On 28 Jan 2006 20:16:11 -0800, K4YZ wrote:

Larry wrote:
On 28 Jan 2006 06:12:03 -0800, K4YZ wrote:
Greetings All,

Are any of you equipped to work the ISS crossband repeater?

Actually, you don't need crossband capability to use the ISS repeater.

Actually you do when the input is on 70 centimeters and the output
is on 2 meters. That's what "crossband" means.

Actually, I stand by my original statement: You don't NEED crossband
capability to use the ISS repeater.

I've worked MIR twice on that pair and had a blast.

I guess it's easy to "not like" if you don't have the requisite
skills or capable staion to do it with.

I made contacts through AMSAT way back in the early 70's when the
OSCAR series of the 60's was being continued. It boiled down to being
a novelty activity for hams, but one which only imitated what
communications engineers and other professionals had pioneered long
before hams used a satellite. In fact, most OSCAR satellites were
stuffed into the unused space in government launch vehicles and were
essentially CARE packages from those who were doing the real
pioneering work.

Nope, I say the VoIP Echolink or IRLP method is much more reliable.

Perhaps it is. And if that's what spins your propeller, mor power
to you. But making a "contact" via Echolink is no more challenging
that turning the light on when you enter a room.

I see. And I suppose that, when you decide to cross a river, you
eschew the nearby bridges in favor of swimming across instead. Do you
also use a horse instead of choosing to own a car?

Some can say that about FM, or SSB, or CW, or any other mode.
However anyone can turn the computer on and work Echolink. There's no
skill in that.

Anyone can turn on a transceiver and push a button. There's no real
skill in that either.

But there *is* skill in figuring out optimal voice sampling and
compression techniques, combining them with the optimal IP protocol
(UDP/IP), and then writing and installing VoIP software to accomplish
that end, followed by setting up servers and repeaters to support it.
In fact, I submit that the hams who embraced the Internet and
developed those methods are among the most technically skilled members
of the amateur community.

If all you do is push a button, then you're an appliance operator in
my estimation.