The "Unofficial" MIR FAQ
The "Unofficial" Mir FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Amateur Radio aboard Mir
Comments, questions, corrections, or feedback regarding this document
should be addressed to Philip Chien, KC4YER, who is solely responsible
for its content. Send your comments via e-mail to kc4yer@amsat.org
or, via US Mail, to the author's address in the callbook.
The following is presented here on the ARRLWeb to assist those Radio
Amateur operators who would like to try to contact the Russian Space
Station "Mir" via Amateur Radio. The ARRL is in no way responsible
for, nor maintains the contents of, this informational file.
--Glenn Swanson, KB1GW,
ARRL Educational Activities Department
==================================================
I'm in the process of updating my FAQ on Mir operations. Please note
that the FAQ is primarily concerned with 2 meter operations. Feel free
to comment or ask additional questions. -- Philip Chien, KC4YER
The unofficial Mir amateur radio FAQ
Copyright 1997 Philip Chien, All Rights Reserved. This document may
be freely distributed via the following means - Email (including listservers),
Usenet, and WorldWideWeb. It may not be reproduced for profit including,
but not limited to, CD ROMs, books, and/or other commercial outlets without
prior written consent from the author.
Version 1.2
September 5, 1997
This information was complied by Philip Chien, KC4YER, who is solely
responsible for its content. It has not been sanctioned by the Russian Space
Agency, NASA, or any other entity responsible for Mir's amateur radio
activities. [Including the ARRL.] Corrections should be e-mailed to
kc4yer@amsat.org or sent to the author's address in the callbook.
Mir, the Russian space station, has been in space since February 1986.
The word 'Mir' is usually translated in to English as 'peace', but also
means 'world' or 'an autonomous community'. A popular Russian greeting
is 'Mir o Mir' - Peace on Earth. In 1988 a handheld amateur radio was
added to Mir for crew recreational use, and it's been a popular activity.
Many other pieces of amateur radio hardware have followed, and Mir now
has an extremely impressive ham station. Ham radio is a popular activity
for many of the Mir crewmembers, and there's additional interest with a
full-time American presence aboard Mir. The Mir Amateur Radio EXperiment
(MAREX) has turned out to be one of Mir's most visible activities, and an
enjoyable leisure time activity - both for the cosmonauts and the hams who
have the opportunity to talk to them.
Who are the key parties responsible for Mir's amateur radio activities?
The head of the MAREX (Mir Amateur Radio EXperiment) is Sergei Samburov,
RV3DR. His official title is Chief of Cosmonaut Amateur Radio Department,
RSC Energia. Boris Stepanov, RU3AX, is the Soyuz Radioyubitelej Rosii
president, the organization for Russian amateur radio operators. R3K.
International amateur radio groups in Germany and Austria have provided
some of the hardware and other forms of assistance.
The Mir International Amateur Radio EXperiment (MIREX) was formed
to handle prescheduled Mir school contacts. The head of MIREX operations in
the U.S. is Dr. Dave Larsen N6CO/K6MIR (ex N6JLH). G. Miles Mann, WF1F,
is the US Activities Manager and also assists in scheduling contacts worldwide.
It's important to note that the MAREX activities are _NOT_ identical to the
SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment). However the MAREX and
SAREX teams do work together in many cases. For example the SAREX team
gives amateur radio training to the American cosmonauts, and schools with SAREX
applications may have their scheduled contacts accomplished via MIREX.
What is the wake/sleep cycle for Mir's crew?
Mir's crew follows the same wake/sleep cycle as its ground controllers in Korelov
(formerly Kaliningrad), a suburb of Moscow. Times are occasionally adjusted
slightly for operational reasons (timing shuttle rendezvous, scheduling EVAs,
Earth or space observations, etc.) but for the most part the crew is on a Moscow
timetable. Decreed Moscow Time (DMT) is UT + 3 hours and does not change
during the summer for daylight savings. The official sleep period for Mir's crew
is 23:00 to 8:00 DMT, which equates to 20:00 to 5:00 UT. It's important to note
that this is just the official sleep period, some cosmonauts get by on much less sleep.
