WEBVTT 00:00:10.939 --> 00:00:13.759 Thanks for tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:31.699 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:34.460 tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:39.039 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.679 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:48.520 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:54.380 pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:59.619 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:00:59.619 --> 00:01:03.479 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:14.989 Here we go Welcome to Hamtop Live Calling Let's 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:19.969 Talk Neil's your guy Hamtop Live Here we go on 00:01:19.969 --> 00:01:37.379 Hamtop Radio Hey good evening everyone It's time 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:42.980 for HamTalk Live. It's episode number 205. The 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:46.239 new radio on the International Space Station 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:50.840 recorded live on Thursday, March 26th, 2020. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.939 I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for 00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:58.620 tuning in to this episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:03.180 we're joined by Frank Bauer, KA3 HDO, and we'll 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:06.710 take your calls live in just a few minutes. And 00:02:06.710 --> 00:02:10.229 last week here on the show, Matt Bonadies, KB9YOJ, 00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:12.629 was here to talk about virtual club meetings. 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:15.889 And if you're wondering, that went really well. 00:02:15.889 --> 00:02:19.370 I got in on it late, but we had Zoom for video, 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:21.409 and then we were on the repeater for the rest 00:02:21.409 --> 00:02:24.750 of it, and it worked out really well. So let 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:28.889 me encourage you to do that if your local club 00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:32.409 has had to cancel meetings as most have. Give 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:36.469 that a try. It's a pretty neat way to Connect 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:39.129 with some people and have some fun while you're 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:43.090 quarantined here. But if you missed that show, 00:02:43.389 --> 00:02:47.349 listen over at HamTalkLive .com or on your favorite 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:50.870 podcast app or on YouTube, or you can catch the 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:54.129 rebroadcast of the show every Saturday night 00:02:54.129 --> 00:03:01.550 on WTWW, that's 5 .085 a .m. Saturday evenings 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:05.530 at about 630 p .m. Eastern Time. So get your 00:03:05.530 --> 00:03:09.169 questions ready to go about the space station. 00:03:09.469 --> 00:03:13.590 We've got Frank here that knows everything there 00:03:13.590 --> 00:03:16.729 is to know about it. So we'll take your questions. 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:19.669 If you're listening to us live on Thursday night 00:03:19.669 --> 00:03:22.930 you can give us a call after the interview and 00:03:22.930 --> 00:03:25.069 I'll go ahead and give you the phone number so 00:03:25.069 --> 00:03:33.759 that way you have it ready. It's 859 -982 -7373. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.620 And we'll talk to Frank for a little bit first 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:38.699 and kind of fill you in on the latest news. And 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:43.240 then we'll come back and take your calls at 859 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:47.560 -982 -7373. Of course, you can tweet us. We're 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:51.199 watching Twitter. It's at HamTalk Live on Twitter. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.439 And if you're on Spreaker, you can type into 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.930 the comments there too. Check those throughout 00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:00.289 the night so I'll be back with Frank right after 00:04:00.289 --> 00:04:04.469 this word from ICOM right here on HamTalk Live. 00:04:04.849 --> 00:04:09.710 Get out and be active with ICOM's new IC705 and 00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:13.099 its optional multi -function backpack. The IC 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.439 -705 is your perfect QRP companion as you have 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.220 base station features and functionality at the 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:22.319 tip of your fingers in a portable package covering 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:25.759 HF 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. This 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.180 compact rig weighs in at 1 kilogram or just over 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:32.540 2 pounds with RF direct sampling for most of 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:35.699 the HF band and IF sampling for frequencies above 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:39.579 25 megahertz and a large 4 .3 inch color touchscreen 00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:43.009 with live band scope and waterfall. It runs 5 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:45.610 watts with a battery, 10 watts with a power supply, 00:04:45.810 --> 00:04:49.889 it has sideband, CW, AM, FM, and full D -star 00:04:49.889 --> 00:04:53.089 functions, a micro USB connector, Bluetooth, 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:57.170 wireless LAN, micro SD card slot, integrated 00:04:57.170 --> 00:05:01.069 GPS with antenna and GPS logger, and the speaker 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:04.790 mic comes standard and supports QRP operations. 00:05:05.029 --> 00:05:08.550 The perfect accessory for your IC705 is the optional 00:05:08.550 --> 00:05:12.990 backpack, LC192. with a special compartment for 00:05:12.990 --> 00:05:16.889 your IC -705 and room for accessories for soda 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:20.389 activations or just a day in the park. Visit 00:05:20.389 --> 00:05:24.470 icomamerica .com slash amateur for more information 00:05:24.470 --> 00:05:28.470 about ICOM radios. What's that call sign again? 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:34.110 WB9VPG. That's right, Delium 9 Bainte Pterodactyl 00:05:34.110 --> 00:06:02.639 Nat, right? HamTalk Live. Welcome back to HamTalk 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:08.259 Live, thanks to ICOM for sponsoring the show 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:10.339 again tonight. And make sure you check out that 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:14.319 705, that's a cool little rig. Check that out 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:20.740 over at icomamerica .com slash amateur. Well, 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:24.939 with me again tonight is Frank Bauer, K3 HDO. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.920 He's been licensed since 1974. In 1983, in preparation 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.000 for the first ever ham radio operation from space, 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.399 he was the one responsible for setting up and 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.139 operating the worldwide retransmission of the 00:06:40.139 --> 00:06:42.019 space shuttle air -to -ground communications 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:46.779 from the Goddard amateur radio club station WA3NAN. 