Hams in Space!

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Andy MacAllisler WA5Z/B 14714 Knighlsway Drive Houston TX 77083 $T$·35: Mission Accomplished ! II's been over seven years since me lirst ham-in-space activity by Owen GarriOll W5LFL from lhe space shuttle Columbia Since Ihen, others have gone into orbit with amateur radiOgear. Callsigns like WOORE . OPIISL and U2MIR have been heard from ortnt. No.... WA4SlR joins the ranks 01 the ham·in.space fratern ity His efforts !rom STs.35 were quite popular and very successful. Columbia blasted skyward on December 2, 1990. in • spec tacular nighttime launch canying the Astro-l telescope mission and Ron Parise WA4SlA with his ham radiO gear. The $150 milliOn Astra $ T$·35 mission carried four advanced imaging systems. The broadband X-ray telescope, designed to be pointed by ground controllers, worked well. It succeeded in sensing much COSmic phenomena not visible from the Earth's surface due to the abso rbing characteristics of the atmosphere. The other three telescopes, aimed at their targets by computers in the shutlie, were designed to receive uttraviOle1 radiatiOn. On the first day 01 the meeion, one 01 the te lescope-steering computers failed . Four days later, the second one went doWn. The systems were located in the shuttle rear-oeck area. Ground crews and Ihe flight team lound the situation dillicutt. bof not insurmountable, as controllers on Earth radioed target coo rdinates verbally to the astronauts, who used joysticks and TV cameras to aim th e telescopes manually. SAREX.lI Successful The Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment went much smoother than the telescope operatiOns, bol not without a lew problems. On fhe posItive side, 238 etetons around the world managed to make complete two-way pecket contacts with the WA4S1R ROBOT terminal node controller (TNe). Signals from the shuttle could be heard on 145.55 MH:l: FM . The corresponding uplin'" was 144.95 MHz , Note Table 1 lor a comprehensive list 01 those logged as complete contacts, A few stations even had two-way voice contacts with the shut1l e. Several hundred more packet stations were heard by the SAREX-II system and received unique aso serial numbers. However, they weren't able to complete a verified two·way ex change. Ttlousands of stations attempted fO contact Ron without suc:c:ess, bol it was educatiOnal and even entertaining just listening to the voice actIVity or watching the packets fla sh past as Columbia flew overhead . Table 2 is a sample of a SAREX-ll bolletin sent on the second day of the mission, plus some other bits and pieces of paelIefs received as the shuttle sped around the WOI1d. Not all Of the sh uttle activity used the published 145.55 MHz downlink frequency, Conversations cou ld be heard on nearby frequencies du ring many evening passes when the shuttle was Amateur Radio Via Satellite within range 01 the Johnson Space Cent er in Houston, Texas, or the 000. dard Space Center in Greenbelt, Mary. land. Several phone patches were made for the astronauts with their families. Although many hams were probably listening in , interference was rare and the conversations, at least from the shuttle side, co uld be monitored on small berne systems or even HTs. If you are on the gold-star aSl list in Table 1, or il you made it to the sitverstar OAl list (published by AMSAT). send your aSL to the ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington CT 06 111, Attention : Education Activities Department. A sitver-star contact means that the robot heard you r call but could not complete a two-way acknow1edgment. OSLs are also avadable for SWl reports. Those few stations that had the pleasure 01 a two-way voice aso wilf be eligible for the top-grade aSL reply, An important part of Ron's activity from orbit invotved schools aro und the U.S, Although the shuttle was not in view over the U.S. during school hours, methods were devised to connect Ron to a phone network via hams in areas 01 the world that had direct 2 meter aCC&SS to the shuttle. Stations in Australia, induding VK2AS, VK5AGR , and VK61U, provided access during passesover thei r coverage areas while PY2BJO diel the same from his location in Brazil. Questions were uplinkect to Ron via this system. Ron would answer the questions, many limes adding commentary about the view from above, and g,ving updates on the Astro-1 experiments. While only a few schools were involved with direct communications with the shu ttle, many others were online, listening. AMSAT and ARRL representatives were pleased with the results, considering the comp1e~ l ty of the