back SHUTTLE AMATEUR RADIO EXPERIMENT BULLETIN: Winter 1998-1999 This information is provided by: The American Radio Relay League Educational Activities Department 225 Main Street Newington CT 06111-1494 USA Telephone (860) 594-0301 Email sarex@arrl.org FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WHAT IS SAREX? With the help of Amateur Radio clubs and ham radio operators, US astronauts can speak over the ham airwaves while in orbit. They talk directly with students, showing teachers, students, parents and communities how Amateur Radio energizes youngsters about science, technology, and learning. The program is called SAREX, the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment. NASA's intent in having astronauts take part in SAREX is to involve the largest possible numbers of people, particularly youths, in technology and the US space program with the help of Amateur Radio. During a SAREX mission, the astronauts make scheduled and unscheduled Amateur Radio contacts with schools, random contacts with Amateur Radio operators and contact with the astronauts' families. A few schools are selected from around the world for scheduled contacts with the shuttle during SAREX missions. These contacts give the schools a 95% chance at a successful contact. Ten or more students at each school ask the astronauts questions, and the nature of these contacts embodies the primary goal of SAREX-to excite student interest in learning. WHO SPONSORS SAREX? The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and NASA sponsor these exciting experiments. AMSAT volunteers support technical operations, and mentor school groups. ARRL provides SAREX information. ARRL and NASA HQ create and distribute SAREX lesson plans and resources for teachers. SAREX is supported by the Federal Communications Commission. Hundreds of Amateur Radio operators, including those from NASA Amateur Radio clubs at Johnson Space Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center, work behind the scenes. HOW CAN I -- A TEACHER -- GET STARTED IN SAREX? Schools desiring a scheduled SAREX contact with the astronauts are required to submit a proposal and a SAREX school application to ARRL. Applications are available from ARRL or on the web at http://www.arrl.org/sarex/sarex-ap.html . While only a few schools get scheduled contacts per mission, all schools can participate by eavesdropping, or by trying to make a random contact with the astronauts. SAREX lesson plans are available from ARRL for all schools who participate. Imagine listening in on the astronauts from your classroom! If you are a school teacher, but are unfamiliar with ham radio, you can still take part in SAREX. Contact ARRL EAD to get a list of your local Amateur Radio clubs to assist you. If you are a parent, grandparent and/or a ham radio operator, contact ARRL EAD and a local school. EAD will send materials, including ways to convince teachers and school administrators that Amateur Radio is an important discipline the school should take advantage of on a full- time basis. This is a tremendous opportunity for you to showcase SAREX and Amateur Radio to students of all ages. HOW DO I APPLY FOR A SCHOOL RADIO CONTACT? There will probably be only one more SAREX Shuttle mission before the International Space Station (ISS) is assembled. But once the ISS crews' schedules are normalized, they will make school radio contacts from the ISS. If your school is interested in SAREX, you must complete a SAREX school application and write an educational proposal. ARRL collects these for the SAREX Working Group who makes the final selection with the astronauts. All grade levels and type of schools (rural, suburban and particularly urban) are encouraged to apply. For a SAREX school application send a self-addressed stamped envelope to ARRL, check the ARRL web address, or email your request for an electronic version to: sarex@arrl.org A proposal must accompany all completed applications. The SAREX Working Group and NASA want to know: 1) How will you: a) integrate this activity into the school curriculum and b) involve as many grade levels as you can, participating through essay contests, poster drawing, letter writing, etc.? 2) Do you have an experienced group of hams to assist in setting up all necessary Amateur Radio equipment and antennas 3) How will you get as much media coverage as possible? HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY SCHOOL IS SELECTED FOR A CONTACT? Schools that have been selected for SAREX scheduled contacts are called by a SAREX coordinator. NASA requires selections to be made about six months prior to launch. If a school is not chosen, its application is recycled for future missions. Schools typically wait one year or longer. I AM A HAM. HOW CAN I INTRODUCE SAREX TO MY CHILD? Bring a shortwave receiver to school and let students eavesdrop on Amateur Radio retransmissions. Then set up a 2-meter satellite ground station in class, and try a satellite contact. The teacher can apply for a future school contact, almost guaranteeing that students will have an opportunity to communicate with a crew. ARE THERE VIDEOS ON SAREX? You and your class will enjoy watching students talk to astronauts via ham radio. ARRL has a video all about space, with 1.5 hours of programming, at the cost of (your and our) duplication, shipping (in the US) and handling for $12.00. Call Marjorie, at 