My simple trick is to use my satellite tracking program's terminator indicator
(the line which indicates sunrise/sunset). If Moscow is in the daylight portion
of the world the crew is _probably_ awake. If Moscow is near the terminator
then the crew is probably in their presleep/postsleep time (or whatever the
Russian terms are) and more likely to be available on the radio. It isn't perfectly
accurate, but it's simple.
Which American astronauts are scheduled for long-duration stays aboard
Mir, and what are their call signs?
(Dates from launch through landing. Projected dates for upcoming Mir astronauts)
Astronaut Launch Landing Call sign Time In Space
Norm Thagard 1 03/14/95 07/07/95 R0MIR 115 days
Shannon Lucid 2 03/22/96 09/26/96 R0MIR 188 days
John Blaha 3 09/16/96 01/22/97 KC5TZQ 128 days
Jerry Linenger 4 01/12/97 05/24/97 KC5HBR 132 days
Mike Foale 5 05/15/97 10/05/97 KB5UAC 142 days
Dave Wolf 6 09/25/97 01/24/98 KC5VPF 121 days
Andy Thomas 7 01/15/98 06/07/98 TBD 143 days
TOTAL 970 days
(Note: Andy Thomas is expected to be the final American astronaut aboard
Mir, but that has not been officially announced.)
The NASA headquarters worldwide web page http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/
has a history of each cosmonaut crew which has occupied Mir.
Biographies of these astronauts and cosmonauts connected with the joint
U.S. - Russian programs can be found at the Johnson Space Center web page
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/.
How was it legal for Dr. Norm Thagard and Dr. Shannon Lucid to use Mir's
amateur radio, even though they didn't have valid U.S. amateur licenses
during their stays aboard Mir?
The Russian amateur radio regulations permit anybody who is a member of an
amateur radio club to use that club's station, whether or not they have
their own call sign. Mir is considered a 'club' and the Russian government
has granted any person aboard Mir the privilege to use the amateur radio
equipment with the club call sign R0MIR.
It's important to note that any person aboard Mir, whether they use a
Russian call sign or a call sign from their own country, is bound by the
Russian radio regulations since it is Russian territory.
Currently the United States does not have a 'third party' agreement with
the Russian Federation. So while it's legal for hams in the United States
to talk to cosmonauts aboard Mir, it is _not_ legal to pass third party
traffic for non-hams (e.g. unlicensed friends or relatives cannot talk on
the radio to the Mir crewmembers unless specifically authorized).
The MAREX team and SAREX Working Group have obtained special
waivers to the third party regulations for the U.S. astronauts aboard Mir
to talk to friends and students. However these waivers are only in effect for
the period of an individual astronaut's stay aboard Mir. Once a new U.S.
astronaut arrives the entire approval process for the waiver has to be gone
through again. Currently third-party waivers have been approved through
Dave Wolf, Mir 6. The waiver only applies to the U.S. astronaut aboard
Mir, not the Russian cosmonauts or any guest visitors. These rules apply
to all U.S. licensed amateur operators. In other countries check with your
local radio authorities about third-party agreements with amateur radio
operators on Russian soil.
In summary -
a) It's always legal for any licensed U.S. ham to talk to anybody aboard Mir.
b) While the third party waiver is in effect it is legal for a licensed
U.S. ham to permit somebody who isn't licensed to talk to the American
astronaut aboard Mir, but not his Russian colleague who may be floating
right next to him!
c) When U.S. astronauts are exchanged during shuttle missions the waiver
expires until the official announcement is made that the waiver is in
effect for the next astronaut.
d) These rules are in effect on any day of the week which ends in a "Y".
It's the goal of the SAREX Working Group and MAREX team to ultimately try
to get a blanket third party rule for any ham space travelers but this has
not been achievable yet. The AMSAT Bulletins include notices whenever
third-party agreements applicable to Mir change.
How can I determine when Mir's going to be over my location and when the
cosmonauts are available?
Finding out when Mir is going to be over your horizon is fairly easy if
you've got almost any microcomputer. There are dozens of satellite
tracking programs which predict when a satellite will be over your
location. The AMSAT Worldwide Web site
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftpsoft.html includes satellite tracking
programs for a variety of different computers.