arrangement. Lessons Learned 64 73 AmateurRadio Today · March, 1991 There were many comments lrom me Mo nday-m orning·quarterback point of vi_ about the ST$-35SAREX It operatIOn. The ham-in-spaee activity wa s extremely successful. Not all hams made contact with the shuttle, but everyone who tried, shoutel at least have heard Ron or the robot , Much 01 the difficulty in worlling the shuttle was causecl by vehicle altitude, operator schedule, interfererlC e, and system limitations. During the flight of ST5-35, the shut· tie had to align itself for telescope ob· servations. Since the 2 meter antenna was located in either the pilot's or commander's window, much Of the time it was aimed away from the earth , or, due to its directivity, it was aimed al only a portion of ifS potential coverage area. Because of the vehicle 's orientation , not even an antenna in the cargo bay would have cured lhe probIern on this night, but it coutel help considerabty on future miSSiOns. Because of phone patches and private conversations. the packet system was not active on many passes over the U.S. II a second radio operating on 70cm could be employed for private voice activity, the packet system could be operated full·time on 2 meters. But the amateur radio e ~pe rimen t Table 1. Two-Way Packet Contacts with WA4SIA oso ''0 ''0 esc fIn en,.. If" Clli fllf cau "" "" , WP4XQ sn ""G" ." s """"' """'" '" '"'''' '" .'"' 1213 "'OCC • vcoeo '" .,"" ... zssrva 1214 1211 "',.." , """'" '" ""'" .. """" .. "''''' "'"'" ""''' """.. '" """ "'" • ""'" ... "' ""'" M' zsese 1219 " """ estu ~ ",,"C '" "'O' .., "'" "" "'''''' ~ "lY '" ,.." '" """" ".. """" • ...... ... """ '" ".. ,~. " "''''' ., ""'" .., """ ies ....... .. """ "'''' zseerc .. '" ""'" "" .,'" - "" sea ..".. """" ." """'" oss "" ".. ,,,, 'OX "''''' '" JR!>EBL ""'" sa ""'" .. ..,.... '" >EM "'" l(p4£I(G ~ ..... .., M zset .~ ""'" "'" "'" "'''N ~ " """" M ", "... .. " """0 '" JH10MA ~. JR1EDE '''' ",.., ee """ EMBRV sas JH~IT 1311 wcesev ...... ,"'.., "'''' .~ 1312 ro sse """ ." .. '''''' "" 1314 " """" ssa ""'" "0''' sss """'" "'" Kl'.PX "''''' '" "'''' '». W SF ~ """ ~. n M """" "" sss vceee '" PY2ElIlL "" '" rseeev WSH 579 WY*' '" erase ". '".... """. ,.", ""... "''''''''''' %, ,~ , ,~ zsee .. 613 NIlOEU """ .'" ". ~, """ 61 6 Xf3R '" -n "" ""'" '" ...... '" "'"" ...... '" '''' ""'" ... """" '" "006 '" .",,, ,eo,c "n """" ,.. """ "" "'''' '" """ '" ...., "'''' "., JA1ESP '" ..... ""'" ...."'"' ....... ,.. ..,.... ,,~ H'" """" ,.. 651 I(GQY'V 1011 ""'"" ,.". , ,w % '" ""'" "" """'" .....'" 1.12 """'" '" ''''' """ '''' ......, "" ''''''' '" """' ,... ,., "" "'''' "" J HJf ~G 675 XF3QZ 1076 ""'" ".." '" ".G' m XElldMD H'" ""." '''' '"'''' ". '" '''"'' """" 679 XE H.M ,,~ XE1PM '''' WA2KDl 709 OMHV 1116 HK4BHA 1472 NGMEL '" JAIVIM 711 PY2GN "" """ """. ,~, "" JA1.1Mi 112 PY2M SG ,,~ "''' '''' W51U '" LU80Yf 713 PY2EXD ". .- n, "" '''' """ "'" 718 ZS6AOC "'" 1511 '" """"0 '" ,,,.,, """ "" ",. ,~. """ '" ...... no; ...... "" "'" U_ ,,~ "'"'C 129 JH1LVN rn "" XE ll CE "" ",,"CO 141 JM8t.C , 151 ,~ .- '" """ '" """'" '" """'" isn't a paying customer, and it's difficult to justify the inclusion of more ham equipment jusl to simplify packet connects to all orbiting rotxJt system. Cofl98S1lon aRM For hams in remote locations around the world, it was relatively easy to make a complete packet contact with the shuttle. In the U,S., the situation was quite different. With as many as a few thousand stations all sending packets on the primary uplink frequency of 144,95 MHz, it is likely the SAREX reo celver was in a state of constant everload. The 60 stations in the continental U.S. that actually completed a full twoway contact with the robot were either running a lot 01power at jusl the righl time. or were incredibty lucky, 01 both. Also. many uninformed hams could be heard calling before the shuttle was above the horizon, alter it was long gone 01 even on the wrong frequency. FQr1unate!y. the shuttle activity on 144,95 MHz caused tittle disroptiOn of the DX packet duster using that Irequency for terrestrial DX inlormatiorl forwarding, If the shuttle activity had occurred during a DX contest weekend. there could have been significant ,,~ ,.. "
Table 2. Sample of Packets ReceIved from SAREX-U, STS·35 WA4$IR;>QST:The SAREX Robot is a SPLIT FREQUENCY operation and .. NOT re QST:with most things going well , The Instru menl Pointing System tIas delayed experiment opefation$ at this point but we are wort"ng on it. Have fun working the roboI anORZ:ll202-KE7NR WM/IZP N6UEA N6NJr N6DGK WAOOII N6PSU N6RW N6WJP W86lLO VJ
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