ISS Recieving a new radio

[Firemantincan]

I came across this article about the rocket launch the other day. Apparently they are going to be receiving a replacement 2 meter radio. Has anyone noticed that the current one was out of commission?

SpaceX Launch Ham Radio Transceiver to ISS | QRZ Now – Ham Radio News!

 

[royldean]

Yes, the 2m packet radio has been out since last year. All APRS digipeating has been occurring on the 70cm radio.

 

[Jay911]

They had some GPS issues on the Dragon craft, and had to abort this morning's RV. Maybe the radio was turned on and interfering with the avionics :twisted:

 

[kb4cvn]

The replacement radios are a pair of GROUND SPARE units. 1 VHF-highband and 1 UHF.

They are part of the dozen radios which were donated to the program in 2000, and built by Hams who work for (then) Ericsson US in Lynchburg, Virginia. (Now owned by Harris Corporation) Not too bad a service life for a 17+ year old radio!

There were originally a dozen radios, six vhf and six uhf, based on the exceptionally rugged M-PA model radio.

The radios were slightly modified to allow being powered by on-board ISS DC voltage, via a Power Adapter Module which replaces the normal battery, and was also modified to accept the standard crew member headset connections.


An article on these radios appeared on QRZ today.
A NEW vhf radio "Ericsson" now on ISS Space Station ! | QRZ Forums