860-594-0267, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM (Eastern), using a credit card. Or send a check to ARRL EAD, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111. Volume 2 Space Amateur Radio EXperiment includes- * Ham Radio In Space. An overview of Amateur Radio in space-from satellites to the space shuttles, and beyond. [30 min] * SAREX Space Shuttle Mission STS-51F. Astronaut Tony England, W0ORE, recounts SAREX aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, as the 2nd astronaut in history to operate ham radio in space. [18 min] * SAREX Space Shuttle Mission STS-58. Highlights of the volunteer and student prep, and actual SAREX contact made by Cheatham County Schools, TN. [45 min] CAN HAMS MAKE AN UNSCHEDULED SAREX CONTACT? Yes. The astronauts have not lost sight of why SAREX has been so successful. It is the Amateur Radio community that has brought astronauts voices into schools. Crew members make random contacts with earth-bound hams. They make contacts during their breaks, pre-sleep time and before and after meal-time. Astronauts have contacted thousands of hams around the world. Computer software allows the crew to operate the 2-meter packet gear radio in unattended mode, and hams can make contacts when the astronauts are working. WHAT TYPE RADIO DO I NEED? A typical SAREX ground station includes a 2-meter FM transceiver and 25-100 watts of output power. A circularly polarized crossed-Yagi antenna capable of being pointed in both azimuth (N-S-E-W) and elevation (degrees above the horizon) is desirable. But successful contacts have even been made with verticals and ground plane antennas. Commercial and public domain software is available to help track when the shuttle or ISS will be in range of your station, and where to point your antenna. For more details on assembling your satellite/SAREX station, get the Satellite Handbook from ARRL (see last section). HOW DO I TALK TO ASTRONAUTS? You may communicate with the astronauts using voice, packet (computer) radio or television. It all depends on what equipment the astronauts have in space. Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996 made hundreds of random voice contacts with ham radio operators. When the astronauts were busy with other activities, a computerized ham station aboard the orbiting shuttle automatically made contact with thousands more hams. WHAT ARE MY CHANCES OF MAKING A RANDOM CONTACT? During SAREX missions, astronauts' work schedules dictate when they can operate the radios. So most of the general contacts they make are random. The SAREX Working Group recognizes the long-standing commitment of the ham radio community in supporting SAREX, and asks the crew to do as many general ham contacts as possible during flights. WHAT ARE SAREX RADIO FREQUENCIES? The following VHF frequencies are used for some SAREX missions. These frequencies were chosen after much deliberation, to minimize problems between SAREX and other 2-meter users. If you have comments, please direct them to AMSAT via Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, at his address in the Radio Amateur Callbook or email ka3hdo@amsat.org or ARRL EAD. We appreciate the cooperation of all amateurs in making SAREX successful. Frequencies used for SAREX FM Voice Downlink: (Worldwide) 145.55 MHz FM Voice Uplink: 144.91, 144.93, 144.95, 144.97, and 144.99 MHz FM Voice Uplink: (Europe only) 144.70, 144.75, and 144.80 MHz FM Packet Downlink: 145.55 MHz FM Packet Uplink: 144.49 Mhz Frequencies used for SAREX during Shuttle Docking Missions FM Voice Downlink: 145.84 MHz FM Voice Uplink: 144.45, 144.47 MHz Most SAREX operations are split-frequency (everyone uses separate receive and transmit frequencies). Please do not transmit on the shuttle's downlink frequency. The downlink is your receiving frequency. The uplink is your transmitting frequency. Earth stations should listen to the downlink frequency and transmit on the uplink frequency only when the spacecraft is in range and the astronauts are on the air. CAN I USE MY SHORTWAVE RADIO TO EAVESDROP ON THE CREW? When a mission carries the SAREX payload, members of Goddard Amateur Radio Club (MD) re-transmit live, air-to- ground audio over Amateur Radio frequencies from their club station, call sign WA3NAN. This station, and some VHF and UHF repeater groups, provide this service so amateurs and students can hear the educational communications. You will hear the astronauts and Mission Control, and bulletins about SAREX activities. WA3NAN operates on the high frequency (HF) bands at 3.86, 7.185, 14.295, 21.395, and 28.65 MHz and in the Greenbelt, MD area on VHF at 147.45 MHz (FM). CAN I RE-TRANSMIT COMMUNICATIONS ON THE HAM FREQUENCIES FCC rules, Part 97.113 (e) , state that hams are permitted to retransmit shuttle air-to-ground communications, provided that approval has been obtained from NASA. In 1990, ARRL sought NASA's permission, on behalf of radio amateurs, to retransmit communications. NASA Public Affairs Office encouraged such retransmissions, indicating that the communications are public domain. Please follow these guidelines if you plan to rebroadcast NASA shuttle communications, 1) In keeping with good amateur practice and FCC rules, shuttle retransmissions should be limited to educational missions, such as those carrying the SAREX payload. 2) Retransmissions should be done manually (with a control operator present). 