From ISS, Shubhanshu Shukla to interact with students: What is ham radio communication?

What is a ham radio?

Amateur radio, popularly known as ham radio, is a licensed radio service that relies on radio waves for establishing communication. Ham radio service is largely deployed for educational and knowledge purposes, for emergency or SOS communication. Using a dedicated frequency, a transceiver and an antenna, communication can be set up between two licensed hams by trained ham operators.

The communication can be hyper-local, global, and in space. In India, any individual above the age of 12 is permitted to operate a ham radio. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issues these licences.

How ham radio has been used in space?

Amateur radio was first used on a space shuttle to establish communication between space and Earth in 1983.

The ISS also has a ham radio, known as the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), which is often used to organise astronaut-student interactions. The objective of such interactions is to inspire the young generation.

The amateur radio organisations along with the space agencies in the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe support this educational opportunity by providing equipment and operational support.

Note that for safety purposes, the ARISS schedules radio outages at the ISS at the time of docking or such important activities. This is done to ensure that the radio does not interfere with any signals.

How will the Axiom-4 crew use ham radio?

The Axiom-4 mission’s astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary will contact their respective countries using the ham radio twice during their 14-day stay at the ISS.

Whenever the ISS is cruising past the horizon for a short period, an attempt to establish ham communication will be performed. The best window for this communication can last anywhere between five and eight minutes.

During Shuka’s interaction, different frequencies such as voice and downlink (145.80 megahertz), the voice and uplink (144.49 megahertz), and very high-frequency packet uplink and downlink (145.825 MHz) limited to the South Asia and the Pacific regions will be available for use.

The Indian astronaut will begin the interaction at 3.47 pm. There will be a telephonic or an internet-based call made to the US, and subsequently, ham radio communication will be established with Shukla.

Why is ham radio an alternate mode of communication?

Even though the technology to establish communications has advanced, the radio remains one of the most reliable and stable modes of communication. It is effective and an alternate medium of establishing communication.

Previously, there have been instances when ham radio came to the rescue when traditional communication lines broke down, either due to man-made scenarios (like wars) or natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, and floods.

In India, ham radio was used for making emergency contacts during the Bhuj earthquake (2001), the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), the floods of Uttarakhand (2013) and more such calamities.