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:50.139 This initiative provided a critical conduit of 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:53.420 information to hams attempting to contact astronaut 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:57.220 hams in the pre -internet era. and Frank now 00:06:57.220 --> 00:06:59.759 serves as the amateur radio on the International 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.199 Space Station International Chairman. He has 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.079 bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautics 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.699 and astronautics from Purdue University here 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:14.639 in Indiana and his career in aerospace spans 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:18.019 four decades within NASA and private industry 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:22.500 and he is the 2017 Dayton Hamvention amateur 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:26.699 of the year. So Frank, welcome back to the show. 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:29.800 Well, thank you, Neil. It's great to be back. 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:34.519 We've it's been a while since we've talked and 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.899 it seems like we've been talking about this project 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:40.980 forever. And now it's time to celebrate a little 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:44.120 bit. So let's talk about this new radio system 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.800 on the International Space Station. It's finally 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:51.649 up there. So tell us about the launch. and where 00:07:51.649 --> 00:07:55.629 things are with the radio right now. Sure thing. 00:07:55.670 --> 00:07:58.449 Let me first start with the fact that, as you 00:07:58.449 --> 00:08:01.009 just described, it has been a long time. This 00:08:01.009 --> 00:08:05.550 has been over four years of volunteer work to 00:08:05.550 --> 00:08:12.050 make happen. And we finally got the system which 00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:15.550 we call, it's the next generation radio system 00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:20.029 for ISS. We call it the interoperable radio system. 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:25.850 and it includes a JVC, a specially developed 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:33.870 JVC Kenwood D710 and a AMSAT North America developed 00:08:33.870 --> 00:08:42.450 multi -voltage power supply. We, on March 6th, 00:08:42.450 --> 00:08:46.549 we were able to have a successful launch with 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:50.710 SpaceX 20. It was absolutely spectacular. Spectacular 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:54.009 launch we had because so many people have worked 00:08:54.009 --> 00:08:58.590 on it for such a long time We had 20 individuals 00:08:58.590 --> 00:09:02.629 Which included some of their spouses at the launch 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:05.190 and it was a beautiful night. I mean absolutely 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:09.870 clear and Launch was absolutely spectacular knowing 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:14.730 that Everyone knowing that What they the worked 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:17.809 on the fruits of their labor was on that vehicle 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:20.830 and seeing it successful Then actually watching 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:24.110 the nailing of the first stage landing was pretty 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:28.850 pretty impressive Yeah, I always enjoy watching 00:09:28.850 --> 00:09:32.110 those those landings I mean they think they pinpoint 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:36.309 that thing Yeah, you know I'm a control systems 00:09:36.309 --> 00:09:39.149 engineer, so I know how hard that is and it is 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:47.690 really impressive Just even more impressive. 00:09:47.690 --> 00:09:51.850 Just yeah, just 50 times, you know Getting that 00:09:51.850 --> 00:09:57.210 that thing to land exactly on the X Wow. Well 00:09:57.210 --> 00:10:01.389 Now that the rocket is let's see. What's the 00:10:01.389 --> 00:10:03.610 what's the name of that back home again or no? 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:07.090 I forget what what the name of the ship is now. 00:10:07.649 --> 00:10:11.330 I Lose me the basic dragon the dragon still up 00:10:11.330 --> 00:10:17.970 there. No, no the recovery ship stage you mean? 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:22.409 Yeah, the recover is the first stage. I forget 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:24.309 the name of it. Well, actually, they landed on 00:10:24.309 --> 00:10:30.710 land. Oh, okay. It depends on where they're at. 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:32.549 They'll do it on a barge or they'll do it on 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:35.049 land. Yeah. Yeah, I'm thinking of the barge. 00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:38.029 Well, anyway. Yeah. Anyway, we're worried about 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:45.570 the radio about the radio Yeah, we get we get 00:10:45.570 --> 00:10:49.450 to yeah we get to doing that but There's always 00:10:49.450 --> 00:10:52.009 this big crossover of interest, you know and 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:55.110 ham radio and rockets I think anything scientific 00:10:55.110 --> 00:10:59.870 but So so where's the radio right now? And what's 00:10:59.870 --> 00:11:05.009 the the status of it? Okay, so So it got launched 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:12.259 on the 6th That was a Friday night. Monday morning 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:15.720 it was birthed. In other words, they grab it 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:22.419 with the robot arm and attach it to Space Station. 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:27.159 They've opened it up the Dragon capsule and pulled 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:32.120 out. Our equipment is out now. It's in what's 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:37.299 called Node 3 of Space Station. So before we 00:11:37.299 --> 00:11:47.690 flew, both engineering agreement that all of 00:11:47.690 --> 00:11:51.269 your requirements meet space station requirements 00:11:51.269 --> 00:11:57.190 and all of your safety hazards have been mitigated. 00:11:59.029 --> 00:12:04.289 The risk is low on those hazards. So we were 00:12:04.289 --> 00:12:07.230 able to accomplish that for launch and stow. 00:12:07.570 --> 00:12:09.990 So in other words, we launched the vehicle, we 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:14.860 launched the radio system to space. And in the 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:19.059 meantime, we were working all of the engineering 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:23.659 requirements as well as we had our safety review 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:29.179 in December before launch. We were able to actually, 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:32.519 the Thursday before we launched on Friday, Thursday, 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:38.039 we finalized safety. So we were totally from 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:46.070 a, safety from operations. The next phase of 00:12:46.070 --> 00:12:48.529 it is actually to hook the equipment up and operate 00:12:48.529 --> 00:12:51.509 it, which of course is the whole reason we are 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:54.990 flying it. So we've accomplished the safety. 