KD0TLS: ISS digipeater update

  Earlier in the week, the digipeater in the ISS was re-configured to be used for strictly SSTV. And that's currently the status on the ARISS page for the Service Module Radio. There is no information posted there about when (or if) the radio will be configured back to a being a working digipeater. 

 There are two separate rigs on the ISS, and the Columbus Module is the one that runs the FM repeater. That rig will be unchanged, and continues to operate as the easiest amateur satellite to work. The other rig (Service Module) is the one that's operated as a digipeater for years now. 

 This now leaves only the new SONATE-2 satellite for digipeater use, and SONATE-2 is only 0.5w, compared to the ISS digipeater's 5w output power. If you want to try SONATE-2 out, you'll need a Yagi or log periodic antenna. Insert the callsign DP0SNX in the path (replacing WIDE2-1, for example). 

 Using SSTV is certainly a more compelling way to handle classroom demonstrations, rather than a text exchange over a digipeater. I understand why this switch was made, but it's a huge setback for operators of satellite-based APRS. It also makes the prospect of running a satellite gateway for APRS less attractive. Using satellite digipeaters has always been a niche activity only slightly more popular than tracking satellite CW beacons -- which is to say, not popular at all.