ISS Crew Chief May Be On The Air For JOTA

From the ARRL...



International Space Station Expedition 3 Crew Commander Frank Culbertson, KD5OPQ, says he hopes to be on the air October 20-21 from NA1SS during Scouting's annual Jamboree On The Air. Stations not participating in JOTA are requested to give preference to Scouting/JOTA stations attempting to contact NA1SS.



"The ISS crew is very busy but excited about supporting JOTA QSOs," said Will Marchant, KC6ROL, of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program. "Frank had packed his Scouting T-shirt and will be wearing that during the QSOs."



Culbertson will use the general QSO voice frequencies: In Regions 2 and 3 (this includes the US), the frequencies are 144.490 MHz up and 145.800 MHz down; in Region 1 (Europe, Africa and the Middle East), the frequencies are 145.200 MHz up and 145.800 MHz down. See the ARRL Web site, for approximate pass times.



Marchant advised stations to always listen before transmitting and to wait until NA1SS calls for the next station before transmitting. If NA1SS comes back to someone else, stop calling and wait until that contact is completed before trying again. He also says Culbertson hopes to be able to find more time for casual ham radio contacts in the days and weeks ahead.



During JOTA, Amateur Radio operators around the world invite Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts/Guides to their stations to chat with each other and to learn about Amateur Radio at the same time. Details are spelled out in the September 2001 issue of QST (see page 48) and on the ARRL Web JOTA page.