Minutes of ARISS International Monthly Meeting
Go To Meeting/Teleconference
February 15, 2022 – 1200 UTC
Participants:
Oliver Amend
Frank Bauer
Darin Cowan
Rita DeHart
Stefan Dombrowski
Shizuo Endo
Keigo Komuro
Chet Latawiec
Glenn MacDonell
Will Marchant
Lou McFadin
Ciaran Morgan
Martha Muir
Jan Poppeliers
Kenneth Ransom
Sergey Samburov
Marty Schulman
Graham Shirville
Dave Taylor
Rosalie White
Interpreter: Rita Dalinina Baker
Unable to attend:
Fabio Azzarello
Kerry Banke
Gaston Bertels
Armand Budzianowski
Emanuele D’Andria
Francesco De Paolis
Martin Diggins
Gianpietro Ferrario
Ana Guzman
Bruce Hunter
Bertus Husken
Tony Hutchison
Micol Ivancic
Peter Kofler
David Jordan
Michel Nawrocki
Ken Nichols
Eric Oosterbaan
Gordon Scannell
Mark Steiner
Masanobu Tsuji
Satoshi Yasuda
Meeting Agenda
Roll Call—Martha took attendance by using the names shown on the Go To Meeting screen.
Welcome—Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
Frank welcomed everyone to this meeting and said that he just got back from the Orlando Hamcation hamfest. While he was in the ARISS booth there, many people came by and expressed appreciation for what we are doing to keep amateur radio alive and well on the ISS. The first Axiom crew will launch no earlier than the end of March. ARISS plans to conduct contacts with up to six schools, five in Canada and one in Israel. We hope this is the beginning of a relationship with Axiom. Axiom has plans to have their own space station eventually.
Frank thanked everyone for their support of the ARISS program. Folks around the world are noticing what we are doing and are appreciative.
For the ARISS-International Monthly Meeting on January 18, 2022 Martha recorded the minutes and distributed the file to ARISS Delegates prior to this ARISS-I meeting. Rosalie made a motion to accept the minutes. Dave Taylor seconded that motion. The minutes was adopted without dissent and will be sent to Carol Jackson to be posted on the ARISS-I webpage.
2. Face to Face or Ear to Ear International Meeting in 2022 - Oliver Amend
[Informational]
Oliver reported that he looked at the calendar for June through August at weeks (Tuesday through Friday) when this meeting could be held without interfering with known conflicts such as major hamfests. The meeting will include the usual Welcome Day, Education Day, and Wrap Up Day. We will expect reports from committees and regions.
Previous meetings were held in Japan in 2015, in Houston/USA in 2016, in Rome in 2017, in Maryland/USA in 2018, and in Canada in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to change to virtual online Ear to Ear meetings in 2020 and 2021. We need to decide if we will have a Face to Face or Ear to Ear meeting this year. If we opt for Face to Face, we need to decide where we want to have it. Options for that include ESA, KSC, Bremen, or other places.
Frank asked for comments and suggestions.
Stefan said that the Covid situation is improving in Europe at this time. Things could be okay by June. Perhaps we could have a hybrid format with folks choosing to attend in person or online.
Shizuo said that we don’t know at this point if travel restrictions will be lifted by June. We may know more about this by the end of March. Rosalie concurred with Shizuo and suggested we wait until the end of March to decide.
Glenn said that is important that we meet in person this year – it has been such a long time. It will be a challenge, of course, to predict what the Covid situation will be in the summer. Restrictions are being lifted around the world but there may be a new variant to deal with. Let’s plan for a hybrid meeting and let circumstances determine how people will attend.
Sergey said that we haven’t seen each other in a long time. He would like to demonstrate some new equipment. He will be busy in August with some EVAs and with a 100th anniversary celebration in September. Today, there will be a launch that will carry 6 satellites to the ISS. Eventually, 4 more satellites will be sent up. Frank congratulated Sergey on the launching of the satellites and on the launching of the Kenwood radio that will be installed in the Russian segment.
Frank summarized what has been said so far about the Ear to Ear vs. Face to Face meeting by saying that the world is not yet stable as far as the pandemic is concerned. Perhaps we could get together in our own countries but not internationally early this summer. We need to be mindful of the dates for the AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NA meetings. It looks like it will be challenging to find a date for a Face to Face meeting. Perhaps we will know more next month.
Oliver said that ESA ESTEC does not know if they could host such a meeting in June. Oliver recommends we have an Ear to Ear meeting again this year but would be okay with a hybrid meeting format. He agrees to wait until next month to decide.
