Today was a pretty good day.

I read on the NASA Web site that the Soyuz launch to the ISS was a success.  I’d wanted to watch the launch live on NASA TV, but I didn’t get up early enough for that.  This is the vehicle taking Richard Garriott and the Expedition 18 crew up to the ISS.  He’s planning to operate the amateur radio station frequently during his short stay.

Also today, a friend (Gary/W5ETJ) and I took a drive down to Eldorado (TX) and operated a portable satellite station from Maidenhead grid DM90.  We only made 14 contacts, but we had a good time in spite of the drizzle and wind.

I saw on the AMSAT bulletin board that several slow-scan television (SSTV) pictures have been received by amateurs around the world from the ISS in the past week.  Think of SSTV as a color facsimile transmission.  It’s kind of like a high-resolution TV screen shot.  There soon will be three SSTV pieces of equipment on the ISS.  Richard is bringing along a hand-held SSTV device and there are two others already onboard.  The ISS crew has been testing one of the capabiites in the past two days. ARISS ISS.  Cool.

I’m looking forward to the Soyuz docking with the ISS on Tuesday so Richard can get settled in and start making contact with the many of us who are anxious to “work the space station.”

I heard him yesterday, but wasn’t able to make contact.  This afternoon, with the satellite at only 4 degrees elevation, I was able to work UT1FG/MM (maritime mobile).  The UT prefix on his call sign denotes a Ukrainian station and the online callbook says it belongs to Yuri Bodrov from Odessa.  Contacts generally are very brief on the FM satellites, so little time for Yuri to explain his being in the eastern Atlantic (his grid was GM32), but probably aboard a merchant ship.