00:12:55.450 --> 00:12:58.690 We're still out of 90 requirements we have to 00:12:58.690 --> 00:13:06.769 get approval for. We have one left and we're 00:13:06.769 --> 00:13:08.950 just waiting for an international partner to 00:13:08.950 --> 00:13:11.789 approve it and it'll be done. And then we'll 00:13:11.789 --> 00:13:26.399 be given permission to... Okay. All right. And 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.279 I looked it up. It was the recovery ship name 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.039 I was trying to think of was Of Course I Still 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:35.340 Love You. That was the one I was trying to think 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:39.820 of. Yes, that was the one. All right. Well, anyway. 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.019 Well, now that the radio is up there and if you 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:48.139 get the email and everything's signed off, what 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:51.720 are we going to see down here on planet Earth? 00:13:52.059 --> 00:13:54.799 What are we going to be able to do with this 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:59.500 thing and what is the ARIS program going to be 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:03.860 doing with this new rig? Right. So we've been 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:05.740 very busy with all this engineering, getting 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:08.600 it ready, getting it approved for safety, getting 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:14.139 it approved for operations. So now we start to 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:23.399 do operations. So one of the things This radio 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:27.620 system is going to be I mentioned the next generation 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:29.860 radio system is actually going to be our foundation 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:33.639 for the future. We have a lot of capability, 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:36.539 particularly in this multi -voltage power supply 00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:38.799 that's going to allow us to do a lot of things. 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:43.200 And then we made a number of additions and changes 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:47.879 to the JVC Kenwood or I should say enhancements 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:52.929 to the JVC Kenwood D710 to allow it to do things 00:14:52.929 --> 00:14:57.330 like voice repeater. And so we will have that 00:14:57.330 --> 00:15:02.870 capability. We actually had the fan changed in 00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:07.210 it, a more robust, a more powerful fan to allow 00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:11.649 us to be able to use that repeater all the time. 00:15:12.250 --> 00:15:18.450 We can use it 24 -7, if you will. We have the 00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:23.159 ability to use onboard We have a VCH1 slow -scan 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.059 television unit. It's in the Russian segment 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:31.279 right now. One of the problems, we haven't used 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.679 that thing more often, is because it uses AA 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:39.100 batteries and you use them up pretty quickly. 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:42.279 So we've got, the power supply will run that 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.980 thing continuously. So we're gonna be doing some 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:49.659 slow -scan. in the Columbus module, which is 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:53.059 something we have not done before. And hopefully 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:57.600 we'll be doing more slow scan activities. The 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.460 other thing is that those that are familiar with 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:05.000 it, our APRS system has been coming and going 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.159 because our system we're using right now in the 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.740 Columbus module was designed over 20 years ago. 00:16:12.580 --> 00:16:14.679 So, and the equipment, some of the equipment's 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.259 20 years old. So it's been sporadic. And it's 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:21.480 actually, as we speak, it's operational right 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:25.840 now, but it's been off and on the past year and 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:30.480 a half. So we'll have APRS on board. So that 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.440 is the beginning of what we plan to do with this. 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.919 As I said, the power supply has a whole lot more 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.179 capabilities. It has four USB ports on it. So 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:49.090 we could put a Raspberry Pi on there. It has 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:53.690 four different connections that we could use 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:57.509 for up to four different radio systems. And so 00:16:57.509 --> 00:17:03.429 there's a lot of capability. So this is all going 00:17:03.429 --> 00:17:09.009 to provide a lot of different modes and a whole 00:17:09.009 --> 00:17:13.869 lot better signal. Exactly. Yeah, our signal 00:17:13.869 --> 00:17:16.250 level is going to go from about five watts to 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:21.789 25 watts. So that should make a big improvement. 00:17:22.890 --> 00:17:27.750 Yeah. Absolutely. So let's talk about improvements. 00:17:28.190 --> 00:17:32.950 What things have we seen already from the space 00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:36.609 station and the ARIS program? What improvements 00:17:36.609 --> 00:17:40.069 are we going to see to what's already being done? 00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:45.650 So I mentioned these different capabilities. 00:17:45.710 --> 00:17:48.500 We're going to probably have to pull together 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:52.359 a, and we've been talking about this, a schedule 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:56.539 for how we'll run things. The other thing that 00:17:56.539 --> 00:17:59.900 is a new thing that is on the horizon, and it's 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:04.319 in line with the fact that, you know, I just 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.779 talked about SpaceX. You know, there are two 00:18:08.779 --> 00:18:13.400 commercial organizations that are building systems 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:17.140 to actually fly crew. And SpaceX and Boeing are 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.680 the two organizations that are doing that as 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:25.859 early as May. And we could have some commercial 00:18:25.859 --> 00:18:28.539 crew members come on board Space Station. Some 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:32.559 of them will be part -time. In other words, be 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.140 there for a couple of weeks. Some of them will 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:38.920 be there for long duration. The commercial crew 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:41.519 is going to be operating kind of like a taxi 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:44.960 cab where there will be astronauts flying the 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.019 vehicle to Space Station and then like the crew 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:51.420 that sits in and is up there for six months. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.200 The interesting thing about that is that we've 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.839 got a number of crew members on there that have 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:01.099 that are on commercial crew that have used our 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:03.720 equipment and used it very well in the past. 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:06.839 People like Mike Fink who loves to get on the 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:11.880 air and do random contacts and Sonny Williams 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.099 who's very good at at using the radio system, 00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:23.740 so you know not only is our Equipment going to 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:28.380 be improved very soon in the next you know few 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:32.380 weeks. I would say within a month It'd be fully 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:36.700 operational, but also We'll have some interesting 00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:40.519 crew members on board that will use other modes 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:44.940 like voice mode to the ground and not only just 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:49.220 students. Yeah and the students are going to 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:53.359 be able to hear a whole lot better and make it 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.420 easier for everybody. So let's talk a little 00:19:57.420 --> 00:20:01.079 bit about the fundraising on this because this 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:03.759 has been a you know there's been a lot of engineering 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.960 and a lot of that going on but there's also been 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:09.539 a lot of fundraising going on to make all of 00:20:09.539 --> 00:20:14.160 this happen and it's kind of unsettling even 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:18.680 to see how much this program costs so update 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:22.680 us on on the fundraising and paying for all of 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:27.339 this yeah well let me let me first thank everyone 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:30.920 out there that have contributed to ARIS especially 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.339 in our campaign to get funding for these radio 00:20:34.339 --> 00:20:39.759 systems as I've said in the past in a previous 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:44.410 am talk live And when we're building the radio, 00:20:44.430 --> 00:20:47.869 we're not just building one. We're building, 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:54.869 actually, we're building 11 of them. We have 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:58.430 four that need to be flight qualified, because 00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:01.369 this first one's getting installed in the Columbus 00:21:01.369 --> 00:21:05.769 module. We're going to fly another one up to 00:21:05.769 --> 00:21:08.630 be installed in the Russian service module. And 00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:11.880 for everyone to understand, You know, the distance 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:14.059 between the Columbus module and the service module 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:16.220 is about a football field away from each other. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:20.380 And the American crew has to fly over to the 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:23.380 Russian module right now to do all of our contacts 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:26.980 because the equipment in the Columbus module 00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:32.039 is not in good shape because it's so old. And 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:36.579 so having two radio systems of the same kind 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:39.750 in the Space Station will be great. And then 00:21:39.750 --> 00:21:42.609 we need two others for backups. And then we need 00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:44.990 all of these other ones for training and engineering 00:21:44.990 --> 00:21:48.490 activities. So training around the world, not 00:21:48.490 --> 00:21:52.609 just in the United States. So they all add up. 00:21:54.069 --> 00:21:57.250 And I want to thank all of those that have contributed 00:21:57.250 --> 00:22:01.730 to the campaign to actually get all of these 00:22:01.730 --> 00:22:05.849 radio systems in place. We've built just two 00:22:05.849 --> 00:22:09.259 so far of the 11. The third one is in construction 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:12.880 right now. It's our next flight unit. So fundraising 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.259 is an important piece, not only for hardware 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:18.220 development, but also for our operations. It 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:22.720 does take a lot of support to keep this program 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:29.960 going. And we appreciate those that do contribute. 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.740 And you can always go to the mset .org site. 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:40.700 That's where we have our Our account set aside 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:46.920 and that's where you can contribute Okay, so 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.440 make sure you go to amp set org and then and 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.480 click on the donate to heiress button and and 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.119 help out and and we were talking a little bit 00:22:55.119 --> 00:23:00.740 before the show about you know all the The cost 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:04.400 on this isn't just you know the radio and designing 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.990 and building and everything but You've got a 00:23:06.990 --> 00:23:10.490 lot of hoops to jump through on any space project, 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:14.569 and I've done one before, and that was almost 00:23:14.569 --> 00:23:17.930 20 years ago now, and I know what that was like. 00:23:18.450 --> 00:23:20.809 So tell everybody a little bit about the whole 00:23:20.809 --> 00:23:24.190 certification process and why, you know, even 00:23:24.190 --> 00:23:26.569 though the radio's been up there for almost a 00:23:26.569 --> 00:23:29.130 month now, why it's still not there yet. It's 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:35.869 still not running. Yeah, so basically, we have 00:23:35.869 --> 00:23:38.230 to get it certified for safety and then we have 00:23:38.230 --> 00:23:41.029 to get it certified for engineering. And if you 00:23:41.029 --> 00:23:44.809 can think about engineering, you know, one example 00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:47.089 of that, which is actually the one we're working 00:23:47.089 --> 00:23:50.109 on right now, we're waiting for, is called surge 00:23:50.109 --> 00:23:55.009 current. You don't want, when you turn, if NASA 00:23:55.009 --> 00:23:58.369 remotely turned our system on and all the lights 00:23:58.369 --> 00:24:01.009 were on, if you will, you wouldn't want that 00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:03.890 big surge current going back into the space station 00:24:04.929 --> 00:24:06.970 disrupting some of the other payloads. So that's 00:24:06.970 --> 00:24:08.769 the kind of thing, I mean, they're not looking 00:24:08.769 --> 00:24:13.170 at our payload, I'm sorry, they're not looking 00:24:13.170 --> 00:24:15.369 at inside our payload. What they're concerned 00:24:15.369 --> 00:24:18.269 about is the interface and how it affects the 00:24:18.269 --> 00:24:20.509 other NASA payloads and Space Station itself. 