{"id":36129,"date":"2019-03-03T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=36129"},"modified":"2019-02-24T08:55:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-24T12:55:52","slug":"radio-fun-monitoring-iss-astronaut-david-saint-jacques-as-he-answers-student-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/radio-fun-monitoring-iss-astronaut-david-saint-jacques-as-he-answers-student-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Fun: Monitoring ISS Astronaut David Saint-Jacques as he answers student questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My daughter hold the Kenwood TH-F6 HT while we listen to the ISS contact.<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to my good buddy Eric (WD8RIF) for reminding me about a scheduled ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) contact between Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, FL, USA.<\/p>\n

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Astronaut David Saint-Jacques (Source: Canadian Space Agency)<\/p><\/div>\n

Living in the mountains, I miss a lot of low angle ISS passes due to ridge lines blocking my line of sight. This time, though, the pass was high and mostly to my open south which meant it was one of the longest ARISS contacts I’m monitored.<\/p>\n

My daughters drop everything to monitor radio or visual ISS passes–this February 14th pass was no exception.<\/p>\n

In fact, I’m sure a lot of their enthusiasm about studying for their ham radio licenses stems from these ARISS events.<\/p>\n

Of course, it doesn’t take an amateur radio license to monitor an ISS VHF transmission. I’ve used everything from handheld scanners to handheld ham radio transceivers. Click here to read a post with a short tutorial on monitoring ARISS contacts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My daughters helped me make short videos of David Saint-Jacques’ replies (of course, we can’t hear the FL school’s transmissions). Below, I’ve matched the school’s questions with his answers:<\/p>\n

Question regarding superstitions, traditions and rituals:<\/h2>\n