3. Extension of Waiver Request Process – Frank Bauer
[Informational]
Frank said that a direct or telebridge contact requires a waiver request which helps the school think through and show how they plan to mitigate the virus risk across the school (students teachers, administrators), hams, and others present .A multipoint telebridge contact does not require a waiver request.The current waiver request policy is scheduled to end on June 30th.This policy is being extended to the end of 2022.The Covid situation is not stable yet, Frank said.If things get better, the waiver request policy can be removed in the future.
Frank recognized the Technical Mentors for their help with this.We can see how this helps schools think through their plan for this.This is more work for the Technical Mentors but this process minimizes school contacts being cancelled at the last minute.Frank thanked Stefan for pulling all the waiver requests together so ARISS-Officers can evaluate them efficiently.
4. Status of the SSTV Experiment Committee – Oliver Amend
[Informational]
Oliver stated that the committee started in August 2021.Its purpose is to look at new SSTV modes and opportunities to conduct SSTV through the Columbus module radio voice repeater before the ARISS Raspberry Pi is on board (which will allow on-orbit downlinks of SSTV). They have met 11 times since then.Key members of the committee include Oliver DG6BCE, Eric PA2EON, Claudio IK1SLD, Jan ON7UX, Ciaran M0XTD, Lou W5DID, and Kenneth N5VHO.Several modes for SSTV have been discussed including PD120, ROBOT, KF-STV, and HAM DR.
A Wiki has been set up at wiki.amsat-on.be to collect and display information about this project.The first test using KF-STV software, which was created by a ham in Japan, is scheduled to be run for 5 passes on February 20.The next event will use HAM DR and will run 5 to 6 weeks later.
Sergey asked for a copy of Oliver’s PowerPoint slides after the meeting.He also asked for a description of the KF-STV software.
Ad Hoc
Graham asked if there are any updates about Ham TV. Frank said that Kaiser Italia has the Fed Ex shipping invoice but has not sent it yet so there is no news.
Frank thanked everyone for attending the meeting today.
.
The next meeting will begin at 1200 UTC on March 15, 2022.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Muir, ARISS-I Secretary
Go To Meeting/Teleconference
February 15, 2022 – 1200 UTC
Participants:
Oliver Amend
Frank Bauer
Darin Cowan
Rita DeHart
Stefan Dombrowski
Shizuo Endo
Keigo Komuro
Chet Latawiec
Glenn MacDonell
Will Marchant
Lou McFadin
Ciaran Morgan
Martha Muir
Jan Poppeliers
Kenneth Ransom
Sergey Samburov
Marty Schulman
Graham Shirville
Dave Taylor
Rosalie White
Interpreter: Rita Dalinina Baker
Unable to attend:
Fabio Azzarello
Kerry Banke
Gaston Bertels
Armand Budzianowski
Emanuele D’Andria
Francesco De Paolis
Martin Diggins
Gianpietro Ferrario
Ana Guzman
Bruce Hunter
Bertus Husken
Tony Hutchison
Micol Ivancic
Peter Kofler
David Jordan
Michel Nawrocki
Ken Nichols
Eric Oosterbaan
Gordon Scannell
Mark Steiner
Masanobu Tsuji
Satoshi Yasuda
Meeting Agenda
Roll Call—Martha took attendance by using the names shown on the Go To Meeting screen.
Welcome—Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
Frank welcomed everyone to this meeting and said that he just got back from the Orlando Hamcation hamfest. While he was in the ARISS booth there, many people came by and expressed appreciation for what we are doing to keep amateur radio alive and well on the ISS. The first Axiom crew will launch no earlier than the end of March. ARISS plans to conduct contacts with up to six schools, five in Canada and one in Israel. We hope this is the beginning of a relationship with Axiom. Axiom has plans to have their own space station eventually.
Frank thanked everyone for their support of the ARISS program. Folks around the world are noticing what we are doing and are appreciative.
- Call for Acceptance of Minutes—Frank Bauer and Martha Muir
For the ARISS-International Monthly Meeting on January 18, 2022 Martha recorded the minutes and distributed the file to ARISS Delegates prior to this ARISS-I meeting. Rosalie made a motion to accept the minutes. Dave Taylor seconded that motion. The minutes was adopted without dissent and will be sent to Carol Jackson to be posted on the ARISS-I webpage.