A tracking program is only as good as its data. The classic 'Keplerians'
are the six mathematical values which determine a spacecraft's orbit around
the Earth. In practice there are additional values which are required
because the Earth isn't a perfect sphere, and other anomalies. There are
many different web sites, FTP locations, and automatic E-mail servers which
will provide up-to-date keps.
Predicting when the cosmonauts are going to be available is a different
story. The most likely times to find the crew on the radio are during
their free periods when they wake up and before they go to sleep, during
meals, or on weekends or holidays. Cosmonaut work days are much less
structured than the precise minute-by-minute timelines which shuttle crews
use. So cosmonauts have a bit of flexibility in when they take their rest
breaks and other free periods. If a cosmonaut wants to be on the radio to
talk to a particular person then it's easy enough for them to adapt their
schedules. Some cosmonauts will adjust their schedules to try to get some
free time while they're making favorable passes over areas of the world
where they've got a special interest (e.g. U.S. cosmonauts often try to be
at the radio over U.S. passes, especially ones which go over the Johnson
Space Center in Houston Texas).
The simple solution is to listen to the downlink frequency, and if you hear
a cosmonaut's voice - then it's a good bet that they're using the radio!
Where can I obtain the latest Keplerian elements (keps) for Mir, and how
often should I update them?
One of the best sources of Keplerian elements is the Celestial BBS web site
at http://www.grove.net/~tkelso/NORAD/elements/mir.txt Note that this site
actually includes separate elements for each of Mir's modules - even though
they're all physically connected! The easiest system is just use the keps
for the Mir core module.
AMSAT members who are subscribed to the Keplerian elements mailing list
receive the keps for Mir and other satellites of interest to the amateur
radio community automatically on a weekly basis. During shuttle missions
the shuttle's elements are sent out fairly often.
As a rule I tend to update my Mir keps about once a week. Mir is a fairly
stable spacecraft and only maneuvers occasionally. However it is useful to
update your keps as soon as practical after any major maneuvers (e.g.
orbital altitude adjustments). While older keps will still be fairly
accurate after the maneuver, they'll gradually get more and more inaccurate
over time. On flights when the shuttle docks with Mir it changes its orbit
several times as part of the rendezvous sequence. For those flights it's
highly desirable to update your keps after each orbital maneuver. As a
general rule when the shuttle is physically docked to Mir the keps for the
two spacecraft are the same.
What are the current frequencies for Mir's primary amateur radio equipment?
Mir has been using 145.985 Mhz. simplex for both voice and packet. This
frequency has turned out to be an excellent choice which is usable by hams
around the world with minimal interference to other amateur radio
activities.
Earlier Mir frequencies caused problems in at least some portion of the
world. The previous frequency pair 145.800/145.200 Mhz. was recommened by
IARU region 1 (Europe) although representatives from region 2 (Western
hemisphere) expressed their reservations about the potential for
interference from terrestrial sources. Those concerns were real and these
frequencies were almost completely useless. Besides complaints from hams
on the ground the cosmonauts aboard Mir complained about the difficulties
in making good contacts. Hams in many regions had to compete with dozens
of repeaters using the same output frequency as Mir's input. Clearly the
145.800/145.200 pair was _not_ an acceptable pair of frequencies. The
original 145.55 Mhz. frequency was unacceptable in Europe due to its use
for other purposes.
Normally 2 meter radio is considered a short-range form of communications
since it's limited to line-of-sight communications and normally doesn't
travel over the horizon. So there's been little need to cooridinate
frequency sharing on anything more than a local level. The only portions
of the 2 meter amateur band which are coordinated on a worldwide basis are
144.0-144.1 Mhz. (for moonbounce) and 145.80 to 145.99 Mhz. for satellite
work. Mir is a spacecraft and it travels around the world over every
populated continent. Clearly Mir belongs in the satellite band. There
have been concerns about Mir's higher power interfering with other
satellites and the potential for interference on UOSAT-22 which uses the
same frequency. However theses concerns have not been backed up by any
cases where interference has occured. Contrary to some myths there are no
regulations or agreements which prohibit operations from crewed spacecraft
or using FM in the satellite band.
The Mir crew can reset the frequency of their radio whenever they please,
and have the option to use 145.800 Mhz. (space to ground) and 145.200 Mhz.
(ground to space) over Europe but have not chosen to do so.
