Is it possible to work the ISS mobile?
Hello all,
Basically, my question is this: Do I stand a hope in hell without a directional antenna? Has anyone managed to work the ISS with a similar configuration?
Due to housing restrictions I cannot put up any antennas at home.
I can only work HF/VHF/UHF whilest mobile, which is at least better than nothing.
I have tried to make a few contacts with the ISS, especially recently as Richard is up there - I assume he'll chat on there more than the other crew, as he probably doesn't have such a scheduled day.
I try to work it by driving out to a wide open space, and lowering my omni-directional antenna to a horizontal position. (It's a 6/2/70 mobile antenna).
I can hear the downlink very strongly when it's overhead - 5/9+30 - it lights up all the bars of the meter.
I then try to work it with 50W. (Straight from my FT857D)
ISS Mobile is very possible
I have not only worked the ISS mobile, but the shuttle and MIR. All contacts were with differing antennas and rigs and not more than 5 to 10 watts.
My tip: Listen, listen, listen, call, call, call and try, try, again. My first mobile contact with the shuttle had me so "flustered" I had to pull off the road to finish my 1-minute contact.
It is a very difficult and short contact mobile when you have no good way to adjust for Doppler; but extremely satisfying none the less.
Floyd/WD8DUP
German: DA1VF
Yes, all my ISS contacts are mobile
Yes, it is very possible to work them from a mobile. All my ISS contacts are from the mobile, or from a portable operation. My condo apartment is surrounded by concrete buildings or an extinct volcano crater, which blocks most of my view to the sky.
I usually drag out the Icom IC-910H, and run it any where from 10w to 100w, depending on the amount of current I can draw from the batter before the voltage drop in the wire (about 20 ft of 10 gauge wire) causes the radio to turn off. Antenna for low passes is a Diamond NR-73BNMO, and for high passes is a quarter wave ground plane. If I take the setup outside the car (or next to it), I run an Arrow Antenna dual-band yagi on a Bogan video tripod.
If I'm in a rush, I use the car mobile, which is a Kenwood TM-D700 and quarter wave antennas.
Click on the link below, and it'll take you to other links, including web articles, and videos/audios of the passes and equipment.
Ron Hashiro, AH6RH
http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/spacecomm/
Wow, thanks for the
Wow, thanks for the encouragement :)
I'm just reading your site too - it's full of info.
(You weren't kidding about the volcano crater either!)
Now, if I can just get a pass where they're not sending SSTV :(
re: Is it possible to work the ISS mobile?
Yes it is, I made a QSO with Richard Garriot being mobile, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg0YDsyLgNM, my rig Kenwood TM-V708A my antena a mobile DIAMOND triband.
XE1BRX
73
Fantastic news. I looked,
Fantastic news. I looked, and your set is 50W on VHF, and your antenna looks pretty much like mine.
Did you have to do anything different, like move your antenna to horizontal (if you have a mount that allows that)?
Anyway, thanks for the comment - I'll carry on trying. :)
ISS
I worked Bill McArthur using a TH-D7 with 5 watts into an arrow hand held. It was difficult, and after many, MANY passes, I was able to get through. I think he picked up on my call when I said "hand held" after calling him. Of course, he had been up there for a few months when I finally made contact so he had become quite skilled in working the pile up.
This is my story with audio
http://www.thelenharrs.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=31&mode=...
If you think about it, the ISS gets the ultimate pileup - Tons of stations, line of sight RF paths, and the ultimate contact.... I'm sure its quite hard being the guy up there. One thing to keep in mind is to not step on other stations. Courtesy on our end can make more contacts possible.
Here is how I did it...
http://www.thelenharrs.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=43&mode=...
Keep trying, don't give up, and good luck!