In this video Dan Trudgian M0TGN shows how to listen to the ISS using nothing more than a handheld radio, a Yaesu VX8, from Hackpen Hill in Wiltshire.
In the UK we use narrow 2.5 kHz deviation FM but the ISS transmits on 145.800 MHz with the wider 5 kHz deviation used in much of the world. Most base station and mobile radios can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters and for best results you should select the wider filter. Handheld radios all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.
As a result of Doppler shift the 145.800 MHz ISS signal may vary by +/- 3.5 kHz during a pass going from 145.835 to 145.7965 MHz. Many FM radios can only tune in steps of 5 kHz, with such equipment you may get best results by selecting 145.805 at start of pass, then 145.800 and finally 145.795 MHz.
Watch GB1SS – Tim Peake QSO with Sandringham School
Sandringham School students at ITV News in London – Image Credit @SandringhamSch1
A 92 minute video containing the Sandringham School GB1SAN and Tim Peake GB1SS amateur radio contact is now available in the ARISS UK Team channel on YouTube.
The amateur radio contact with the International Space Station took place on Friday, January 8, 2016 and was led by Jessica Leigh M6LPJ. The video includes the presentations given to the students by ARISS UK’s Ciaran Morgan M0XTD, Head Teacher Alan Gray G4DJX, and the Chair of the RSGB Youth CommitteeMike Jones 2E0MLJ.
Watch ARISS Schools contact between Sandringham School, GB1SAN, and Tim Peake GB1SS Friday, January 8, 2016
Sandringham students talk to Tim Peake GB1SS using amateur radio – BBC TV screenshot
The BBC report Sandringham School in St Albans has made history by making the first amateur radio call from the UK to a British astronaut on the space station.
Year 10 pupil Jessica Leigh M6LPJ, who has recently passed her amateur radio exam, led the contact which took place on Friday, January 8, 2016.
Headteacher Alan Gray G4DJX with Jessica Leigh M6LPJ – Image Credit Sandringham School
The BBC story says: It took a few minutes for the crackle and hiss to die down and allow the students to put some questions to the astronaut, before the ISS then went over the horizon and out of range.
Jessica called it an “amazing experience” to be talking to someone 400 km above them, but said the significance of the day’s event had yet to sink in: “When I get home, I’ll be completely in shock.”
Her head teacher, Alan Gray G4DJX, said it had been an extraordinary opportunity for the school.
“It’s a way of inspiring young people into science and technology – seeing the opportunities that may be available to them,” he told BBC School Report.
“What you’re seeing is that space has an awful lot to offer. It’s not just about talking to Tim Peake on the space station. There are many other things that are useful for young people and will help with their learning.”
Sandringham students talk to Tim Peake on the International Space Station
On Friday, January 8, students at Sandringham School, St. Albans had an amateur radio contact with UK astronaut Tim Peake GB1SS who was on board the International Space Station.
Initial radio contact with Tim was made by Year 10 pupil Jessica Leigh M6LPJ who, along with two other students, passed her Foundation exam just before Christmas after training with the Verulam Amateur Radio Club.
The school caters for 1300 students aged 11-19 with 100 teachers including specialist teachers of computing science and three female physics teachers all of whom have a specialist interest in space and astronomy. In addition, the head teacher Alan Gray G4DJX is a very active radio amateur who is extremely supportive of this contact.
ARISS UK (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) has provided and set up all necessary radio equipment such as low earth orbit satellite tracking antennas and radios, to establish a fully functional, direct radio link with the ISS from the school premises. In the few minutes when the ISS was over the UK, an amateur radio contact was established with Tim, and students were be able to ask him questions about his life and work on board the ISS.
The Sandringham School Space Festival started on January 5 and culminated with the live contact with astronaut Tim Peake on Friday January 8 at 08:47 GMT. During the week there was a wide range of activities to engage the students in space, including a presentation from Spacecraft Engineer Sian Cleaver, mobile planetariums, an amateur radio buildathon, rocket workshops and talks on Mars and Cosmonauts.
Sandringham School students preparing for Tim Peake contact – Image Credit Sandringham School
Students at Sandringham School, St. Albans have been running through final preparations for their amateur radio contact with UK astronaut Tim Peake GB1SS on board the International Space Station.
The school caters for 1300 students aged 11-19 with 100 teachers including specialist teachers of computing science and three female physics teachers all of whom have a specialist interest in space and astronomy. In addition, the head teacher Alan Gray G4DJX is a very active radio amateur who is extremely supportive of this contact.
ARISS UK (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) has provided and set up all necessary radio equipment such as low earth orbit satellite tracking antennas and radios, to establish a fully functional, direct radio link with the ISS from the school premises. In a ten-minute window when the ISS will be over the UK, an amateur radio contact will be established with Tim, and students will be able to ask him questions about his life and work on board the ISS.
Sandringham School pupils with Foundation exam certificates – Credit Verulam Amateur Radio Club
Initial radio contact with Tim is expected to be made by Year 10 pupil Jessica Leigh M6LPJ who, along with two other students, passed her Foundation exam just before Christmas after training with the Verulam Amateur Radio Club.
The Sandringham School Space Festival started on January 5 and culminates with the live contact with astronaut Tim Peake on Friday January 8 at 08:47 GMT. The contact will be Web Streamed – Schedule
During the week there has been a wide range of activities to engage the students in space, including a presentation from Spacecraft Engineer Sian Cleaver, mobile planetariums, an amateur radio buildathon, rocket workshops and talks on Mars and Cosmonauts.
As part of the Space festival some of the young women at Sandringham School built a model of the ISS. Watch Women In Engineering #SANDspace
Footage and interviews of students involved in the Sandringham School Space Festival amateur radio buildathon! They built their own working receivers in just a few hours!
AMSAT-UK 
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