Shuttle launch re-broadcast on ham freqs?

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scanman310

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Anyone know if there will be a shuttle launch re-broadcast on ham frequencies in the Denver area? Thanks in advance.
 

jeffreyinberthoud

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shuttle freqs

145.460 Boulder

145.160 Colorado Springs

147.225 & 224.980 Denver


found this also
Frequency Mode Antennas
(MHz)
3.860 SSB LSB N-S/E-W Dipoles
7.185 SSB LSB N-S/E-W Dipoles
14.295 SSB USB 3-element Yagi
21.395 SSB USB 5-element Yagi
28.650 SSB USB 4-element Yagi
147.45 FM Simplex Phased vertical


Hope it all helps
 
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mpg0515

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evilklown said:
is there any non ham frequncy's for the shuttle launch or just ham??

The CRA's (Colorado Repeater Association) (http://www.w0cra.org/) rebroadcasts a direct feed from the shuttle launch... Most NASA frequencies are in the military band and you won't be able to hear them unless you have a pretty good antenna setup.

edit: after looking at their website it looks like the club now uses an IRLP feed to broadcast the shuttle.

A couple of frequencies that I have had friends hear comms on are: UHF Air-to-Ground voice downlink (AM) – 259.700 MHz (Primary)/296.800 MHz (Secondary). Again it takes quite the antenna to be able to hear stuff from here, so best bet would be to listen to the CRA. Also if I am not mistaken, most of their everyday comms are on freqs up in the "higher Ghz," like 15+Ghz. So it would be kind of hard to monitor those considering most receivers only go to 2Ghz. Have fun..

CRA freqs were listed above

147.225/224.980 Conifer Mountain (Denver-wide area)
145.460 Lee Hill (Boulder)
145.160 Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs)
 
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scanman310

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Thanks a million. You guys rock! There has not been much hype about this launch so I don't know what the mission involves but I would like to at least hear it on the scanner. I used to hear them all the time when I lived in San Diego (navy). There were a couple of different ham freqs carrying the launch but they had a vested intrest in the shuttle because of all the different contractors in California and JPL in Peasedena. This will be one of the last times to hear the aging shuttle fleet take off so I'd hate to miss it.
 

rdale

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This flight tests more repair procedures and fixes up the station to add a 3rd crewmember.

No worries on "one of the last" - flights are going through 2010.
 

scanman310

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Sounds like a long way off but considering we are already half way through 2006 and if there's a launch every six months, there are only seven left...and that's if everything goes smoothe. One more "major malfunction" and I think that would be it for the shuttle program. Next mission: Get to Floridia and actually see one take off!
 

rdale

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There are 18 more flights coming, plus the possible addition of the 19th to service the Hubble telescope.

Next one is end of August, then December, then about every 2-3 months thereafter.
 

scanman310

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That's fantastic news rdale! Thanks. I had no idea there were so many launches left. The way they keep talking about it on the news made it sound like there were just a few oppurtunities left. I just called Kenedy Space Center and the launch is scheduled for 3:48pm local, 1:48pm for us. For launch updates call,
1-800-KSC-INFO. They give the STS number, scheduled launch date and ticket info.
 

rdale

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Odds are not good for it to go - storms are in the afternoon forecast for quite a while...
 

scanman310

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Bummer. Of all the times I've been to Floridia to see my folks, I have always missed the shuttle due to this exact reason.
 

evilklown

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Thank you!!

mpg0515 said:
The CRA's (Colorado Repeater Association) (http://www.w0cra.org/) rebroadcasts a direct feed from the shuttle launch... Most NASA frequencies are in the military band and you won't be able to hear them unless you have a pretty good antenna setup.

edit: after looking at their website it looks like the club now uses an IRLP feed to broadcast the shuttle.

A couple of frequencies that I have had friends hear comms on are: UHF Air-to-Ground voice downlink (AM) – 259.700 MHz (Primary)/296.800 MHz (Secondary). Again it takes quite the antenna to be able to hear stuff from here, so best bet would be to listen to the CRA. Also if I am not mistaken, most of their everyday comms are on freqs up in the "higher Ghz," like 15+Ghz. So it would be kind of hard to monitor those considering most receivers only go to 2Ghz. Have fun..

CRA freqs were listed above

147.225/224.980 Conifer Mountain (Denver-wide area)
145.460 Lee Hill (Boulder)
145.160 Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs)

I just wanted to let you know thank you for you input on this that is good to hear i dont have a strong antenna yet but i wasnt thinking of that right away when i read the post. thanks agian...!!!
 
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mpg0515

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evilklown said:
I just wanted to let you know thank you for you input on this that is good to hear i dont have a strong antenna yet but i wasnt thinking of that right away when i read the post. thanks agian...!!!