00:24:21.990 --> 00:24:24.869 So we have to go through all of that and that's 00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:28.309 like 90 different major hoops you have to go 00:24:28.309 --> 00:24:33.339 through with a lot of documentation. And then 00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:36.400 from a safety perspective, you have to look at 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.980 the hazards. You know, we had a last minute change 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:45.299 to the radio system because we found that the 00:24:45.299 --> 00:24:47.599 sleeving that you put over the cabling to prevent 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.079 flammability wasn't exactly what NASA wanted, 00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:54.619 so we needed to replace that at the last minute 00:24:54.619 --> 00:24:58.740 on the flight unit, and then it would be on all 00:24:58.740 --> 00:25:01.400 subsequent. But you have to look at all of these 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:04.160 things and how it could impact the astronauts, 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:06.940 how it could impact Space Station, how it can 00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:12.839 impact safety. And so our team has gotten significantly 00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:18.759 better on this, but it is a huge effort. And 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:23.880 I think the whole international team that helped 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:28.569 pull this together, you know... And the multi 00:25:28.569 --> 00:25:31.670 -voltage power supply to me is one of the, from 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:35.069 what I've, because I've experienced it, is one 00:25:35.069 --> 00:25:37.750 of the most complex items we've pulled together. 00:25:38.430 --> 00:25:43.369 It works and it supports operations at 28 volts 00:25:43.369 --> 00:25:46.910 and 120 volts because across space station they 00:25:46.910 --> 00:25:49.390 use different voltages depending on where you 00:25:49.390 --> 00:25:53.630 are. And so it can be used anywhere and that 00:25:53.630 --> 00:25:56.730 puts us in a good position. to be able to move 00:25:56.730 --> 00:26:03.450 things around. Yeah, that is quite a feat, that 00:26:03.450 --> 00:26:05.470 power supply. I've seen some pictures and we 00:26:05.470 --> 00:26:10.269 actually retweeted one here that someone had 00:26:10.269 --> 00:26:12.829 sent in on Twitter, a picture of the radio and 00:26:12.829 --> 00:26:18.529 the power supply that will do different voltages 00:26:18.529 --> 00:26:22.119 and has all the... The appropriate connectors 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:24.880 and connectors in space. That's, that's a whole 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:29.819 nother issue. Yes, it is. Yeah. Cause they can't, 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.079 they can't, they can't, uh, you can't have a 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:37.160 connector connect to something else. It has to 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:40.799 be, you know, keyed to only that one area. So 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.559 there's a, you know, that's a safety issue. There's 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:46.630 so many different things that, uh, You know, 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:50.210 between Lou McFadden and Kerry Benke, Ed Chrome, 00:26:51.329 --> 00:26:54.990 and Dave Taylor was working with JBC Kenwood 00:26:54.990 --> 00:26:57.750 on the radio system. I mean, all of them are 00:26:57.750 --> 00:27:00.309 looking at the intricate details of what it takes 00:27:00.309 --> 00:27:03.269 to make sure we can do this. And then the safety 00:27:03.269 --> 00:27:08.690 team, which was Ken and Dennis Hernandez and 00:27:08.690 --> 00:27:12.690 myself pulling all of that story together for 00:27:12.690 --> 00:27:17.700 NASA to show them evidence, you know, we have 00:27:17.700 --> 00:27:21.700 to show them evidence that that we have met their 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:25.039 safety requirements and their engineering requirements. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:30.140 All right. Well, we're getting Yeah, we're getting 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:33.420 quite a few questions here on the chat and on 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:36.599 Twitter. So we're going to take a break here 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:41.299 right now. And we're going to come back and we're 00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:44.539 going to take all those questions and and figure 00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:48.660 out some answers. But first we have a new sponsor 00:27:48.660 --> 00:27:53.759 on the show tonight and that's QRM Labs. So let's 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.119 hear from QRM Labs and we'll be back after this 00:27:58.119 --> 00:28:02.059 message and talk to Frank and find out more and 00:28:02.059 --> 00:28:04.980 get answers to your questions right here on HamTalk 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:14.519 Live. Hello, Willie Mays from QRM Labs, back 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:17.339 again to make your life with Ham Radio better. 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:21.240 Are you tired of putting together all those kits? 00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:24.859 Minutes of sorting out parts, dropping them on 00:28:24.859 --> 00:28:28.160 the floor, picking them up again, just to drop 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:31.980 them on the floor again, and then all that soldering. 00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:37.599 Well, we have the kits for you. At QRM Labs, 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:41.079 our new line of kits only come pre -assembled. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:45.019 No more putting them together. Build a tuner 00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:48.859 kit, a power supply kit, or even an HF radio 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:52.099 kit that's pre -assembled. We put it together 00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:55.180 for you, and you save all the trouble of building 00:28:55.180 --> 00:28:58.660 it yourself. Don't believe it? 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You know, the 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.980 guy that brings a roll of thick acid core solder 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:49.079 and a weller soldering gun. QRM Labs makes kit 00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:52.880 building a great experience. Just plug and pray. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:57.619 But wait, there's more! Order in the next 30 00:29:57.619 --> 00:30:01.460 seconds and you can get two pre -assembled kits 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:05.000 for the price of one. To order your pre -assembled 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:14.799 kit, call 760 -706 -7425. That's 760 -706 -7425. 