How do I compensate for doppler?
Doppler shift is how the frequency of a transmission appears to change, due
to the relative speed between the transmitted and receiver. The most
common everyday example of doppler is hearing a siren or train horn change
tone as it goes by. For radio waves doppler is a function of the speed of
light, the orbital velocity of the spacecraft, and the frequency. For a
relatively low altitude spacecraft like Mir and 2 meter transmissions the
maximum doppler is 3.3 Khz. In effect not adjusting for doppler is the
equivalent of using a radio which is slightly off frequency. That isn't
too bad, and many folks don't even bother compensating for doppler.
If you do compensate for doppler your signals will be clearer, and easier
to understand.
At the beginning of a pass your doppler will be up to 3 Khz higher than the
normal (rest) frequency. At the middle doppler is insignificant. At the
end of the pass the doppler will be lower than the rest frequency.
The best solution is to use a computer tracking program which calculates
the doppler shift for you, and a radio with continuous tuning.
Most FM radios are tunable in 5 Khz steps, although some models can tune in
2.5 Khz steps. The simplest solution is to set up your radio's memories
for three different frequency pairs.. At the beginning of the pass set
your transmit frequency to 145.980 Mhz., change to 145.985 Mhz. in the
middle of the pass, and transmit at 145.990 Mhz. at the end of the pass.
The receive frequencies should be set up in the opposite order.
If your radio has independent memories for transmit and receive frequencies
you can store 3 consecutive memories as follows:
memory 1 memory 2 memory 3
receive 145.990 145.985 145.980
transmit 145.980 145.985 145.990
Use memory 1 at the beginning of the pass, memory 2 towards the middle, and
memory 3 at the end. It isn't precise, but Mir's radio has a fairly wide
bandwidth, so your frequencies don't have to be exact.
What type of license do I need to contact an astronaut in space?
In the U.S. a (no-code) Technician is all you need. As a general rule
anywhere in the world, if you can communicate on 2 meters (144-146 Mhz.)
with at least 45 watts of power you have enough privileges to contact Mir.
What ham hardware do I need to make a successful contact with Mir?
Not very much. A handheld radio with a rubber duckie can easily hear Mir's
signal.
Mir is currently running on 5 watts due to power limitations. The radio
can operate at either 5 watts or 45 watts, but uses too much power on the
high setting for the 6 amp power supply.
It's possible to talk to Mir using a 5 watt handheld radio with a ground
plane antenna. Of course that only works when you are the only one trying,
so it takes quite a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time.
A minimal Mir setup would be a 2 meter mobile radio (e.g. about 45 watts)
and some ground plane antenna (magnetic mount, J-Pole, eggbeater, etc.) A
better setup would include a directional antenna which can be aimed towards
Mir and moved (either by hand or under computer control) to follow Mir
across the sky.
One excellent way to calibrate a motorized antenna setup is to pick a
visual pass (e.g. when you're in relative darkness and Mir is still lit by
the sun) and watch Mir cross the sky. Watch to see how accurately your
computer commands your antenna to follow Mir as it goes over your location.
Some lucky hams have successfully contacted Mir while watching Mir go
across the sky - a simultaneous visual and radio QSO!
I've heard Russian voices from Mir on 143.625 Mhz. What's the deal here?
Mir uses a VHF radio for voice communications with its ground stations.
Most of the ground stations are located in Russia. In the glory days of
the Soviet Union there were many remote stations around the world in
Socialist countries, and tracking ships at sea. They've all been closed as
a money savings measure. In 1996 NASA agreed to set up ground stations in
the U.S. to supplement the Russian communications network in exchange for
better communications for the U.S. crewmembers on Mir. Stations were set
up at Wallops Island Virginia, Edwards Air Force Base California, and White
Sands New Mexico. These stations use fairly simple Yagi motorized antennas
with medium power VHF radios - at first glance they look like typical ham
radio satellite setups! The U.S. ground stations relay communications to
the Russian mission control (Tsup) in Korelov Russia.
143.625 Mhz. is _NOT_ a ham radio frequency, and you cannot transmit to Mir
on this frequency unless you've been authorized by the Russian Space
Agency. But you can listen in, many 2 meter ham radios can monitor that
frequency and it's easy to pick up on a VHF scanner.
