Participants:

Frank Bauer

Rosalie White

Larry Agabekov

Sergey Samburov

Masanobu Tsuji

Robin Haighton

Mark Steiner

Carol Jackson

Dave Larsen

Daniel Lamoureux

Ken Nichols

Gaston Bertels

Lou McFadin

Keith Pugh

Carlos Eavis

Graham Shirville

Miles Mann

Tadeu Fernandes

Kenneth Ransom

Interpreter: Angelique Brice

Not present:

Ken Pulfer

Jim Heck

Keigo Komuro

Bill Boston

Jon Neubauer

Bob Bruninga

Erika Vick

Scott Stevens

ARISS I Agenda:

Administrative Session

1. QSL Cards – confirm receipt, Presenter: G. Bertels

The new QSL cards have been received by AMSAT-France and a view is available on the webpage. They will shortly be distributed to all by Christophe Candebat, F1MOJ, ARISS-Europe QSL manager.

2. FCC Changes to Third Party, Presenter: R. White

The US Federal Communications Commission is updating US regulations to more closely align them with International Telecommunications Union regulations, making our job of coordinating third-party interactions easier. Under the old regulations, before third-party communications could take place there had to be specific agreements in place between the two countries. All that will be required under the new regulations will be a letter from the non-US country stating that third-party communications will take place. The ARRL will coordinate this with the FCC and the US Department of State for ARISS, and this will help in the short term as schools are on the list that will need third-party consideration.

3. Special Certificates for SuitSat, Presenter: F. Bauer

Special diploma-like certificates will be developed at NASA Goddard, with special notice for those groups and individuals that receive all 5 special words, one in each language of the greeting and those who receive the SSTV picture.

4. New Business (administrative only)

None.

General Session

5. SuitSat & SSTV Status, Presenter: S. Samburov

Sergey, his Russian ground team, and the crew will soon be preparing for the satellite deployment. The RSC-Energia website will soon be updated with information on SuitSat and its deployment. The hardware components have been removed from their shipping stowage containers and the batteries are being charged. The crew has inspected the hardware, and looked at the drawings and other files on the CD. Unfortunately there will not be any video of the deployment, only digital pictures. Regarding SSTV, after the SuitSat deployment Sergey will expedite the discussions to obtain the use of a new or one of the used computers to be able to start using SSTV onboard. The deployment radiogram instructs the crew to take pictures of the final switch configuration just prior to release. Frank and the US team have set up a website, www.suitsat.org, to track signal reports around the world. It has links to other ARISS websites. Sergey requested an email with two-line orbital element sets for SuitSat when available. It is requested that all parties gather information regarding education and outreach efforts and results, and send it to suitsat@comcast.net for compilation by the US and Russian teams. Miles Mann has agreed to be the point man for distributing information on SuitSat to the ham community.

6. Marcos Pontes, Presenters: T. Fernandes & K. Ransom

Kenneth had a good training session with Marcos Pontes recently. Marcos was trained in school contact procedures as well as the operation of the radio. He plans to perform one school contact -with a museum. Tadeu is working with the Brazilian Space Agency to finalize the details of the contact.

7. Columbus Update, Presenter: G. Bertels

The antennas and other hardware are on schedule for delivery in time for installation on Columbus. They will be installed and tested when the module is rotated 90° to expose the nadir side for work. Internal cables will be run from the feedthroughs to a panel inside the module. Operating modes will consist of a linear transponder, audio/video for school contacts, and periodic operation of a digital ATV downlink. Operating frequencies will be coordinated with the NASA ISS spectrum office via Frank Bauer. Detailed minutes of the Columbus team meetings are on the ARISS-Europe website. Lou inquired about link calculations, and these are not ready yet. The antenna gain tests will be somewhat problematic, given the testing configuration.

8. Space Patrol, Presenter: S. Samburov

Nothing reported.

9. New business

Lou met with the SuitSat development team, and they are working on the SuitSat 2 configuration since there likely will be a second opportunity and they want to be prepared.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Steiner, K3MS, for the ARISS Team