00:30:15.259 --> 00:30:24.069 Call now! 760 -706 -7425. okay so so they're 00:30:24.069 --> 00:30:27.789 not really a sponsor yes April Fool's Day is 00:30:27.789 --> 00:30:30.390 before the next ham talk live so we had to do 00:30:30.390 --> 00:30:34.430 our annual tradition so all right so for real 00:30:34.430 --> 00:30:37.650 this time we'll be back with Frank to take your 00:30:37.650 --> 00:30:40.069 questions right after this word from our real 00:30:40.069 --> 00:30:43.589 sponsor tower electronics right here on ham talk 00:30:43.589 --> 00:30:49.269 live thanks for choosing tower electronics how 00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:53.230 may we help you today We have PL 259s, we have 00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:56.589 in connectors, we have SMA adapters, we have 00:30:56.589 --> 00:30:59.869 BNC adapters. What can I show you today? Where's 00:30:59.869 --> 00:31:03.029 the tower? Well, we don't actually have a tower 00:31:03.029 --> 00:31:05.890 with us, but we have all kinds of things you 00:31:05.890 --> 00:31:09.589 can use with a tower. We have power poles, antennas, 00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:12.109 soldering irons and meters. Where's the tower? 00:31:12.910 --> 00:31:15.990 Ma 'am, that's the name of our company. We can't 00:31:15.990 --> 00:31:18.490 haul towers to all the ham fest across the country 00:31:18.490 --> 00:31:21.349 that we visit. But we have almost every connector 00:31:21.349 --> 00:31:23.890 and adapter you would need to connect your antenna 00:31:23.890 --> 00:31:25.990 that's on your tower. I don't think there's a 00:31:25.990 --> 00:31:29.609 tower back there. I really don't. Tower Electronics. 00:31:29.910 --> 00:31:33.049 Visit us at a ham -fist near you or call 920 00:31:33.049 --> 00:31:38.849 -435 -2973 or see our whole catalog at PL -259 00:31:38.849 --> 00:31:41.670 .com. Sorry, one thing we don't have is a tower. 00:31:43.309 --> 00:31:47.349 Join the conversation. Give us a call at 859 00:31:47.349 --> 00:31:53.250 -982 -7373. Again, the number to call is 859 00:31:53.250 --> 00:31:59.069 -982 -7373. Or, if you'd rather type than talk, 00:31:59.390 --> 00:32:02.670 tweet us at HamTalk Live. Now, here's Neil Rapp 00:32:02.670 --> 00:32:06.980 with more HamTalk Live. You are listening to 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:10.079 ham talk live the number one podcast amongst 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:13.559 all podcasts with the words ham Talk and live 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.819 in the title and now here's your host amateur 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:34.900 radio zone Neil rap Thanks to tower electronics 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:37.880 for bringing you the show well as you might guess 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:40.539 their ham fest schedules looking a little thin 00:32:40.539 --> 00:32:46.380 these days with the virus Canceling or postponing 00:32:46.380 --> 00:32:49.319 most ham fest right now, but the good news is 00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:53.940 you can find them anytime day or night at PL 00:32:53.940 --> 00:33:01.059 -259 .com or give them a call, so make sure you 00:33:01.390 --> 00:33:04.809 You get all of your connectors. Now some of their 00:33:04.809 --> 00:33:07.589 connectors actually are used on the space station, 00:33:08.470 --> 00:33:12.170 but not the ones that fit this interoperable 00:33:12.170 --> 00:33:15.710 thing, because it's all got to be specific, as 00:33:15.710 --> 00:33:18.910 Frank just told us. But the end connectors, you 00:33:18.910 --> 00:33:22.900 can get those at Tower Electronics. Well, HamTalk 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:25.180 Live is on the air every Thursday night, 9 p 00:33:25.180 --> 00:33:27.880 .m. Eastern Time, right here at HamTalkLive .com. 00:33:28.299 --> 00:33:30.380 Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, 00:33:30.619 --> 00:33:33.299 and Instagram, and it's time for your calls now, 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:35.660 so... Let me give you that phone number again. 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:43.400 Now is the time to call. It's 859 -982 -7373. 00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:48.799 859 -982 -7373. We'll take calls. We've got all 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:52.599 kinds of tweets and comments here asking questions. 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:56.059 So if you want to send us a tweet, it's at HamTalk 00:33:56.059 --> 00:33:59.799 Live, at HamTalk Live on Twitter. We'll get the 00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:03.059 job done, and if you're listening to us on WTWW 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:06.460 or on the podcast version of the show, sorry, 00:34:06.519 --> 00:34:09.619 but we won't be here because right now it's Thursday 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:14.239 night, about 9 .33, so we won't be here. But 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:18.579 anyway, we've got a lot of questions rolling 00:34:18.579 --> 00:34:21.860 in here, Frank, so let's get to some of these. 00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:26.059 And the first one we'll go to is from Brett, 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:31.559 wy7bg. And he wants to know why the choice of 00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:35.679 that particular radio? Why not one like an IC 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:40.760 -9700 that provides a band scope and has other 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:44.860 modes besides just FM? So we'll take that one 00:34:44.860 --> 00:34:48.699 first. Okay, that's a good question actually. 00:34:49.579 --> 00:34:53.260 Let me just say that if you put yourself in the 00:34:53.260 --> 00:34:56.119 position of being on space station when you have 00:34:56.119 --> 00:35:00.369 about 400 different experiments going on at the 00:35:00.369 --> 00:35:05.389 same time. And ARIS is just one of those 400 00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:09.489 experiments. One of the important things we need 00:35:09.489 --> 00:35:14.489 is to be able to switch the radio. Let me put 00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:17.269 it this way. You're not gonna get somebody that's 00:35:17.269 --> 00:35:19.389 just gonna be playing with the radio all day. 00:35:19.690 --> 00:35:21.610 That's what I'm trying to say. So we need to 00:35:21.610 --> 00:35:23.570 have the ability to switch the radio very quickly 00:35:23.570 --> 00:35:27.480 into certain... operating modes and with the 00:35:27.480 --> 00:35:31.179 D700, starting with that, we were able to hone 00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:36.199 out this idea with Bob Berninga helping us, WB4APR, 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:40.960 to develop this program mode which allows us 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:45.179 to very quickly switch between APRS, voice repeater, 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:48.579 and actually we have improved the voice repeater 00:35:48.579 --> 00:35:51.280 because originally there was like 23 commands 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:53.800 you needed to do and now there's just a couple 00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:56.320 of them, I think it's three, before you go right 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:59.940 to voice repeater, to go to school contact mode 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:03.599 or general QSO mode, all done with just a couple 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:08.179 of PM1 or PM2 or emergency mode, PM5 if you will. 00:36:08.739 --> 00:36:11.519 So these program modes are really important and 00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:17.519 one of the lessons we learned also was that it's 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:22.519 easy to accidentally program out what you had 00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:27.559 in there. So we asked Ken to actually put in 00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:30.599 our program modes and firmware so that if you 00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:33.900 did a hard reset, you'd go back to it being operational. 