from the ARRL:
The astronauts did a lot more than fix insulation while they walked in space Wednesday. The PCSat2 Amateur Radio Package has been installed on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) as Materials International Space Station Experiment 5 (MISSE5). Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, unfolded the suitcase-like Passive Experiment Container (PEC) holding PCSat2 and other experiments mounted atop the ISS P6 truss structure at around 1110 UTC August 3 during a space walk with Astronaut Steve Robinson. Noguchi deployed the “tape measure” antennas by pulling up a couple of Mylar strips that allowed the antennas to pop out.
Built by US Naval Academy students under the guidance of APRS guru Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, PCSat2 will operate in cooperation with the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. It will provide a 10-meter PSK31 multi-user transponder, an FM voice repeater for possible use with ISS crew members and an AX.25 packet system for use as a UI digipeater and for telemetry, command, control. Bruninga says PCSat2 may be ready for use within a few days, but he asked that stations not attempt to use the system until it’s been checked out and an announcement made. In the meantime, Bruninga has invited well-equipped ground stations to help capture early telemetry on the alternate downlink frequency of 437.975 MHz during PCSat2’s first few days of activation.
More information is available on the USNA Web site.
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