wheelock made many contacts from the ISS in > the evenings and on weekends during his free time. This was not because he > was "scheduled" to be the radio, but rather because he enjoyed doing it. > I don't believe we can blame NASA for the current crew members obvious lack > of interest in Amateur Radio. Had Col. Wheelock (or someone as enthustiastic > as he) been aboard the ISS on FD, NA1SS would likely not have been silent. > >> Have you never make a calculation or an estimation on how it costs a 10 >> minutes of an astronaut activity all costs including on board of the ISS ? I don't buy it. What I do believe is the current crew isn't that interested in making contacts with amateur radio operators. That's fine. Operating the radio outside the educational outreach program is ertainly not part of their mission. I will just have to be more patient and hope someone gets the ham bug up there during some mission and starts to make contacts. I can wait. I DO want to state again I think it behooves NASA and the whole space program to try to get someone on that radio like a Col Wheelock (doesn't have to be as frequent as Col Wheelock) to generate the enthusiasm and excitement for the ISS and the whole space program among hams. My 2 cents. > This brings up an interesting thought. The astronauts receive monetary > compensation for performing their duties while employed by NASA. So, if > their employer schedules them to operate amateur radio as part of their job > assignment, would this not violate Part 97.113 (Prohibited transmissions) > which specifically prohibits "Communications in which the station licensee > or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on > behalf of an employer". > Now, DON'T GET YOUR PANTIES IN A WAD! It is just a question. > There is no pecuniary interest involved as I see it. -aps (KC2ZSX) _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