3) NASA audio contains crew "wake-up music." Amateurs should avoid, if at all possible, retransmitting music or other prohibited transmissions listed by the FCC rules (Part 97.113). HOW CAN I TRACK SPACECRAFT WITH A COMPUTER? Software is available for tracking spacecraft with a personal computer. Here are some options (ARRL in no way warrants these products or services): AMSAT TRACKING PROGRAMS: The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT-NA) has computer programs for IBM, Macintosh, Apple, Commodore, and other computers. Contact AMSAT-NA at 850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 600, Silver Spring MD 20910, Phone (301) 589-6062, FAX (301) 608-3410, email martha@amsat.org AMSAT also has a collection of free software for download: World Wide Web http://www.amsat.org STSPLUS (Shareware for IBM). This software, designed by David Ransom Jr., has excellent graphics and maps to help create a mock Mission Control Center. STSPLUS and other tracking software is posted on Spacelink, NASA's electronic information system: Modem line (205) 895-0028 Terminal emulation VT-100, Data format 8-N-1 World Wide Web: http://spacelink.nasa.gov Satellite tracking software may be found in the following Spacelink directory: http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Multimedi a World Wide Web sites offer ways to predict spacecraft passes via the Internet. Check the following WWW site: Terry Jones, W8JE, http://www.datasync.com/~nz8c WHAT ARE "KEPS?" Spacecraft-tracking software uses "Keps" or Keplerian elements (also known as "orbital" or "tracking" elements) to pinpoint the location of a spacecraft. Keps provide the software with a spacecraft's orbital track, which the computer uses to calculate its location. Using a tracking program tells an observer when a spacecraft will appear above his or her horizon. WHERE CAN I FIND KEPS? During missions carrying SAREX, Keplerian elements are available from: AMSAT News Service publishes weekly information bulletins including Keps. These bulletins are distributed electronically through amateur packet radio networks, landline networks and the World Wide Web http://www.amsat.org AMSAT also has email mailing lists to deliver Keps. To subscribe, send a message with your request to listserv@amsat.org Include your call sign (if any), your email address, and the names (shown below) of the mailing lists you wish to receive: SAREX - mailing list ANS - AMSAT News Service AMSAT-BB - AMSAT Bulletin Board KEPS - "Keps" mailing list Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN, maintains a BBS which carries Keps updated daily, and SAREX bulletins. Modem line (301) 286-4137 Internet wa3nan@gsfc.nasa.gov TCP/IP address 128.183.105.17 Packet radio WA3NAN on 145.090 MHz in the Maryland/DC area. Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club maintains a service with the latest element sets available during missions. Modem line (713) 244-5625 World Wide Web: http://www.phoenix.net/~mbordel/index.html NASA EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES How do you find information on, payloads, space science and mission lesson plans? NASA has materials and resources for educators: Specific mission and payload information can be obtained directly from NASA, via the shuttle mission Home Page: World Wide Web http://shuttle.nasa.gov NASA Spacelink - One of NASA's electronic resources specifically developed for use by the educational community. Spacelink is a comprehensive electronic library that hosts NASA's educational publications, the NASA Television education schedule, and provides hundreds of subject-related links. http://spacelink.nasa.gov Teacher Resource Centers (TRC) have free-loan publications, slides, audio cassettes, videocassettes, computer programs and lesson plans. For information, contact the NASA TRC that serves your region: AK, AL, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY: NASA Ames Research Center Teacher Resource Center Mail Stop 253-2 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 (415) 604-3574 CA cities near Dryden Research Center: NASA Teacher Resource Center for Dryden Flight Research Center 45108 N. 3rd. Street East Lancaster, CA 93535 (805) 948-7347 Inquiries on the solar system and planetary exploration: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Teacher Resource Center Mail Stop 601-107 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91109 (818) 354-6916 CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Teacher Resource Laboratory Mail Code 130.3 Greenbelt, MD 20771-0001 (301) 286-8570 VA's & MD 's Eastern Shores: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility Education Complex-Teacher Resource Lab Bldg. J-17 Wallops Island, VA 23337-5099 (804) 824-2297/2298 http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov FL, GA, PR, VI: NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center Educators Resources Laboratory Mail Code ERC Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899-0001 (407) 867-4090 CO, KS, NE, NM, ND, OK, SD, TX: Space Center Houston JSC Educator Resource Center 1601 NASA Road One Houston TX 77058-3696 (713) 483-8696 KY, NC, SC, VA, WV: Educator's Resource Center WVU/NASA Fairmont IV & V Facility 100 University Drive Fairmont, WV 26554 IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI: NASA Lewis Research Center Teacher Resource Center Mail Stop 8-1 21000 