There is a desense problem whenever the VHF radio is used which interferes
with the 2 meter ham setup. Consequently the cosmonauts do not try to do
voice QSOs with their 2 meter rig when they're using the VHF radio and it's
difficult to make a packet contact while the VHF radio's in use. The MIREX
team is building a filter to minimize the interference but it isn't known
when it will be shipped to Mir.
What type of antenna does Mir use and how is it polarized?
Mir has a simple dual band (2 m/70 cm) ground plane external antenna which
was installed by the cosmonauts during a spacewalk. It's linear polarized,
however Mir's orientation changes as it passes over your location. So it's
hard to predict which way it will be aimed - towards you, away from you, or
at an angle. In addition Faraday rotation tends to twist the polarity of
signals to and from space. Experienced hams prefer circular polarized
antennas since they give the best overall performance. It doesn't matter
whether your antennas are left hand or right hand circular, but most ham
setups are right hand circular for compatibility with other ham radio
satellites.
What is the proper procedures to contact the cosmonauts aboard Mir by voice?
First listen to several Mir voice passes to get a 'feel' for how the QSOs
go. Remember that you're only going to hear the downlink portion of the
QSOs, and Mir's altitude makes it accessible by hams in a very very large
region.
Be careful not to interrupt the cosmonaut while they're talking to somebody
else. Let them control the flow of the QSOs. When the cosmonaut announces
'next station' transmit your call sign in clear international phonetics.
There's probably many folks trying to get through at the same time, so the
cosmonaut will try to pick out a call sign, possibly only hearing a portion
of the call sign.
Congratulations if the cosmonaut responds with your call! Give your
correct call if necessary, and go ahead and talk with the cosmonaut. As a
rule they'll be happy to answer your questions about life aboard Mir or
what's happening, and may even ask you what life's like at your location.
When the cosmonaut says 'next station' let them go on to somebody else,
you've had your opportunity and they're very conscious that others also
want to talk to them.
Unlike the relatively short SAREX flights where the object for the
astronaut is to try to talk to as many folks as possible in a one or two
week shuttle mission, the Mir cosmonauts are up there for a much longer
time, and life goes at a somewhat slower pace. The cosmonauts are more
interested in actually chatting with hams, rather than the quick 'hi/bye'
contacts on shuttle flights. They may be interested in the latest news or
sports scores, or just want to talk.
Do _NOT_ try to interrupt the cosmonauts while they're talking with their
family or friends, or in the middle of an educational contact. This is the
most certain way to make sure they won't want to talk to you.
The key rule to remember is to let the cosmonaut control how the
conversation goes -- remember that he's the person on the rare DX
expedition which everybody else wants to talk to.
How come the cosmonauts always respond to the same call signs each time?
Shuttle astronaut Dick Richards KB5SIW put it best when he commented 'he
who has the biggest guns rules the airwaves'. Certainly the ham operators
with the highest power equipment and highest gain antennas have the best
chances of getting through.
If you have gotten through to Mir many times - let somebody else get a
chance. Some of the cosmonauts aboard Mir get so frustrated just talking
to the same high power hams each time that they'll ignore them when they
call - just because they're sick of talking to the same calls each time and
would like to give somebody else a chance.
But in many cases the cosmonauts will make friendships with hams on the
ground and be interested in keeping up conversations. Or you may be
listening to the cosmonaut talking to his family or personal friends.
Why are the cosmonauts talking to everybody else besides me?
Make sure you're using the correct frequencies, and correct operating modes
for your transceiver. Is your tracking program up to date? Is the time on
your computer's clock set properly? Do you have recent Keplerian elements?
Are your antenna rotors properly calibrated? Since Mir is in a relatively
low orbit it moves very quickly through the sky and a slight mismatch which
you'd never notice on another satellite could mean the difference between a
successful contact and no contact with Mir.
Try to avoid the prime times when you're competing with more hams.
Weekends and holidays (both Russian and U.S.) are when Mir's radio is
busiest. The best voice times for a low power station are weekdays from
1200 to 1900 UT.
Are you stating your call sign clearly? Imagine that you're on a stage
before a large audience of hams - and each person in the audience shouts
out his call sign. The person who annunciates the clearest has the best
chance of being heard.
