What ham hardware do I need to make a successful contact with Mir?
Not very much. A handheld radio with a rubber duckie can easily hear Mir’s signal. Mir is currently running on 5 watts due to power limitations. The radio can operate at either 5 watts or 45 watts, but uses too much power on the high setting for the 6 amp power supply. It’s possible to talk to Mir using a 5 watt handheld radio with a ground plane antenna. Of course that only works when you are the only one trying, so it takes quite a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time. [Comment by NH6YK — like in the middle of an ocean 🙂 🙂 aloha!] A minimal Mir setup would be a 2 meter mobile radio (e.g. about 45 watts) and some ground plane antenna (magnetic mount, J-Pole, eggbeater, etc.) A better setup would include a directional antenna which can be aimed towards Mir and moved (either by hand or under computer control) to follow Mir across the sky. One excellent way to calibrate a motorized antenna setup is to pick a visual pass (e.g. when you’re in relative darkness and Mi