Brookpark Road Cleveland, OH 44135-3191 (216) 433-2017 MS: NASA Stennis Space Center Teacher Resource Center Building 1200 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 Phone: (601) 688-3338 AL, AR, IA, LA, MO, TN: U.S. Space & Rocket Center NASA Educator Resource Center One Tranquillity Base Huntsville, AL 35758 NASA Television offers a front-row seat during launches and a space activities, the latest in space science, plus educational and historical programs. They sometimes air live coverage of SAREX. NASA-TV is received by satellite dish or may be on your local cable TV network. This TV schedule is available via the Internet. The address is http://shuttle.nasa.gov/ntv/schedule.html Tuning-In NASA TV Satellite - GE-2 Transponder 9C 85 degrees west longitude Vertical polarization Frequency 3880.0 MHz Audio on 6.8 MHz For more details, contact: Kelly Humphries, NASA TV, NASA HQ, Washington D.C. 20546, or send email to: kelly.o.humphries1@jsc.nasa.gov HOW DO I GET A SAREX QSL? QSL cards are similar to postcards. Hams exchange QSLs to confirm their radio contacts with other stations. Participating in SAREX is an exhilarating experience. But waiting for that coveted QSL card requires patience. Designing a card for the ultimate DXpedition is a lengthy process. After a SAREX mission, ARRL and the SAREX Working Group work with crew members to select photos from that mission, and design and layout the QSL card. This may take a few months because of the astronauts' busy schedules. Once the cards are printed, ARRL forwards them to the Amateur Radio club managing the QSLs. Send your QSL cards or reports to ARRL. Include on your QSL or report: shuttle flight number (STS-XX), date, time in UTC, frequency and mode (voice, packet or sstv). If you wish to receive a card, you must include a large, self-addressed, stamped envelope with proper postage or sufficient IRCs included. These clubs have graciously volunteered to handle QSLs for the following missions: STS-74 Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Club, Connecticut STS-76 Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club, Massachusetts STS-78 "The Net", Washington STS-83 and 94 Bergen Amateur Radio Asso., New Jersey STS- 93 Dayton Amateur Radio Association, Ohio ARRL's SAREX RESOURCE LIST EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT & INFORMATION is available from the American Radio Relay League's (ARRL) Educational Activities Department, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111 USA Phone 860- 594-0301 Fax 860-594-0259 World Wide Web: http://www.arrl.org/ ARRL INFORMATION SERVER: ARRL maintains an information email server. To receive an index of files on the server, send a message to info@arrl.org. Leave the subject line blank. On the first line of your message, type SEND INDEX. On the second line, type QUIT. A list of all files on the server will be emailed to you. SAREX ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: ARRL Web site-http://www.arrl.org/sarex/ AMSAT Web site-http://www.amsat.org NASA's SAREX Web site - http://www.nasa.gov/sarex/sarex_mainpage.html Goddard Amateur Radio Club http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/www/garc-home-page.html Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club- http://www.phoenix.net/~mbordel/index.html W1AW BULLETINS: ARRL's Amateur Radio station (call sign W1AW) transmits news bulletins (9:45 PM, 12:45 AM EST) on HF bands at 1.855, 3.99, 7.29, 14.29, 18.16, 21.39, 28.59 MHz and, in the Hartford, CT area, on VHF at 147.555 MHz. Bulletins are also on packet. AMSAT NET: The AMSAT International Satellite Net on Sundays, 14.282 MHz, +/- QRM. CAN I BECOME A HAM? Amateur Radio operators, or "hams," are people from all walks of life-no matter your age, gender or physical ability. Getting started in Amateur Radio has never been easier! Contact ARRL to request a free New Ham Package. It contains details on your local Amateur Radio clubs, instructors, exam sites and popular study guides. Call ARRL's toll-free hotline for new hams: 1-800-32-NEW HAM (800-326-3942) Why not get started, today! ARRL BOOKSHELF Call ARRL (888-227-5289) for book orders. Now You're Talking! book (3rd ed.) contains everything you need to pass your Novice or Technician ham radio written exam ARRL Technician Class Video Course. Learn the "ropes" with the "pros." You won't find a better course or a better deal anywhere. 6 hours of excitement. ARRL Tech Q&A: A "Question and Answer" format for the code-free Technician exam. Brief explanations of the correct answers reinforce learning. The Satellite Handbook has the information you need to communicate through, or receive signals from orbiting satellites and the spacecraft! Whether your interest is in ham satellites, weather satellites, or other spacecraft, you'll find everything from setting up ground station equipment to antennas. Your Packet Companion is perfect for the packet (computer) radio newcomer, covers everything-from assembling a station to sending mail, from packet satellites and spacecraft to the latest networking systems. Straightforward writing style and clear drawings get you on the cutting edge of digital ham radio. FOR CURRENT UP-TO-THE-MINUTE INFORMATION ON STS-93: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-93/mission- sts-83.html http://www.arrl.org/sarex/sarexnew.html
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