How come the cosmonauts always respond to the same call signs each time?
Shuttle astronaut Dick Richards KB5SIW put it best when he commented ‘he who has the biggest guns rules the airwaves’. Certainly the ham operators with the highest power equipment and highest gain antennas have the best chances of getting through. If you have gotten through to Mir many times – let somebody else get a chance. Some of the cosmonauts aboard Mir get so frustrated just talking to the same high power hams each time that they’ll ignore them when they call – just because they’re sick of talking to the same calls each time and would like to give somebody else a chance. But in many cases the cosmonauts will make friendships with hams on the ground and be interested in keeping up conversations. Or you may be listening to the cosmonaut talking to his family or personal friends.
