August 12, 2022—ARISS is pleased to announce that starting yesterday, August 11, simultaneous operations of the ARISS Voice Repeater and digital APRS communications on the International Space Station (ISS) is now a reality. Current ARISS operations include voice repeater transmissions with the JVC Kenwood D710GA in the Columbus module and APRS packet operation from an identical radio in the Service Module (Zvezda). Packet operations are on 145.825 MHz.
The ARISS Russia and USA teams have been working for several weeks to prepare the Service Module radio for APRS operations. ARISS Russia team member Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, led the effort, working with Russian mission controllers and the on-board ISS cosmonauts to configure the Service Module radio for APRS ops. On August 11, final checkouts were completed and the APRS packet mode was switched on for amateur radio use.
ARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO states, “Simultaneous operation of APRS and the voice repeater on ISS is transformative for ARISS and represents a key element of our ARISS 2.0 initiative, providing a interactive capabilities 24/7 that inspire, engage and educate youth and lifelong learners—especially life-long learning in ham radio operations.” Bauer continues, “Our heartfelt thanks to Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for making this crucial ARISS 2.0 initiative become a reality.”
The Columbus Module radio uses the callsign NA1SS and the new Service Module radio uses RS0ISS. Aside from the callsigns, the radios are identical and packet operations are the same as before. You can use RS0ISS, ARISS, or APRSAT as the packet path. Also, both radios are expected to be on full time, except during educational contacts, EVAs, and dockings or undockings.
You can find operational status and expected downtimes of the ISS radios at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.