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:36.400 Bottom line is, the reason we went with that 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:40.099 radio is that it makes it a lot faster for us 00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:42.199 to be able to use the radio, which means the 00:36:42.199 --> 00:36:45.940 crew are going to use that radio more often for 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:49.139 school contacts and for general contacts, as 00:36:49.139 --> 00:36:51.670 well as these different modes will be operating. 00:36:53.730 --> 00:36:57.250 The astronauts may or may not, depending on who 00:36:57.250 --> 00:37:03.070 it is, be real savvy with the radio and knowing 00:37:03.070 --> 00:37:06.250 what all the functions do and what all those 00:37:06.250 --> 00:37:08.730 things do. One of the things I've noticed in 00:37:08.730 --> 00:37:12.510 the picture is that you've got it in like a channel 00:37:12.510 --> 00:37:17.150 mode instead of a VFO. So, you know, they spin 00:37:17.150 --> 00:37:20.750 it to 202 and they know that's the right one. 00:37:22.449 --> 00:37:24.670 Exactly. Well, actually you can hit program mode 00:37:24.670 --> 00:37:27.989 and go right to the primary one, but if we decide 00:37:27.989 --> 00:37:31.570 to use a different frequency, yes, we give them 00:37:31.570 --> 00:37:35.510 the right channel and they go to that. All right, 00:37:35.570 --> 00:37:38.369 we've got it. Oh, go ahead. No, I was just going 00:37:38.369 --> 00:37:40.949 to say it just makes it a lot simpler for them 00:37:40.949 --> 00:37:44.260 and makes it a lot faster for them to be able 00:37:44.260 --> 00:37:51.440 to get on the air. Okay. Next one is from Cam. 00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:55.119 Cam says thank you for this interview and do 00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:58.539 you have a rough guess when the FM voice repeater 00:37:58.539 --> 00:38:01.880 will be up and running weeks, months, years? 00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:08.559 What's your guess? Good question too. So the 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:12.639 You know where we're at right now is like I said, 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:15.420 we've got this one last requirement We got to 00:38:15.420 --> 00:38:18.820 get resolved and then we actually can start setting 00:38:18.820 --> 00:38:22.780 up the radios now If you watch what's going on 00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:24.920 right now on space station We only have three 00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.340 crew members up there right now, and then we 00:38:27.340 --> 00:38:29.659 have all these 400 experiments going on so you 00:38:29.659 --> 00:38:34.039 know they are They are working 24 -7 just about 00:38:34.039 --> 00:38:37.699 to take care of everything We actually think 00:38:37.699 --> 00:38:39.980 that after the new crew comes on board, when 00:38:39.980 --> 00:38:43.079 there's six people on board, which should happen 00:38:43.079 --> 00:38:46.360 in the April timeframe, is probably when we're 00:38:46.360 --> 00:38:49.400 gonna get set up and operational, if you will. 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:55.300 So I would venture that May timeframe or June 00:38:55.300 --> 00:38:57.619 timeframe, you would probably see the voice repeater 00:38:57.619 --> 00:39:01.820 on for a period of, you know, a week or something 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:05.429 like that for people to. To work it and then 00:39:05.429 --> 00:39:07.670 we'll be switching, you know various modes if 00:39:07.670 --> 00:39:10.309 you will The interesting thing too is that if 00:39:10.309 --> 00:39:13.269 when we get the other system operating on the 00:39:13.269 --> 00:39:16.369 Russian segment Then we could have a PRS running 00:39:16.369 --> 00:39:20.909 all the time and voice repeater Running also 00:39:20.909 --> 00:39:25.050 in parallel with that at the same time Okay, 00:39:25.050 --> 00:39:27.250 and I just thought of a that just brought up 00:39:27.250 --> 00:39:31.050 a question in my mind And so I hope I don't throw 00:39:31.050 --> 00:39:36.590 you a curveball here. How are we going to know 00:39:36.590 --> 00:39:41.829 which mode it's in? So that's what I was getting 00:39:41.829 --> 00:39:46.730 at earlier is we've got to provide a schedule 00:39:46.730 --> 00:39:50.510 for the hems and make that schedule available. 00:39:50.789 --> 00:39:54.369 And so we will do that not only on the Eris website, 00:39:54.849 --> 00:39:59.300 but also Probably on the AMSAT website and other 00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:02.820 places, you'll see it. The AMSAT new service 00:40:02.820 --> 00:40:07.340 will still beam it out too. It'll get out there 00:40:07.340 --> 00:40:09.320 for folks to be aware of it. We're going to try 00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:12.480 to make it a routine schedule as best we can. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:19.659 Okay, good answer. All right. 859 -982 -7373 00:40:19.659 --> 00:40:21.260 is the phone number if you want to give us a 00:40:21.260 --> 00:40:27.960 call. Do that right now, 859 -982 -7373. Let's 00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:30.179 see, we'll go through some more tweets here. 00:40:30.699 --> 00:40:34.199 Bill says, our school to come see high school 00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:37.219 in Oklahoma has been selected for an heiress 00:40:37.219 --> 00:40:40.000 contact in November. So they said they're glad 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.820 to see the new equipment that's there and they 00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:49.179 hope to be talking through that. First off, congratulations. 00:40:51.179 --> 00:40:55.099 We think that will happen. We should have it 00:40:55.099 --> 00:40:58.900 all operational at that point. Yeah, and there's 00:40:58.900 --> 00:41:05.179 a lot of schools, a lot of youth activities that 00:41:05.179 --> 00:41:08.420 we'll be looking forward to those contacts once 00:41:08.420 --> 00:41:13.639 we get everybody back in school, too. But we'll 00:41:13.639 --> 00:41:17.429 look forward to it. To hearing those schools 00:41:17.429 --> 00:41:19.849 on and and everybody else will get a chance to 00:41:19.849 --> 00:41:23.449 do some stuff, too So that'll be cool. Okay. 00:41:23.449 --> 00:41:28.010 Let's see. I think we may have caught up here 00:41:28.010 --> 00:41:33.969 scrolling through everything and of course throwing 00:41:33.969 --> 00:41:38.809 Everything into oblivion for the moment. All 00:41:38.809 --> 00:41:45.460 right, let's see here. So we've got we've got 00:41:45.460 --> 00:41:50.599 some several comments and so you know congratulations 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:59.500 on a great thing we've got you know a ham satellite 00:41:59.500 --> 00:42:03.849 relay in space now you know coming on so Lots 00:42:03.849 --> 00:42:07.650 of lots of cool stuff. Okay, so let me throw 00:42:07.650 --> 00:42:10.849 this phone number out one last time here. It's 00:42:10.849 --> 00:42:19.550 859 -982 -7373 859 -982 -7373 our time with Frank 00:42:19.550 --> 00:42:22.889 is just about up But want to give you a chance 00:42:22.889 --> 00:42:29.250 to call in here on the show 859 -982 -7373 and 00:42:29.250 --> 00:42:34.300 we'll check We'll check the tweets again. We've 00:42:34.300 --> 00:42:36.960 talked about the support a little bit, but let's 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:41.320 talk about, you know, are there any ISS ham radio 00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:47.880 events that are coming up right away? Okay, so 00:42:47.880 --> 00:42:52.360 we do want to do some slow scan television events. 