ARISS International Team Monthly Teleconference Meeting
Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 11:15 UTC (7:15 am ET)


Participants:
Gaston Bertels
Mark Steiner
Rosalie White
Larry Agabekov
Masanobu Tsuji
Dave Taylor
Trinesha Dixon
Ken Nichols
Lou McFadin
Keith Pugh
Carol Jackson
Kenneth Ransom
David Jordan

Not Attending:
Sergey Samburov
Keigo Komuro
Carlos Eavis
Tadeu Fernandes
Fabio Azzarello
Carlos Neta
Daniel Lamoureux
Maurice André Vigneault
Graham Shirville
Francesco De Paolis
Steve Ponder
Bill Boston
 

ARISS I Agenda:

Administrative Session

1. New business (administrative only)

Gaston recalled for all Delegates that the frequency coordination report was drafted by Emanuele D’Andria I0ELE and reviewed by the ARISS International Delegates. Next, at the request of AMSAT Italia, acting on behalf of ARISS, the notification was submitted to the Radiocommunications Bureau of the ITU by the Italian administration. The ARISS frequency bands will be published under number 2723 in the International Frequency Information Circular (Space Services) of the ITU. which will be available in DVD format.

General Session

2. Columbus module status, Presenters: G. Bertels, K. Ransom

Kenneth reported that an onboard power issue somewhat impacted ARISS radio operations. The air purifier for the ATV has needed to be plugged in, recently, in the Service Module (SM). The ARISS radio in the SM was turned off while the purifier was being used. The radio is turned on by the crew for school contacts and when the crew gets on the air for random contacts, as Astronaut Kuipers has done in the past few weeks. The ATV will be docked at the ISS until late September.

Gaston said the HamTV project is progressing. There have been discussions with ESA about the possibility of adding extra units to the HamTV transmitter that is being developed by Kaiser Italia. This is acceptable in as far as the KI unit under construction does not need to be modified.

A so called “Video Beacon” will be added externally to the HamTV unit. This beacon will allow automated DATV transmissions more or less permanently. The content of these DATV transmissions will be uploaded from the ground through existing channels and transferred to the Video Beacon on request. This function will also be used for educational purposes. Moreover, astronauts could record footage and load it into the Video Beacon for automated transmission.

Another additional unit will be a CW beacon transmitter delivering a small band low power signal (100 mW) on a frequency nearby the HamTV frequency. This beacon will transmit permanently and use the second ARISS L/S-band antenna. This offers ground stations signal reception with large S/N margins, facilitating antenna tracking and signal acquisition, especially at the beginning of a pass. The CW Beacon will transmit telegraphy signals, alternating its identification (call sign), a continuous carrier and possibly some telemetry comprizing onboard parameters (temperature, pressure, humidity, ambient sound level, etc.).

Lou W5DID suggested that we may be able to power it from the packet module already on the ISS, making it simple to operate.

ESA is being asked to address the cost of the Safety Package and testing such as EMI tests and outgassing tests for these additional units, but development and manufacturing will be supported by ARISS. A cost estimate is being developed for our team to build the units. A funding campaign will be set up to collect donations to cover the cost.

3. New business

Kenneth sent a message to the crew about whether there might be operations during Field Day weekend. He has not received a reply yet.

The next monthly ARISS Delegates and team teleconference will be July 17, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,
Rosalie White, K1STO
ARISS-International Secretary-Treasurer
June 22, 2012