Retransmission of Shuttle Audio on 145.585 MHz

NA6MF is located at NASA Ames Research Center on Moffett Field in California.

Ames Amateur Radio Club’s station, NA6MF, re-transmits continuous air-to-ground communications on 145.585 MHz during Space Shuttle missions.

For information, comments, etc. contact Michael Wright, K6MFW, at (650) 604-6262 or email michael.f.wright@nasa.gov

Retransmission of NASA TV on ATV

NASA-TV is re-transmitted through the K6BEN video repeater (421.25 MHz or cable channel 57) in the south San Francisco bay area. To receive K6BEN, set your TV set to cable channel 57, connect a UHF antenna (vertically polarized) aimed at Mt. Hamilton (east SJ foothills). Click here for more info.

Shuttle Schedules and NASA TV

NASA-TV schedule in PDF or XLS format for up-to-date info which includes mission events, see http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html

Daily schedule at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Schedule.html

Launch schedules at http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html

Schedule of NASA TV during Shuttle Missions http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html

Streaming video of NASA TV at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/index.html

NASA Television Programming at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Shuttle Audio Frequencies throughout USA and Canada

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sarex/shutfreq.html

Shuttle Retransmission on HF

To reach hams across the U.S. and throughout the world, WA3NAN, the Goddard Amateur Radio Club provides simultaneous single-side band (SSB) transmissions of live Space Shuttle audio. See http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/www/retransmission/retransmission.html for more information.

Receiving Space Shuttle Astronaut Voice Communications
KSC Press Release, April 2000

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=1529

Proposed NPRM:

In a 2004 NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), the FCC proposes to revise Part 97 (amateur radio) a number of changes. One of those changes will permit amateur stations to re-transmit communications from the International Space Station. When this change becomes official may be for some time (rule-changes move slowly). In the meantime, our club will need to determine when and what ISS subjects (press conferences, interviews, educational presentations, or whatever) for retransmission.

Mission Control Answers Your Questions
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer

From: Keith Nealy, of Alameda CA
To: Paul Dye, flight director for the orbit 2 team [STS-106]

Question: Why is the audio from the shuttle so bad?

Answer: The short answer is that the Shuttle's audio system was cutting edge when it was designed in the late 70's. We were one of the first to use digital audio routinely. Our system has no compression, and a 2.7 KHz bandwidth, and the voice quality is comparable to standard telephone quality. At the time, more fidelity would have been a significant cost, and there were other areas that needed the resources more.

Music on Shuttle Re-Transmissions?

PART 97--AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE
Subpart B--Station Operation Standards
Sec. 97.113 Prohibited transmissions.


(e) No station shall retransmit programs or signals emanating from any type of radio station other than an amateur station, except propagation and weather forecast information intended for use by the general public and originated from United States Government stations and communications, including incidental music, originating on United States Government frequencies between a space shuttle and its associated Earth stations. Prior approval for shuttle retransmissions must be obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Such retransmissions must be for the exclusive use of amateur operators. Propagation, weather forecasts, and shuttle retransmissions may not be conducted on a regular basis, but only occasionally, as an incident of normal amateur radio communications.

For more of Part 97, see Part 97 of FCC for Amateur Radio Service

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