'Ham Video' Set for Installation, Commissioning:

The "Ham Video" transmitter aboard the International Space Stationis scheduled to be installed on March 6, with commissioning to follow.The European Space Agency (ESA http://www.esa.int/) postponed theinstallation and commissioning of the Ham Video system last monthbecause NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG -- scheduled to handle theinstallation and commissioning -- had other priorities. Amateur Radioon the International Space Station-Europe (ARISS-EU) http://www.ariss-eu.org Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, said that acouple of the commissioning steps now may be combined, to condense theprocess. Hopkins, who heads back to Earth March 10, will also installthe camera and support arm. Following installation the transmitter willbe powered on just long enough to check cable and antenna connections.

The first commissioning step is planned for March 8, when Hopkins willpower up the Ham Video transmitter in "Configuration 1" -- using ARISSantenna 41 on the ISS Columbus module at a frequency 2.422 GHz and asymbol rate of 1.3 Ms/s. Transmission will start shortly before the ISSpasses over the Matera ground station in Southern Italy (atapproximately 1329 UTC). The ground station will stream the video overthe BATC server http://www.batc.tv/ (select "Member Streams" and"ISS").

During the pass, various configurations will be tested, andfollowing the pass, the Ham Video transmitter will remain powered upand in Configuration 1 until the next commissioning step, planned forMarch 9 (approximately 1240 UTC). For about 24 hours, the digitalAmateur Radio TV signal will be transmitted continuously, but with thecamera powered down. Blank transmissions may occur betweencommissioning step 2 and step 3, which is yet to be planned.

Once commissioning is complete, the Ham Video system will be used forARISS http://www.ariss.org/ contacts with schools in Europe. Readmore http://www.arrl.org/news/ham-video-set-for-installation-commissioning. -- Thanks to Gaston Bertels, ON4WF; AMSAT News Service; ARISS

Source:

The ARRL Letter