What's the smallest device for communicating w/ Shuttle?

[Terrence Daniels]

I'm guessing a Ham radio. The spaceflight centers have big antennas of all
kinds to talk to shuttle, but what about smaller devices? Does ISS have any
hand-held radios that can reach the Shuttle as it closes in for docking?

This question is inspired by SmallerC(hicken)'s raving about Dittemore being
out of touch while off gambling in Vegas during STS-107. I had a funny image
of him out by the pool, on the phone talking to Columbia directly via cell
phone.

[Brian Gaff]

"Terrence Daniels" > wrote in
message rthlink.net...
| I'm guessing a Ham radio. The spaceflight centers have big antennas of all
| kinds to talk to shuttle, but what about smaller devices? Does ISS have
any
| hand-held radios that can reach the Shuttle as it closes in for docking?
|
| This question is inspired by SmallerC(hicken)'s raving about Dittemore
being
| out of touch while off gambling in Vegas during STS-107. I had a funny
image
| of him out by the pool, on the phone talking to Columbia directly via cell
| phone.
|
| Well a very silly image... I mean, what sort of management team would it
be that could not function when one person was away?

You mention comms from Shuttle to ISS, this is academic, as both would need
an external aerial, I 'd imagine. Hard to transmit from inside a metal box!

I mean, the radios on the EVA suits are small, and have, at times I
understand, been heard on the Earth. When you think about it, if there is
nothing in the way, then very little power is needed to cross short
distances of nothingness, and not a lot more to get to the ground. I recall
an early shuttle Ham transmission being heard by me on an old SX200 scanner
sitting on my lawn with its own aerial only.

Brian

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Brian Gaff....
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
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[PP]

A good powerful torch using morse (halogen type ?) on a clear night !

--


"Terrence Daniels" > wrote in
message rthlink.net...
> I'm guessing a Ham radio. The spaceflight centers have big antennas of all
> kinds to talk to shuttle, but what about smaller devices? Does ISS have
any
> hand-held radios that can reach the Shuttle as it closes in for docking?
>
> This question is inspired by SmallerC(hicken)'s raving about Dittemore
being
> out of touch while off gambling in Vegas during STS-107. I had a funny
image
> of him out by the pool, on the phone talking to Columbia directly via cell
> phone.
>
>

[Rusty Barton]

On Sat, 5 Jul 2003 11:05:44 +0100, "PP" >
wrote:

>A good powerful torch using morse (halogen type ?) on a clear night !

On Gemini 7, communications were attempted using a hand held laser
device.


"The earliest attempt at laser communications from space was during
the Gemini 7 manned space mission in 1967. Astronaut James Lovell was
to look out one of the space capsule windows and observe a beacon
laser sent from a ground station. Upon viewing the beacon he placed a
hand held transmitter in the window and attempted to communicate to a
ground station. The laser communicator incorporated a single
heterojunction laser diode operating at 900 nanometers.
"

http://www.ball.com/aerospace/lasercomm_history_1960.html



Rusty Barton - Antelope, California
--
Visit my Titan 1 ICBM website at:
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[Hallerb]

>What's the smallest device for communicating w/ Shuttle?

I asked awhile ago if a satellite phone would work but no one appeared to
know:(

Point antenna out window and say can you hear me??

Problem might be too many iridium sats getting the signal at one time, like GPS
it might confuse things.

Whats the latest name for iridium?

[Jorge R. Frank]

"Terrence Daniels" > wrote in
rthlink.net:

> I'm guessing a Ham radio. The spaceflight centers have big antennas of
> all kinds to talk to shuttle, but what about smaller devices?

The shuttle can be contacted by Ham radio when the SAREX payload (Shuttle
Amateur Radio EXperiment) is being flown. ISS also has a Ham radio.

> Does ISS
> have any hand-held radios that can reach the Shuttle as it closes in
> for docking?

I don't know if it's "hand-held", but yes. There is a UHF space-to-space
comm system that has a radio on both the orbiter side and the station side.
The EMU radios and AERCam/SPRINT also use UHF comm.

> This question is inspired by SmallerC(hicken)'s raving about Dittemore
> being out of touch while off gambling in Vegas during STS-107. I had a
> funny image of him out by the pool, on the phone talking to Columbia
> directly via cell phone.

Well, maybe not *directly*, but it's possible for MCC to tie phone lines
into the A/G voice loop - they do so for VIP events like presidential
calls. But Dittemore couldn't initiate such a call; MCC would have to (I
think).

And ISS has an "internet phone" that allows the crew to call anyone, pretty
much.


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JRF

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