DATV on the ISS planned
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The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) international team 
met for the monthly teleconference on March 16. Two highlights of the meeting 
include the planned installation of VHF and UHF FM amateur radio equipment and 
possible digital amateur television from the Columbus module at the International 
Space Station. The installation of the Ericsson radio used by ARISS in the 
Columbus module is scheduled to be done by astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on the 
STS-134 shuttle flight planned for late July 2010. ESA hopes to have a special 
contact to commemorate the first operation of amateur radio in the Columbus Module. 

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF reported that the Amateur Radio - Columbus (ARCOL) Working 
Group is currently proposing the flight of a digital amateur television (DATV) 
system to downlink TV on S-band. ARISS US team members Mark Severance N5XWF; Mark 
Steiner K3MS; Lou McFadin W5DID; Kenneth Ransom N5VHO; Rosalie White K1STO; and 
Carol Jackson KB3LKI are assisting. The Digital Television capability, under 
consideration for installation by the ESA in December 2010, poses technical 
challenges. The biggest technical challenge is the obtaining of a suitable power 
supply. Gaston is working with ESA to resolve this. While DATV from the Columbus 
module will open up an exciting new capability for education contacts, it will 
require a more capable ground station to receive the S-band DATV signals. This has 
implications for the existing telebridge stations, including how the DATV images 
would be routed to the event sites. Gaston will be establishing a working group to 
help tackle these two challenges (reception and passing to the event site), and is 
actively soliciting volunteers to help out. The ARCOL group has already 
accomplished the assembly and installation of the L- and S-band patch antennas 
mounted on the exterior of the Columbus Module. 
[ANS thanks the ARISS team for the above information]
ATV-Newsletter N6IFU