Did you do something which would cause the cosmonauts to avoid you - like
interrupt their family contacts, or talk over other hams? This is
practically a guaranteed method to assure that they won't return your call.
Also remember that the cosmonauts choose how much they want to use the
radio. It was put aboard Mir as a _recreational_ activity for them -- not
for the pleasure of individual hams on the ground. If using the radio
isn't fun then the Mir crew can always turn it off and go read a book or
watch a movie instead.
Remember that as a rule astronauts and cosmonauts are not very experienced
ham radio fanatics, although there have been a couple of exceptions. For
the most part the cosmonauts appreciate having the ham radio aboard so they
can make informal contacts with their families, and to have a sense of
bonding with the planet below. Norm Thagard talked about using the ham
radio when he was bored because he didn't have enough work to keep busy.
Shannon Lucid liked to just chat with folks. John Blaha used the radio to
keep up with sports scores, especially the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Linenger
used the radio primarily for his scheduled school contacts and spent very
little time chatting with hams. Mike Foale wanted to chat with folks and
find out about their lives and where they lived. Different people have
different interests.
None of the NASA Phase 1 astronauts lists ham radio as one of their
hobbies, but many have learned to appreciate it over their long term stays
aboard Mir.
As much as anything else many of the Mir cosmonauts (Russian and American)
have used the ham radio setup just because it's there and available as a
leisure time activity, and wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there.
In any case it's the person aboard Mir which is the one who decides who to
talk to and who to avoid. And certainly their own choice to make.
Why are some cosmonauts very active on Mir's ham radio equipment while
others barely use it at all?
Different people have different interests. Some folks enjoy using the
amateur radio more than others. In some cases Russian cosmonauts enjoy
using the amateur radio to practice their English skills by talking to
amateurs around the world. In other cases they may not feel at ease
speaking with somebody who speaks rapidly in a foreign language. (Yes,
English is a foreign language!)
If you do speak any Russian - even a little - it doesn't hurt to use it if
you are talking to one of the Russian cosmonauts.
Some of the Americans aboard Mir have enjoyed using the amateur radio to
talk to hams in the United States and around the world, others have used
the radio primarily to talk to their family and personal friends. It's up
to them to choose how much they want to use the radio, and who they want to
talk to.
What are the proper procedures for packet contacts with Mir's BBS?
The most important thing to remember before transmitting *any* packet to
Mir is to listen and make sure that Mir is *NOT* operating in voice mode.
Most of the cosmonauts have complained about having their QSOs interrupted
by uncourteous hams on the ground who transmitted packet before first
listening to the downlink frequency.
For this and other reasons automated packet contacts (e.g.
computer-controlled attempts without a control operator present) are highly
discouraged.
The packet system was put aboard Mir solely for the purpose of
communications to and from the cosmonauts. It should *NOT* be used as a
packet E-mail box for other hams, for digipeating of any kind, APRS, or any
other purpose. The U.S. MIREX team allows unproto packet (non APRS) when
the mailbox is in a timeout loop.
The Mir packet radios is a standard off-the-shelf AFSK 1200 bps AX.25
packet modem., the same packet protocol used for normal VHF terrestrial
packet nets. So any inexpensive TNC can be used to communicate with Mir.
Only one packet station can be in contact with Mir at any given moment so
you have to be careful about following courteous procedures.
The packet call sign on board the shuttle is R0MIR-1 (SSID=0). Your TNC
should be in half-duplex mode (FULLDUP OFF) with CD active just like you do
for normal VHF packet operations. You should turn on MCON to monitor all
packets. If you can compensate for doppler shift it is worth the extra
effort. The bandwidth of the Mir radio is +/-4 Khz, maximum doppler is
around 3.3 Khz. If you can't compensate for doppler your best chance for
contact is when the Mir is at peak elevation at your site.
Remember that only one station can connect to R0MIR-1 at a time, if you see
packets indicating that another station is connected you must wait until
that station logs off.
Hey - why are you telling me what I should and shouldn't do with Mir's
packet system? Who made you boss?
This information was provided by the MIREX team, and verified by the MAREX
control operators in Russia. Not me.
