ISS

watty

If you use Orbitron http://www.stoff.pl/

you can track the ISS and hear it on a Discone or even a car whip or even a handheld rubber duck

Or even talk to them on a home made radio (Experimenter licence required in Ireland)

http://i.gizmodo.com/5145141/canadian-students-call-astronauts-with-hand+built-radio

hbr

watty wrote: »

Or even talk to them on a home made radio (Experimenter licence required in Ireland)

This one triggers my bs detector. That "hand made radio" looks suspiciously like an Icom.

deRanged

watty wrote: »

even a handheld rubber duck

I often do that with my Maycom when they're overhead.
The ariss project is handy for notifications of planned contacts with schools and so on.

watty

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Staedtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath in Germany on 7 February 2009. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10.36 UTC, which is 11.36 CEWT.

The contact will be a direct between stations OR4ISS and DR0G . The contact should be audible over most of Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.800 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

humaxf1

hbr wrote: »

This one triggers my bs detector. That "hand made radio" looks suspiciously like an Icom.

Looks a bit suspect to me too and the 'scope? was there for show! Could they have used the IC for RX and the home-brew for TX? The ISS signal was boomin' in when they were asking all the questions.

Did you notice the radio op surname?

Sure, if it makes them happy!

IRISH RAIL

I ve read a lot about this with scouts and clubs together with schools etc etc in the UK anyone know anybody in Ireland that made contact
I believe you have to have permission from nasa to make contact is that true?

watty

Nope.

Just a Ham/Amateur/Wireless Experimenter licence.

At a Limerick Scout troop a few years ago for their "Jamboree on the Air" I set up a station with help of some other local Limerick Amateurs. We had several HF, with SSTV, CW, PSK31 and voice.

For Oscar51 I put the car magmount and dual band whip on their galvanised roof and the Icom 2800 from the car inside.

I borrowed a projector and connected to my Laptop running Orbitron so they could see when the satellite was going past. We didn't get a contact, but heard others on cue. Same setup works for ISS.

There is an Amateur setup on the ISS that can be used by any ISS staff that have Amateur radio licence.

Schools here are pathetic at technology and the Irish Radio Clubs do little with Scouts etc, hence not so much. The big Jamboree near Dublin last year did have some Irish Amateurs running a Station for them the whole time. I talked to a few Scouts via the SEARG repeater network while passing Portlaiose.