2. Face to Face or Ear to Ear International Meeting in 2022 - Oliver Amend
[Informational]
Oliver reported that he looked at the calendar for June through August at weeks (Tuesday through Friday) when this meeting could be held without interfering with known conflicts such as major hamfests. The meeting will include the usual Welcome Day, Education Day, and Wrap Up Day. We will expect reports from committees and regions.
Previous meetings were held in Japan in 2015, in Houston/USA in 2016, in Rome in 2017, in Maryland/USA in 2018, and in Canada in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to change to virtual online Ear to Ear meetings in 2020 and 2021. We need to decide if we will have a Face to Face or Ear to Ear meeting this year. If we opt for Face to Face, we need to decide where we want to have it. Options for that include ESA, KSC, Bremen, or other places.
Frank asked for comments and suggestions.
Stefan said that the Covid situation is improving in Europe at this time. Things could be okay by June. Perhaps we could have a hybrid format with folks choosing to attend in person or online.
Shizuo said that we don’t know at this point if travel restrictions will be lifted by June. We may know more about this by the end of March. Rosalie concurred with Shizuo and suggested we wait until the end of March to decide.
Glenn said that is important that we meet in person this year – it has been such a long time. It will be a challenge, of course, to predict what the Covid situation will be in the summer. Restrictions are being lifted around the world but there may be a new variant to deal with. Let’s plan for a hybrid meeting and let circumstances determine how people will attend.
Sergey said that we haven’t seen each other in a long time. He would like to demonstrate some new equipment. He will be busy in August with some EVAs and with a 100th anniversary celebration in September. Today, there will be a launch that will carry 6 satellites to the ISS. Eventually, 4 more satellites will be sent up. Frank congratulated Sergey on the launching of the satellites and on the launching of the Kenwood radio that will be installed in the Russian segment.
Frank summarized what has been said so far about the Ear to Ear vs. Face to Face meeting by saying that the world is not yet stable as far as the pandemic is concerned. Perhaps we could get together in our own countries but not internationally early this summer. We need to be mindful of the dates for the AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NA meetings. It looks like it will be challenging to find a date for a Face to Face meeting. Perhaps we will know more next month.
Oliver said that ESA ESTEC does not know if they could host such a meeting in June. Oliver recommends we have an Ear to Ear meeting again this year but would be okay with a hybrid meeting format. He agrees to wait until next month to decide.
3. Extension of Waiver Request Process – Frank Bauer
[Informational]
Frank said that a direct or telebridge contact requires a waiver request which helps the school think through and show how they plan to mitigate the virus risk across the school (students teachers, administrators), hams, and others present .A multipoint telebridge contact does not require a waiver request.The current waiver request policy is scheduled to end on June 30th.This policy is being extended to the end of 2022.The Covid situation is not stable yet, Frank said.If things get better, the waiver request policy can be removed in the future.
Frank recognized the Technical Mentors for their help with this.We can see how this helps schools think through their plan for this.This is more work for the Technical Mentors but this process minimizes school contacts being cancelled at the last minute.Frank thanked Stefan for pulling all the waiver requests together so ARISS-Officers can evaluate them efficiently.
4. Status of the SSTV Experiment Committee – Oliver Amend
[Informational]
Oliver stated that the committee started in August 2021.Its purpose is to look at new SSTV modes and opportunities to conduct SSTV through the Columbus module radio voice repeater before the ARISS Raspberry Pi is on board (which will allow on-orbit downlinks of SSTV). They have met 11 times since then.Key members of the committee include Oliver DG6BCE, Eric PA2EON, Claudio IK1SLD, Jan ON7UX, Ciaran M0XTD, Lou W5DID, and Kenneth N5VHO.Several modes for SSTV have been discussed including PD120, ROBOT, KF-STV, and HAM DR.
A Wiki has been set up at wiki.amsat-on.be to collect and display information about this project.The first test using KF-STV software, which was created by a ham in Japan, is scheduled to be run for 5 passes on February 20.The next event will use HAM DR and will run 5 to 6 weeks later.
Sergey asked for a copy of Oliver’s PowerPoint slides after the meeting.He also asked for a description of the KF-STV software.
Ad Hoc
Graham asked if there are any updates about Ham TV. Frank said that Kaiser Italia has the Fed Ex shipping invoice but has not sent it yet so there is no news.
Frank thanked everyone for attending the meeting today.
.
The next meeting will begin at 1200 UTC on March 15, 2022.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Muir, ARISS-I Secretary
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