Well, you will have no problems what so ever listening to 147.225/145.460. They both cover the front range very well. I can listen to 7.225 most indoor places here in FTC with an HT, again have fun monitoring!
 

jimmnn

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Today 1349hrs

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. For the first time in almost a year, NASA was set to launch a space shuttle Saturday on a mission that will test whether the space agency has reduced the risks of flying in the 25-year-old vehicles.

Discovery was set to blast off from Kennedy Space Center at 3:49 p.m. EDT, only the second shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster in 2003.

Storm clouds forecast for the afternoon remained the chief obstacle to launch, though a last-minute technical problem popped up Saturday morning. A heater used to keep ice from building on a firing thruster had a higher-than-normal temperature. The countdown proceeded as normal, and NASA was unsure what effect it would have on the launch.

"You need to have all four thrusters in good shape," said Michael Curie, a spokesman for United Space Alliance, the private company that services the shuttle.

Whenever it flies, Discovery will be the only shuttle ever launched with a system officially classified as "an unacceptable risk," reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

The chances of the weather being good enough for a launch improved to 60 percent from 40 percent a day earlier, NASA said Saturday.

Fueling began as scheduled at 6 a.m. During the process, NASA engineers planned to find out if new fuel tank sensors were operating properly. Four sensors designed to prevent the main engines from running too long or not long enough during the climb to space were replaced after one of them gave an electrical reading that was slightly off. The swap-out pushed back Discovery's launch in May.

The launch Saturday will test NASA Administrator Michael Griffin's decision to go ahead with the mission despite the concerns of two top agency managers who fear foam flying off the fuel tank might harm the space shuttle.

Bryan O'Connor, the space agency's chief safety officer, and chief engineer Christopher Scolese recommended at a flight readiness review meeting two weeks ago that the shuttle not fly until further design changes are made to 34 areas on the fuel tank known as ice-frost ramps. These wedge-shaped brackets run up and down the tank holding in place pressurization lines. Foam insulation is used to prevent ice from building up on the tank when it is filled with supercold fuel. Small pieces of foam have snapped off during previous launches.

O'Connor and Scolese agreed with Griffin's rationale that the risk was only to the shuttle and not the crew since the astronauts could take refuge in the international space station until a rescue vehicle is sent up, so they didn't appeal Griffin's decision.

"First of all, it's not a democracy. We don't take a vote. We don't need 100 percent of the people to say it's OK," astronaut Scott Kelly, whose identical twin, Mark, is Discovery's pilot, said of Griffin's decision. "He made the decision and I think it's the right decision to proceed with the launch."

Astronaut Stephen Robinson, who was part of last year's crew that made the first return to flight since Columbia disintegrated in 2003, said he was encouraged that the biggest technical debate was focused on the ice-frost ramps.

"If we're down to worrying about something like an ice-frost ramp, we must be doing a lot of things right," Robinson said. "There are much bigger things to worry about."

NASA engineers redesigned the external fuel tank after the Columbia accident, and again after a 1-pound piece of foam insulation came off the tank during Robinson's mission last year. In the most recent change, more than 35 pounds of foam have been removed in what NASA describes as the biggest aerodynamic change ever made to the shuttle's launch system. NASA tried other design changes to the ice-frost ramps, such as removing foam, but they didn't hold up well in wind tunnel tests.

Discovery's seven-member crew will test shuttle inspection and repair techniques, bring supplies and equipment to the international space station and deliver the European Space Agency's Thomas Reiter for a six-month stay aboard the orbiting outpost.

Astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum will make two spacewalks and possibly a third, which would add a day to what is planned to be a 12-day mission. The crew also includes commander Steve Lindsey and mission specialists Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson.
 

rckydenver

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mpg0515 said:
Well, you will have no problems what so ever listening to 147.225/145.460. They both cover the front range very well. I can listen to 7.225 most indoor places here in FTC with an HT, again have fun monitoring!
The CRA (Colorado Repeater Association) has a new UHF freq of 447.575 located on Sqaw Mountain currently i'm hearing the Space Shuttle Command Center on this freqency. Every now and then it cuts out.. So try 447.575.
 

jimmnn

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9NEWS.com will live stream the shuttle launch set to begin at around 1:45 p.m.

Jim<
 
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mpg0515

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rckydenver said:
The CRA (Colorado Repeater Association) has a new UHF freq of 447.575 located on Sqaw Mountain currently i'm hearing the Space Shuttle Command Center on this freqency. Every now and then it cuts out.. So try 447.575.

Good catch Tom, I had forgotten that the CRA was working on this repeater.

The cutting out is packet loss.... Since they switched to an IRLP feed you will notice this more from time to time. They used to use the NASA tv satellite feed.
 
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