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 Previous: It's the Kids' Turn at the Radio: First Kids Day of 2006 is Sunday, January 8 |  Next: The Amateur Amateur: Raiders of the Lost Shack |
 Deck the halls: Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, gets into the Christmas spirit aboard the ISS. He's hoping Santa will bring him WAS and DXCC, plus a UHF contact with KC4AAC. [NASA Photo] |
 In addition to numerous ARISS school group QSOs, McArthur has logged more than 300 casual ham radio contacts from NA1SS. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, December 23, 2005--The best time to catch International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, on the air from NA1SS is during a weekend. Now about halfway through his six-month duty tour, McArthur already has more than 300 casual contacts in his log, and he's eager to up the count.
"Weekends seem to be Bill's favorite time to operate," says Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO. "The weekend has few scheduled activities, so the crew may operate anywhere from 0800 until 2200 UTC."
But Ransom says McArthur also operates in his free time on weekdays, and that includes his lunch hour, scheduled around 1200 to 1400 UTC. "Bill has occasionally operated in this time during the week," he told ARRL.
The crew's work day ends about 1930 UTC, but McArthur and crewmate Valery Tokarev usually stay up for another couple of hours. The crew sleeps from 2130 until 0630 UTC.
WAC from Space is a Wrap
McArthur has completed Worked All Continents (WAC) from space, including the "traditional ARISS" requirement to work Antarctica.
"We clearly share a lot in common," McArthur told Chuck Kimball,
N0NHJ, at Palmer Station's KC4AAC during their 2-meter contact December 17. "You
know, we have this bond. Just our hostile environments are a little bit
different."
 The December 17 VHF contact between KC4AAC and NA1SS took place during a staff meeting at Palmer Station, Antarctica. At the right is Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ. The projection TV screen displays the ISS's position and a photo of McArthur. [Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ, Photo] |
 At Palmer Station, Antarctica, Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ, at KC4AAC speaks with Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, at NA1SS. [Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ, Photo] |
Ransom says McArthur wants to work Antarctica on both VHF and UHF, however, and that's proven to be a bit of a problem. An attempt over the past weekend to work KC4AAC on 70 cm didn't work out--NA1SS can hear KC4AAC but not the other way around. "I think that the current orientation of ISS is complicating the issue," said Ransom. Kimball said the 2-meter QSO between NA1SS and KC4AAC was a big hit for the scientists there, however.
"The crowd here loved it," he told Ransom December 19. "We had about 25 people for the actual contact on Saturday and between 25 and 30 for each of the attempts yesterday. Everyone loved it."
Kimball said the Palmer Station supply ship was due this week--bringing critical fuel, and he planned to get a QSL card to NA1SS aboard for the return trip, "so you should see it by mid-January," he added.
McArthur's still trying to earn Worked All States (WAS) and DXCC from space and already has logged 37 states and 38 DXCC entities. At last report, he was seeking the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. As for DXCC, in recent days McArthur's worked Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, New Caledonia, China, Malta and Turkey on VHF.
Responding to questions regarding the legitimacy of a DXCC earned from a spacecraft circling 220 miles above Earth, ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, concedes that while McArthur's efforts don't have that much to do with traditional DXCC, they won't devalue the efforts of those earning the award from Earth either.
"While rules are very important, particularly in defining the DXCC program, other concepts can, and often do, transcend mere rules," he said. "Think of this as more of a public relations opportunity."
ISS Crew Awaiting Santa Claus
Meanwhile, the ISS crew is expecting a shipment of supplies and holiday presents to arrive December 23. A Russian Progress cargo rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on December 22. McArthur and Tokarev, now in their 81st day on the complex, will be getting 2.8 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, air, spare parts and other supplies. But almost as important and surely just as welcome, the Progress carries holiday gifts for the crew members from their families. The resupply flight will dock automatically with the ISS.
During the QSO with KC4AAC, McArthur told Kimball that the previous Progress rocket remains attached to the ISS. "It was supposed to leave in a few days, but it has so much oxygen on it we can't use it all at this time, so they've delayed the departure by three months," he explained.
"That's a positive thing," Kimball replied. "It's always
better to have more than less."
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Heavy ARISS School Group Contact Schedule
In addition, McArthur has been averaging two ARISS school group contacts as his schedule permits. Not since Expedition 3--when there were three people aboard the ISS for each crew increment--has a crew member done this on a regular basis.
McArthur and Tokarev will return to Earth in April.
 Kimball has been running 40 W into this Arrow dualband omnidirectional antenna in his efforts to work NA1SS from KC4AAC. [Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ, Photo] |
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
The NA1SS worldwide voice and packet downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz. In Regions 2 and 3 (the Americas, and the Pacific), the voice uplink is 144.49 MHz. In Region 1 (Europe, Central Asia and Africa), the voice uplink is 145.20 MHz. The worldwide packet uplink is 145.99 MHz.
When NA1SS is in crossband FM repeater mode, the worldwide downlink is 145.80 MHz, and the uplink is 437.80 MHz. All frequencies are subject to Doppler shift. The Science@NASA Web site provides location information for the ISS.
ARISS is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
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