• ARISS to Auction HF/50 MHz Transceiver, ARRL Handbook Boxed Set

    From ARRL de WD1CKS@VERT/WLARB to QST on Thu Mar 7 00:58:15 2019
    03/06/2019

    The US Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS[1]) team will auction a new JVC Kenwood TS-890S transceiver and a six-volume 2019 ARRL Handbook boxed set - both donated items made unique by bearing the signatures of US astronauts. Bidding will begin on April 8 at 1200 UTC and conclude on April 14 at 2200 UTC. Next month's fundraiser auction will mark the first for ARISS.

    "Auction proceeds will help ARISS to launch its new custom-built, higher-power radio system in 2019 that will offer a voice repeater as well as improved packet, APRS, and SSTV capability for more ham operators to enjoy," ARRL ARISS-US Delegate Rosalie White, K1STO, said. "The next-generation system will carry on the ARISS mission of introducing Amateur Radio to thousands of students, educators, and community members, in the process inspiring youngsters in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math."

    White pointed out that ARISS also serves a lot of individual radio amateurs, in addition to the program's positive impact by supporting school and group contacts with ISS crew members. She said some 10,000 SSTV images transmitted in February were downloaded from the ISS via Amateur Radio, and approximately 89,000 hams took advantage of the ARISS packet system during 2018.

    The full-featured TS-890S came on the US market just last year. A long-time ARISS supporter, JVC Kenwood came up with the idea to offer the astronaut-signed transceiver as an exclusive item that just one radio amateur could own.

    A 100 W HF/50 MHz transceiver, the TS-890S features a high-speed independent band scope, noise reduction, a 7-inch TFT color display, built-in antenna tuner, and CW, PSK, and RTTY encoding and decoding capabilities.

    "We thank Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support and invite those who don't 'do' auctions to donate[2] toward the launch of the new ARISS space-bound radio system," White said.

    More auction details will soon be posted on the ARISS website[3]. Winning bidders will be responsible for the costs of shipping, handling, any required customs paperwork.

     


    [1] http://www.ariss.org
    [2] http://www.ariss.org/donate.html
    [3] http://www.ariss.org/

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