If you do see other amateurs in your area who are using Mir improperly it
would certainly be proper to inform them that they are abusing Mir, and may
be causing interference.
As with any other abuse of amateur radio frequencies anybody who is causing
intentional interference and refuses to stop should be turned in to the
FCC, with a log of the infraction.
Where is the amateur radio equipment located aboard Mir?
Most of the Mir amateur equipment is located in the core module, Mir's
original component which was launched in February 1986. The equipment is
fairly close to the control station and the cosmonauts's sleeping bunks.
Matt Bordelon KC5BTL's web pages http://www.phoenix.net/~mbordel/jscarc/
has excellent digital photos of the astronauts and cosmonauts using Mir's
radio, and an external photo of Mir's antenna.
The German-Russian SAFEX experiment is located in the Priroda module which
arrived at Mir on April 26, 1996.
Where can I send in a request for a QSL card for my contact with Mir?
If you want a QSL card for a contact with Mir send a business size SASE
along with your QSL card to:
Germany only:
Amateur Radio Station DF0VR at GSOC control center, Oberpfaffenhofen,
Munich, Germany
Thomas Kieselbach, DL2MDE
Joerg Hahn, DL3LUM
DLR Amateurfunkstation Oberpfaffenhofen
P.O. Box 1116
82230 Wes, Germany
Russia only:
Sergej Samburov, RV3DR
P.O. Box 73
Kaliningrad-10 City
Moscow Area, 141070, Russia
All other countries:
Dave Larsen N6CO/K6MIR (ex N6JLH)
P.O. BOX 1501
Pine Grove California USA 95665
N6JLH@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NOAM or doc@volcano.net
Is there an official MIREX web page?
A MIREX web page is under construction. When it's open there will be an
announcement in the AMSAT News Service (ANS) and via other channels.
Where can I find out more information about Mir's amateur radio activities?
Here's several worldwide web sites with information:
http://www.phoenix.net/~mbordel/jscarc/ - the Johnson Space Center amateur
radio club. Includes photographs of the Mir hardware, excellent background
and historic information, and the only place I've seen which identifies
where the Mir antenna is located on the core module!
http://www.op.dlr.de/~df0vr/home.htm - the official web site for the
German-Russian SAFEX experiment aboard Mir's Priroda module. Also includes
information on previous German space travelers and their use of amateur
radio aboard both the shuttle and Mir.
http://www.grove.net/specfeat2.html - Satellite Times magazine. An
excellent magazine if I may say so, especially since they publish this FAQ
author's professional articles. But this particular URL is for John
Magliacane's description of Mir's amateur radio activities.
http://165.248.121.94/MIR.html - ah, to be in Hawaii and talking to space
travelers via ham radio. Could anything else be closer to paradise?
http://stuwww.kub.nl/~pe1rhp - a web page which calculates Mir passes based
on your location.
http://www.aball.de/~pg/ - German ham Peter Guelzow DB2OS's visits to the
Mir control center and Star City. Includes plenty of non-ham info on Mir
too. Mostly English pages. *plenty* of photos of Peter's trip.
http://oit1.iusb.edu/~kthews/MIR.html - Michigana Mir page
http://www.cyberportal.net/dhend/dave1.html - N1PPP's page, including voice
files of sample Mir contacts, and other information.
http://infothuis.nl/muurkrant/mirmain.html - Mirnews, an amateur newsletter
published in the Netherlands
Where can I find out more information about Mir itself?
http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/ - excellent information, references, and links
http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/ - the Johnson Space Center's Phase 1's
office's online public reference.
http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/shuttle-mir/ops/mir/mirheritage.pdf - an
incredibly detailed, and long (220 page!) reference on Mir generated by the
Johnson Space Center. A bit dated, but still very useful. A broad brush
history of Mir including some comments about amateur radio. WARNING - the
file is 3.9 Mbytes. Requires Adobe Acrobat or another PDF reader.
http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/mir24/status/current/ - NASA public affairs
weekly status reports. mir24 should be updated with the proper Mir crew's
designation as required.
http://godzilla.lerc.nasa.gov/ppo/mirinfo.html - NASA Lewis's info on Mir,
including their cooperative solar array experiments.
http://www.op.dlr.de/wt-rm/mir.htm - information on European activities
aboard Mir
http://www.skypoint.com/~benhuset/mw-new.html - Mir Watch, not up to date,
and not as much amateur radio news as Mirnews, but still interesting.
http://www.races.sandiego.ca.gov/elements/ - another good source for
Keplerian elements, and tutorials on how Keplerian elements work.
