International space station:astronaut to earth (Radio stuff)

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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:22 pm

This might interest a few people here, as I know there are other ham radio operators at eater. At about 18:45z I was lucky enough to hear an astronaut answering questions from an operator on the ground. Doesn't happen often. I mean, the ISS goes around the earth umpteen times a day, but getting the variables of radio ham aboard, talking and overhead pass to coincide isn't an everyday event.

Freq was 145.800 nbfm. Only one side of the conversation was audible, so I chopped out the silent parts. He was gone in minutes.

http://members.419eater.com/~psychedelia_smit/spacestation.mp3

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

That was pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:02 pm

That's seriously cool!

I just found a video that I THINK might be by the same guy. His name is Garrett Reisman. I think. Well the video is of Garrett. I don't know about the audio you put up. It could have also been by a guy named Gregory Chamitoff.

Anyway, Garrett did a video called "A Day in The Life of a Space Station Astronaut". It's kind of fascinating. It's long too. Probably about 45 minutes to an hour. But he shows you a lot.

*LINK*

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:32 pm

Nice find

I´m not a licensed radio operator myself but I have been listening to and logging SW (only) related things many years.
One OM from my home village managed a similar thing like you, 1-2 decades ago, actually talking to one scientist from SpaceLab (? not sure any more. Might have also been the Mir. The Iron Curtain did not take care of radio propagation...)

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:20 pm

Pretty cool.I was wondering if the were other hams on here.Never messed with 2 meters much,was mostly active on HF CW.Might dust off the 2 meter rig and get an antenna up ths weekend.

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:01 pm

CW, wow, I only managed to note down the call signs after the standard "CQ CQ CQ de..." which I found easily recognizeable.

Now that I come to think more clearly, I was wondering, there is nothing between Earth surface and the ISS, these ultra short wavelengths should propagate directly anyhow, shouldn´t they? I have just come to wonder whether the OP is a special coincidence at all...after all, the tiniest GPS can receive satellites´ signals...
(OK, I have never done it, I did only SWL, but I was just wondering, receiving the ISS´signals ought to be quite possible on a daily, if not hourly, basis with standard equipment...hmm...well I might stand corrected pretty easily but this was just my thought.)

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:25 pm

Way back, when it was still up there, I'd heard the astronauts on MIR from time to time, but almost always speaking Russian. I actually got into their packet radio mailbox a few times.

I operate HF mostly, but occasionally natter to a few mates locally on 2 or 70. Actually I hadn't been active for some time, about 10 years in fact, and the radio bug recently started to bite again, so the equipment came back down from the loft.

Like doc holliday there, I enjoy CW too. Well, I had to learn it at 12wpm when I got my ticket, so it would've been silly to abandon it. I like how easy it is to build my own gear for the mode, too Smile

http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2004/10/06/1/?nc=1

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:27 pm

Well,I was always better at operation than theory,but lets give it a shot.
These ultra short wavelengths do propage directly.Actually I believe most of the communication with spacecraft take place at even higher frequencies(the microwave spectrum)As the communication is line of sight,it depends on the orbit whether you are within its line of communication.The satellites for TV orbit such that they are in a fixed location from our point of view.The low earth orbit weather satellites are in an orbit that crosses the poles,so you have view of a given one twice a day.i have no idea what orbit the ISS is in,but I do know there are some very good freeware satellite orbit predictor programs that include the ISS in their databases.As the OP stated though,lots of variables.A ham on the ISS is going to get on as his schedule permits,and is unlikely to be an everyday thing.
As far as CW goes,when I was really active I could break 30wpm.That may sound fast,but I have heard of guys going over 60wpm.Thats slightly faster than slow radio teletype.

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:37 pm

A legendary local G4 used to hit speeds of up to 70wpm when going flat-out. He was ex-navy sigs, and definitely faster than me by a pretty big margin. I've seen him having a conversation on the telephone while carrying on a CW contact at the same time. Amazing.

