Cyprus-Forum.com

[Strahd]

January 29/01/06 11:41UTC
Limassol, Cyprus

The Limassol amateur radio station 5B8BE establishes contact with the International Space Station(ISS). The contact was with ISS flight commander Bill McArthur(NA1ISS) who was in orbit above the island at that time. The contact was actually achieved during the end of the Austalian Open final where the Cypriot tennis player Marcos Pagdatis was playing.

An article confirming the contact can be found at http://www.issfanclub.com/node/3835.

Excellent!

[dms007]

Moderator please move this topic to the Jokes and Enigmas section

[Strahd]

This is not a joke my friend... you can see in the article also the proof, there is also a document that proves the contact took place and an audio recording... It just shows what amateur radio operators can do... try www.amsat.org to find out more...

[Sotos]

our transmissions can travel very far. I was watching a program at discovery some days ago and they said that our first TV transmissions our now traveling out of our galaxy! (or something like that )

[Strahd]

That is correct, an electromagnetic wave would travel forever at the speed of light in free space. However it looses strength with distance and from very far away you need very good receivers and very large antennas to receive it. Hence the SETI program which is listening for extraterrestrial activities uses the largest antenna arrays in the world.

Communicating with the space station is fairly easy. When is passing above Cyprus is only at a range of 500 to 400 km which is clear of any obsticles (apart from the atmosphere) and thus makes it very easy to communicate at the VHF frequencies. On the earth the curvature of the planet and obsticles like mountains cause the "localised" range that VHF appear to have. Radio amateurs have actually contacted ISS using just a walkie talkie with 5W of power and a handheld directional antenna.

[Sotos]

Strahd there is no doubt that the waves can go very far. What it is hard to believe is that the astronauts are communicating on the same frequencies that the amateurs use. I would expect that the communication between astronauts and earth is made with an encrypted way so nobody else can listen.

[Strahd]

Astronauts communicate to NASA and ESA using open communications and designated frequencies in several bands. These communications are by no means encrypted in any way. The same with the telemetry data.

On the amateur radio side it has always been a tradition for astronauts on the space stations (MIR in the past and ISS now) to be licenced amateur radio operators. This is mainlly for their entertainment however as it was proven in the past when MIR had communication problems the only way it could communicate with the planet it was via amateur radio and there is always someone there to listen

Some interesting links are

http://www.ariss-eu.org/index.htm

http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm

Some frequency info if you have a wide band receiver and some orbit tracking software you can hear them!

Amateur Radio Frequencies

FM VOICE for ITU Region 1: Europe-Middle East-Africa-North Asia

* Downlink 145.800
* Uplink 145.200

FM VOICE for ITU Region 2: North and South America-Caribbean-Greenland

* Downlink 145.800
* Uplink 144.490

FM VOICE Repeater (Worldwide)

* Downlink 145.800
* Uplink 437.800

AX.25 1200 Bd AFSK Packet Radio (Worldwide)

* Downlink 145.800
* Uplink 145.990

UHF Simplex (rarely used)

* Downlink 437.550
* Uplink 437.550

Other Frequencies

121.75 FM
Voice downlink from Soyuz-TM during free flight operations, the frequency also carries ranging information from the TORU remote control docking system, and carries a recovery beacon signal during Soyuz descent (detectable over near-east and south- west Asia)

130.167 AM
HF-2 downlink from Zarya - carries voice (Russian and English) plus packet data, sometimes instead of VHF-1 (during shuttle- docked periods) and sometimes in parallel with VHF-1

143.625 FM
VHF-1 downlink, the main Russian comms channel - content similar to VHF-2 - works with Russian ground stations plus White Sands AFB, Dryden Flight Center and Wallops Island in the US

166.000 AM
Telemetry during orbital operations of Soyuz-TM and Progress M-1 vehicles, also occasional transmissions from ISS - probably from a docked Soyuz or Progress ferry, it can be heard as a buzz with two distinct peaks at 166.125 and 165.875 MHz

259.700 AM
Voice from Space Shuttle during ascent and descent - reported as detectable over east coast US then from Europe about 20 minutes after lift-off, generally silent at other times but has been detected over Europe on the descent orbit

632.000 634.000 AM
Telemetry from Zarya module, similar to the 166 MHz transmission with peaks at +/- 125 kHz - transmissions not very frequent and seem to be confined to 634 MHz - most likely on passes over eastern Europe - watch out for the Doppler shift at this frequency - it can make the signal appear up to 15 kHz off-frequency

628.000 630.000 AM
Telemetry from Zvezda module, transmissions are similar to, and more frequent than those from Zarya and are on command from Moscow - the two transmitters appear to operate in parallel

922.76 CW
Beacon from Soyuz-TM and Progress M1 and from the Russian ISS modules - tends to be received in parallel with the 166 MHz or 620-630 MHz transmissions, beware of the Doppler, it ranges +/- 23 kHz from the centre frequency

[Sotos]

I see. So whats the cost of all these?

[Strahd]

This depends a lot on you! To start with amateur radio all you need is a portable VHF/UHF radio which costs can vary from 50-200 CYP. This will allow you to practice local or intercity communications using the repeaters or even a rare long distance if you are on a mountain. You can build a lot of equipment yourself like antennas or even whole radios.

As in all technology hobbies you have to start slow and over time you will build slowly your station at home or in your car etc. A computer is also a very helpful tool if you are into digital communications.

The most important though is studying and researching so that you can take the exam at the ministry and gain a licence. You will find a lot of helpful amateurs who will guide you so that you can get involved in local activities like expeditions or emergency communications.