[Boringiss] Visual sighting of ISS

[Tree N6TR]

The ISS made a great performance last night - appearing out of
the northwest right on cue - and was just about as bright as 
Jupiter.  It went towards the east and then faded out as 
predicted just as it reached the north star.

My girls and Kendra Berry were there to see it.  First time for
all of us.  It also allowed me to verify that my computer is
setup correctly for tracking it.

I spent an hour talking to Ron Magnus, WA7GFE last night.  Ron has
been an avid listener to the astronauts over the years and has
lots of experience hearing radio signals from them.  He will be
a great asset to our team.  He has a tile from the shuttle that
we can heat up with a blow tourch.  We can use this to warm up
the crowd before the main event.

Other people recently added to this list include 

Rob Heinz - W7NX and Mark ward WA7EQW.

Mark and Ron will probably miss the dry run, but will hopefully be
there on the 6th.  I think Rob will be there for the dry run and
the big event - and therefore will probably end up in front of
the radio.  That way - the kids get to see the same person there.

The dry run is scheduled for the 22nd at 10:20.  Setup will start
around 8:30 AM.  Connie - we will probably want to store the 
antennas and antenna support in a safe place afterwards.

Paul - what is the status of the antenna support and feedlines?

A final note - you might keep track of the # of hours you spend
preparing for this event.  The school likes to keep track of that
and it can helps them out (Connie can probably talk to this).

Well - another final note.  We ran into a roadblock connecting to
the PA system that feeds the classroom.  We could put a phone
in front of a speaker and dial into it, but I would rather do 
something better if we can.

Does anyone know of, or have, an FM transmitter?  I could even do this
down on the AM bacd with a TS850 (low 160 meters).  The idea is to 
use a boom box in each classroom to bring the audio to the Kindergarden 
through 2nd graders.  We can even use these outside if I don't have 
enough coverage with my PA system (250 watts worth).

Seems like going wireless would make the whole thing a lot easier.

Don't forget tonight's ISS viewing times:

6:17 PM out of the west/north-west - going to the north-east - fairly
low in the sky, and again for just a minute or two at 7:53 PM out in 
the northwest.

Tomorrow is good pass - starting at 6:54 from the West/NW - going
to the North/NE for about 4 minutes and it will get halfway up in
the sky.

Larry "Tree" Tyree - N6TR
tree@kkn.net