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:53 pm

Well if anyone wants to make a lad learn morse code,you have at least 2 judges of his skill.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:11 am

Well, surprise of surprises, I never knew there were other radio types on Eater. I'm definitely an HF guy as well, but I've given up on making contacts. These days, I pretty much just listen.

As for receiving stuff from the ISS, in the ARRL antenna handbook there's a design for a stressed parabolic dish that a fellow used for intercepting Skylab and Apollo signals. Not for the faint of heart, especially the LEO stuff, since it moves across the sky so fast, you really need specialized equipment. Not for nothing that ISS and the Shuttle communicate with ground stations (with the obvious exception being the amateur radio activities) through geostationary communications satellites.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:25 am

I'm a G0, iMike is a ham too.

Years ago i got a QSL card from the Space Shuttle when I logged into its packet signal as it went over. Very strong reception, like sat TV, there's nothing in the way. I used a PC program with published data to know when it was coming over.

I have successfully forgotten most of my CW, I learned it for the the test, then never used it again. Like languages, you need to be able to do it automatically. If you think about a character for a second, you miss the next two.

I still have a mast in the garden (if its been there long enough you don't need planning permission) but the Yaesu HF set is in the attic. Now I can communicate all over the planet just by typing....

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:21 pm

I earned my VK ticket when the CW requirement for access to HF was dropped.
Will be studying to upgrade to the Advanced VK Licence in the near future.

73

Waiting for cycle 24 to produce more favourable hf propagation.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:34 pm

Yes, G0 here too. First licenced 1982 with 'B' call, code test passed in '86. God, I'm old Smile

Roy, it's true you can communicate better via the internet these days, but there's just something about doing it via radio, especially if you build most of your kit yourself. I admit computers lured me away from the hobby, but one can compliment the other.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:08 pm

@Roy I used to have a Yaesu FT101E many years ago, confreted it for CD but still got everything.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:54 pm

You feel old-my first license is dated 1974!I got a DXCC award in the early 80's,and a fair number of the countries are now on the deleted countries list.I have to agree about there being something special about radio.I can speak with someone on the other side of the world with crystal clarity via the internet,but is very different doing it with nothing between you but "the ether".Building your own stuff certainly added to the thrill.I find that computers have complimented my radio hobby very well.
I must admit to a certain fondness for vacuum tubes.You cant abuse the finals in a modern tranceiver until they glow cherry red like you could a pair of 6146s or a 6L6.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:50 pm

I might have logged you, too...not likely the VK station, though. I only had a CB radio antenna which I abused for this purpose.
I started with the external services, then free radio Wink

, collected some dozen QSL´s and managed to call in a few stations from Holland (the thrill!) Very Happy

Then came the African tropical bands (hence why I still know which language belongs to which country, and the capital cities...), got a few dozen from Latin America; then I switched completely to Pirate radio (listening Sad

) only; then hams only; then clandestines. Last I had were the number stations.
Every other winter another "subject".
Mother nature makes it all being so nicely unpredictable, sometimes it works miraculously, sometimes you get nothing.
A few years ago, until last year, however, I was living opposite to a big hospital complex, which reduced chances a lot. Now I live in a small village next to the same city, did a few nights last winter but baiting fill smost of my evenings Still read the glenn hauser and SW news reports reports quite regularly though, but apart from the DW news, that´s it for the moment.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:18 am

@Frumpy-no antenna is abused!I was renowned amongst my friends for making contacts using any piece of metal that came my way.I loaded transmitters on bedsprings,rain gutters,and once made a contact with Japan in my car off a 24 inch gutter whip.A good antenna tuner goes a long way.You seem to have done your share of SWL listening across the board.I use a Collins R390a for it myself,and keep intending to do it when I have the time.I admire you following the number stations.Interesting certainly,but way to dull for my liking.
I think the internet has likely put pirate radio out of business.It's a damn shame-I used to love hearing one.Got a couple t shirts and bumper stickers out of the deal.There was a point in time when I had some equipment that could broadcast on the High end of the AM band.I really thought about it,but a close friend worked for the FCC in the local office,and I really didn't want to encounter him on a profesional level.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:49 am