How can I, as an individual, support Mir's amateur radio activities?
One of the best ways is to contact a local school which has no interest in
ham radio or the space program and get them interested in both via a MIREX
educational contact. It's a long term commitment, but worth it for the
results. Select any school you wish - it can be the school which you
graduated from, one where a child or friend attends, or even just the
school closest to you. You don't have to have a direct connection with the
school.just talk to the head of the science or geography department and it
would be hard to find a teacher who isn't enthusiastic about the
possibility of letting students talk to somebody aboard a space station. A
SAREX/MIREX school application is available electronically at
http://www.arrl.org/sarex/ariss-ap.html. If you don't have electronic mail
then contact the ARRL educational department at the address in this FAQ's
appendix.
You can inform local astronomical groups or the local press about visual
Mir passes. Most of these folks are aware that some satellites are visible
to the naked eye, but not when they're visible. Most satellite tracking
programs will let you calculate when a satellite will be visible over a
given location. (e.g. while the satellite is lit by the sun while the
observer is in relative darkness.) Many astronomical groups have scheduled
'Mir-watch' parties for early evening visible passes when the weather
cooperates.
You can inform local amateur radio and scanner enthusiasts about how easy
it is to listen to Mir's downlink. Play an audio tape at a local meeting
of a Mir voice pass - and then astound everybody by telling them Mir's
distance when you recorded that pass -- using your handheld radio!
Addresses of some useful organizations:
For satellite tracking programs for a variety of microcomputers:
AMSAT
850 Sligo Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910-4703
301-589-6062
301-608-3410 fax
http://www.amsat.org/
For more information on Mir and shuttle school contacts:
American Radio Relay League
attn.: Education Activities Department
225 Main St.
Newington, CT 06111
860-594-0301
860-594-0259 fax
http://www.arrl.org/
For information on the schedule of upcoming SAREX missions and astronaut
activities:
NASA Headquarters
attn: Educational Activities
mail stop: FE
Washington, DC 20546
202-358-1977
http://www.nasa.gov/
Special thanks to:
Sergei Krikalev U5MIR
Maggie 'Rita' Iaquinto VK3CFI
Lou McFadin W5DID
Matt Bordelon KC5BTL
Frank Bauer KA3HDO
G. Miles Mann WF1F
Future updates -
-- tutorial on Mir's packet BBS
-- SAFEX II, other international ham hardware on Mir
-- Mir amateur equipment history
-- common Russian phrases
-- acronym list
Notes on syntax. As a general rule the term 'astronaut' refers to U.S.
citizens, or folks who have traveled on U.S. spacecraft, and the term
'cosmonaut' refers to Soviets and Russians, and those who have flown aboard
Soviet/Russian spacecraft. But there are few individuals who have flown
aboard both - so what should they be called? I will more often than not
use the terms interchangeably, but usually use 'cosmonaut' to indicate
anybody who actually lives aboard a Soviet/Russian spacecraft - even if
it's a U.S. astronaut. The terms Soviet and Russian are also confusing,
and usually used interchangeably - and often incorrectly. For example - no
human being has _ever_ been launched in to space from Russia (the Russian
and other cosmonauts are launched from the Republic of Kazakhstan which has
never been part of Russia.) There are quite a few ex-Soviets who are _not_
from Russia, including many of the cosmonauts. But as a rule the term
'Soviet' applies to anything before the revolution. English spellings for
Russian names vary from source to source, whenever that individual has
expressed a particular preference I will use that. While the vast majority
of people to fly in to space have been male, many have not. The terms
'he', 'him' etc. should be considered gender neutral. 'American', in
general means of the United States or United States extraction, even though
I'm quite aware that every single person in North and South America has
just as much right to call himself an "American".
Philip Chien [M1959.05.31/31.145//KC4YER@amsat.org]
eof
Page last modified: 01:24 PM, 18 Dec 2001 ET
Page author: ariss@arrl.org
Copyright © 2001, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