00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:55.980 Well, let me just say with the whole COVID -19 00:42:55.980 --> 00:42:58.679 activity going on, you know, with all the virus 00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:02.920 issues, A number of our schools are canceling 00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:08.000 out, so we are actually pivoting the program 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:13.880 to, you know, the program, you know, one of the 00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:17.940 reasons we're on Space Station is because the 00:43:17.940 --> 00:43:20.760 astronauts like to be able to talk to people 00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:23.380 on the ground. It's more of a psychological boost 00:43:23.380 --> 00:43:27.460 to them to do that, you know, to talk to school 00:43:27.460 --> 00:43:30.780 students. and for some of them to talk to the 00:43:30.780 --> 00:43:35.860 general ham community. The students now are in 00:43:35.860 --> 00:43:39.820 that situation, isolated in their homes, quarantined 00:43:39.820 --> 00:43:41.679 and things like that. We're trying to pivot the 00:43:41.679 --> 00:43:44.179 program a little bit and actually try to do what 00:43:44.179 --> 00:43:48.219 we would call a virtual school and actually bring 00:43:48.219 --> 00:43:52.199 all of the students online through a telebridge 00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:57.139 contact. We're trying to make that happen for 00:43:57.139 --> 00:44:01.320 some of these schools in the near future that 00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:03.739 want to support something like that. So that's 00:44:03.739 --> 00:44:07.880 one thing. Another thing we're doing is probably 00:44:07.880 --> 00:44:11.739 the end of the year we'll have L -band capability 00:44:11.739 --> 00:44:16.960 for voice repeater. We're going to be uploading 00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:21.380 a little diplexer device which will allow us 00:44:21.380 --> 00:44:24.269 to do that. with the Kenwood also. So that's 00:44:24.269 --> 00:44:26.909 another thing that'll be available. But in the 00:44:26.909 --> 00:44:31.030 near term, probably in the May timeframe, expect 00:44:31.030 --> 00:44:34.590 to see some slow scan television, at least one 00:44:34.590 --> 00:44:41.110 or two events. Okay, sounds good. We do have 00:44:41.110 --> 00:44:44.389 another question here from Cam. If the radio 00:44:44.389 --> 00:44:47.530 is 25 watts, is that enough that we'll be able 00:44:47.530 --> 00:44:49.849 to hear that with just an HD and a rubber duck? 00:44:53.019 --> 00:44:56.820 I think you should be able to. Yeah, I would 00:44:56.820 --> 00:45:01.239 think so. It's gonna be a lot more powerful than 00:45:01.239 --> 00:45:04.920 what we were flying in Columbus module before, 00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:10.079 so about five times more power. Yeah, and just 00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:13.619 my limited experience working some of the FM 00:45:13.619 --> 00:45:19.340 satellites, AO -9192, I can often hear those 00:45:19.340 --> 00:45:23.599 with a a rubber duck and a handheld and so if 00:45:23.599 --> 00:45:27.780 you're running 25 watts you know and a good antenna 00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:31.980 it's gonna be even better so I would think you'd 00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:38.079 be be able to hear it just fine so now getting 00:45:38.079 --> 00:45:41.760 back to it well maybe but well but you should 00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:45.039 be able to hear it just fine All right. Well 00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:48.320 Frank, I think we're about out of time here but 00:45:48.320 --> 00:45:51.119 I want to thank you for coming on the show and 00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:53.579 Give you a chance if there's anything we missed 00:45:53.579 --> 00:45:57.960 any last comments you want to make Here's your 00:45:57.960 --> 00:46:03.559 chance Well, one thing I do want to say again 00:46:03.559 --> 00:46:07.699 is to thank everybody Over these past few years 00:46:07.699 --> 00:46:10.940 for supporting the heiress program for supporting 00:46:10.940 --> 00:46:15.260 the the development of our next generation radio 00:46:15.260 --> 00:46:21.599 system. I have to say that from an international 00:46:21.599 --> 00:46:25.559 perspective and a U .S. perspective, I am so 00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:28.940 proud of this volunteer team we have on ERAS 00:46:28.940 --> 00:46:32.400 that does so many things and are doing so much 00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:36.880 to get students interested in amateur radio. 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:39.820 and getting their license and things like that, 00:46:40.019 --> 00:46:44.480 because that's happening. And also to get students 00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:47.340 interested in science and technology and engineering 00:46:47.340 --> 00:46:50.500 and math. It's really cool what we're doing. 00:46:51.619 --> 00:46:55.840 And I've got to basically tip my hat to the volunteer 00:46:55.840 --> 00:46:59.480 team on everything they've done. And thank you 00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:04.820 all out there for supporting us. Very good. Well, 00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:07.400 we've got one last thing here. We've got a suggestion 00:47:07.400 --> 00:47:13.280 actually coming from your ARRL section from MDC. 00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:18.679 Once everything is up and running, routinely 00:47:18.679 --> 00:47:23.860 or monthly transmit the mode schedule from digital 00:47:23.860 --> 00:47:27.639 messaging from space. Maybe we could do that. 00:47:29.480 --> 00:47:32.579 do it for maybe you know field day or ham fest 00:47:32.579 --> 00:47:35.820 or something we could uh have the schedule sent 00:47:35.820 --> 00:47:39.820 through the radio that's an interesting idea 00:47:39.820 --> 00:47:44.219 yeah interesting all right well we're gonna leave 00:47:44.219 --> 00:47:47.139 it there uh but thanks so much for coming on 00:47:47.139 --> 00:47:51.900 and and i know you and your family are not feeling 00:47:51.900 --> 00:47:55.000 the best so thank you for uh fighting through 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.670 that with us tonight and uh I hope that you're 00:47:59.670 --> 00:48:04.809 all feeling better soon. Thank you, Neil. Good 00:48:04.809 --> 00:48:08.269 to be here. You're very welcome. Well, that is 00:48:08.269 --> 00:48:11.769 a wrap for this week's edition of HamTalk Live. 00:48:12.230 --> 00:48:15.030 I'd like to thank my guest, Frank Bauer, KA3 00:48:15.030 --> 00:48:17.949 HDO, and everyone out there in cyberspace for 00:48:17.949 --> 00:48:21.050 listening and calling in and typing in, and invite 00:48:21.050 --> 00:48:23.610 you back next Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern 00:48:23.610 --> 00:48:29.900 time. when W8CI Michael Coulter from the Dayton 00:48:29.900 --> 00:48:32.719 Hamvention will be here and he's going to tell 00:48:32.719 --> 00:48:36.539 us about this new Hamvention QSO party that's 00:48:36.539 --> 00:48:39.500 going to take place when Hamvention was supposed 00:48:39.500 --> 00:48:42.650 to take place and a little bit more about the 00:48:42.650 --> 00:48:45.250 cancellation of Hamvention and what their plans 00:48:45.250 --> 00:48:47.690 are for that. So be sure to tune in for that 00:48:47.690 --> 00:48:50.650 next Thursday night. And for a list of all of 00:48:50.650 --> 00:48:53.550 our upcoming guests, visit HamTalkLive .com. 00:48:53.630 --> 00:48:55.809 And if you like the show, please leave us a review 00:48:55.809 --> 00:48:59.710 on iTunes. That helps others find us faster. 00:49:00.309 --> 00:49:03.769 So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 00:49:03.769 --> 00:49:08.050 seven three, seven five, and may the good DX 00:49:08.050 --> 00:49:25.380 be yours. Thanks for watching!