The 1/2 lambda one worked pretty well...I had no high end equipment, only magazines and patience. It felt like hunting. Started with a Siemens RK 651 (still works after 20 years) and later a Sony ICF2001, then some longwires.
When I found out about the "Conet project" (a 4 CD publication with number station recordings), I understood I knew a lot of them: the Lincolnshire Poacher, the ones belonging to East & West Germany, the Spanish ones, the Swedish Rhapsody, the Mossad ones etc etc Smile

crazy and enigmatic. Many still active today. Very Happy

Now the Conet project is all on archive.org for free download HERE. I don´t know why I enjoyed this, listening to them is so completely useless LOL
Today, I think Worldwide DX club is a good source for SWL.
You are not quite correct about pirate radio though. The 48 meter band is still quite active in Europe, as is the region around 1650 kHz. Found an internet forum about that recently, too Wink

What has changed is that they can rent legal stations today in Latvia or Milano. My, I was even recording them (programmes, ann´s) in the early 90ies.
Wonder what I will think about baiting in 15 years.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:56 pm

I used to listen to the number stations a lot, and never really knew why, it was just because it was clandestine and mysterious, and the thought of spies sat there copying it all down in secret was all very James Bond (you never saw him doing it).

I discovered the Conet Project after reading a Wiki page about the film Vanilla Sky, I think. They play the music from the Lincolnshire Poacher in it - I sat up straight and said 'I know that music' - very creepy it is too, even more so in a cold war - spy context. LINK

Not the same listening to it on record though, live was much better.

I had a friend who used to transmit using the metal strip up the outside of a telegraph pole outside his house, using his central heating as a groundplane.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 28

Thats one of the most awesome things I ever heard.

Thanks for sharing.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:39 pm

Free radio's alive and reasonably well in Europe! Listen between 6.3 and 6.5 mhz at weekends, mostly Sunday mornings, and you'll more than likely hear one of the hobby pirates, running anything from a couple watts to a couple KWs.

I first heard a 'numbers station' on my grandfather's table receiver when I was a little kid. I thought it was martians or something, that mechanical-sounding female voice repeating the groups of 5 digits. Very spooky.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:57 pm

"Delta Foxtrot Delta Zwo Eins Delta Foxtrott Delta Zwo Eins...

...this goes on for 10 minutes...

sechs fünnef Gruppen sechs fünnef Gruppen ... how many blocks of numbers to expect

Achtung ...attention!

Es folgen Mitteilungen fuer :...messages following for :

fünnef drei zwo neuen neuen fünnef drei zwo neuen neuen ... these are all numbers
acht sieben zwo zwo eins acht sieben zwo zwo eins...
and on for 15-30 minutes or longer LOL

DFD 21 was one of the BND stations. When the Iron Curtain fell, this station was discontinued. Many dozens still active though, in English, Chinese, German, Spain, Slavic Laughing

East Berlin´s number stations´ female computer voices read the numbers like hysterically barking chichihuahua dogs Laughing

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:09 pm

Damn. I thought you guys were geeks for discussing this.
But then I started Googling "Numbers Stations" and ended up engrossed.

Dammit. I even listened to the recordings!!!

Interestingly, you say dozens are still active, Frumpy. From what I can gather, their number has actually increased since the fall of the Iron Curtain!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:12 pm

LOL Yes. It IS strange...especially since no one knows what they actually mean. There is a lot of speculation. Secret services, milititary, multinational companies, agents, diplomats... officially they do not exist for any purpose Wink

I´m not being so vague because political crises etc etc are not to be discussed here. After decades, really, nobody knows what they mean. They continue to be a mistery.

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