I think it's outstanding that in such an epic space project, with so much at stake, amateur radio was even considered, let alone made it on board without being descoped in favour of other projects.
The guitar made prime time news across many countries, and promoted the ISS and space exploration to the masses at a time when coverage is on the decline. It was a genious piece of marketing. Amateur Radio on board has also spread the word in education and promotion over the years, and is great for promoting the hobby, but it's way off the top of NASA's priority list and I think we should be very thankful for what we've got. Dominic G6NQO On 30 May 2013, at 06:13, Andy Kellner <haw...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Bit of a shame that the people in charge at NASA decide its worth flying an > accoustic guitar to the ISS so some astronaut can have his 5 minutes of fame, > but dont spend $ 2000 on a tiny FM repeater which 10.000+ hams worldwide > would enjoy in many years to come, let alone the educational impact. As it > has been said, if that radio would be turned down to .. lets say 5 W .. the > impact on the power budget of the ISS, which currently has a power generating > capacity of 84 kW (!), would be completely insignificant. > > > A bit unclear to me why NASA still seems to be keen about school contacts, > but wont enable a brick-and-mortar ham to setup a demonstration at _any_ > school without any further NASA envolvement, demonstrating the FM repeater .. > "look, I am talking to this other guy using the International Space Station > which right now passes over our heads ..." > > My 2 c. > > Andreas - VK4TH > > ________________________________ > From: Ing. Pavel Milanes Costa <co...@frcuba.co.cu> > To: amsat-bb@amsat.org > Sent: Thursday, 30 May 2013 12:04 PM > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Is there anyway to get a linear transponder on the > ISS? > > > There is no provision or equipment for the job on board. > > There is a FM repeater in U/V mode, but last time on for it back a years > from now (2008?) > > That time I read in some place of the internet that the FM repeater was > a power hungry device onboard, and that's why it was turned off... > > They do not want to listen, or no body said to them that just turning > the TX Power Down will fix this... or kind of... > > I think the repeater function involved the Kenwood radio that now has a > malfunction... > > so... there is no hope for now... > > My 5 cents... > > 73 de CO7WT > > El 29/05/13 21:03, K5VOU escribió: >> Just thinkin' >> Tom K5VOU >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > _______________________________________________ > 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
