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A tribute to 9M2GL - a news piece on amateur radio in NST website |
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Written by 9M4CME - MARES Admin
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Apr 06, 2006 at 01:09 PM |
This article was written by Siti Hajar Abd Aziz (9W2JAR), and was initially published by NST at the following URL - Click Here, on 31st March 2006.
This article is a tribute to ham radio enthusiast Idris Zainuddin (9M2GL) who died at his residence in Jalan Klang Lama on March 28, 2006 at the age of 77. For years, Idris has been a devoted teacher in preparing candidates of the Radio Amateur Examination (RAE) and the Morse Code tests and has assisted in disaster communication with the Malaysian Amateur Radio Emergency Services Society.
It’s like a dream come true for Malaysians
— to be able send our own astronauts into space.
But did you know that you too can be part of this space programme
— albeit in a land-locked way.
Just get to know amateur radio, or an amateur radio operator, and you
are on your way to talking to our astronaut while he (or she) is on
board the International Space Station (ISS).
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) programme
was set up by amateurs from the ISS partner countries in the USA,
Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada in 1996. It became part of the
International Space Station project in October 2000.
The ARISS programme is aimed at allowing students to experience the
excitement of amateur radio communication by talking directly with crew
members of the ISS, with the help of amateur radio community.
According to the ARISS website, the unique educational experience of
speaking with astronauts will hopefully encourage youths to learn about
science and technology.
Amateur radio (or hams) operators too have the opportunity to make
unscheduled contacts with astronauts from time to time, when the space
station make a pass over their region.
Although the astronauts are normally very busy, they do take some time
off to make contact with schoolchildren and hams.
Ghazali Hassan, 26, who has just passed the Radio Amateur Examination
(RAE) and is applying for a callsign, said he couldn't wait to talk to
the Malaysian astronaut.
"Malaysians should also take this opportunity to learn about space
communication.
“Monitoring satellite and shuttle commissions have become a
popular hobby on its own.
“Teachers should apply for a future school contact, almost
guaranteeing
that students will have an opportunity to communicate with a space
crew,” he said.
Currently, the ISS ham radios are Ericsson MP-X handhelds, and the
Kenwood D-700, which has been programmed with numerous channels,
including the two-metre radio support voice operations.
Several check-out passes were conducted during November 2000 and the
first school contact was made by Expedition One astronaut Bill Shepherd
on Dec 21, 2000, in the United States.
To prepare to talk the space crew, one needs a radio with a two-metre
FM transceiver with an output power between 25 to 100 watts.
In any radio communication, an antenna is vital, and to be able to make
this contact, one needs to experiment with a number of antennas,
including a circularly polarised crossed-Yagi, vertical and ground
plane types.
Commercial and public domain software can help track when a shuttle or
the ISS will be in range of the station, and where to point the
antenna.
Frequencies used for ARISS
Voice Downlink: 145.80 (Worldwide)
Voice Uplink: 144.49 (Regions 2 & 3) 145.20
(Region 1)
Packet Uplink: 145.99 (Worldwide)
For information on ARISS check out:
* For information on amateur radio in Malaysia check out:
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