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January 31, 2013

HAM RADIO IN SPACE


I became a bit upset today after reading a posting from the AMSAT BB. The ham was angry or upset because an astronaut from Canada did not have his ham radio license but instead chose to text and tweet from the International Space Station. This upset me because so many hams seem forget that Amateur radio is a " guest " on the I.S.S. and is not a priority. Myself I'm grateful that we (ham radio operators) have a working radio station aboard the I.S.S. It took a lot of work and planning to get the equipment up there and install it. Imagine taking a space walk to install a ham radio antenna ! Then installing the coax from a vacuum environment to a pressurized environment, no problem I do it every day right? NOT!
My first exposure to Amateur radio in space was hearing W5LFL Owen Garriot aboard the "Space Lab or Sky Lab" I can't remember which. Then another instance happened in the 1990's when I received the "DOVE" satellite beacon transmission before it went silent. In 2010 I went to the Dayton HamVention and saw an AMSAT demonstration and I was bit by the bug. All though I have not made a contact via satellite but have the equipment to do so. I guess I'm a bit "gun shy" of attempting to make my first contact, hopefully I'll do it this Summer!
73's
Mike

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