![\"Space](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/9574083-orig_1_orig.jpg\")
<\/a>Because of his involvement with ARISS, Banke was asked by NASA to help out with another project \u2014 updating the ham radio aboard the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was aging and acting up, as electronics do after some period of time,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we started a project to replace it with more advanced and newer equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2015 NASA began the project and the JVC Kenwood company volunteered to build new ham radios for the ISS.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they have very special power requirements,\u201d Banke said. \u201cThe space station is powered by a large solar panel array, so it\u2019s not just your standard AC house power. What I got involved with was building a special power supply that converts the space station power to the levels that are required by our ham radio equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started out, we thought this would be a reasonably straightforward project,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut it turns out doing something that is connected to power on the International Space Station, there\u2019s a lot of safety concerns and there\u2019s lot of hoops you have to go through and paperwork to satisfy NASA that it\u2019s going to be safe both for the crew and the space station itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banke developed the equipment \u2014 called a multi-voltage power supply \u2014 in his garage and took prototypes to Houston for five weeks of testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t pass the first tests all the time, either,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to go back a second time and prove that we made all the necessary modifications and corrections.\u201d<\/p>\n Banke was successful in his creation and the first unit went up to the ISS on March 6, launched on Space X 20.<\/p>\n Banke is also building another unit for a ham radio for Russian astronauts who also have a ham radio program.<\/p>\n \u201cSo as soon as this COVID settles down and we can take this unit to Russia, they\u2019re going to send one up for their crew to use as well,\u201d Banke said.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Banke is still keeping busy with ham radios hosting Zoom meetings of the San Diego Microwave Group \u2014 a group of ham radio enthusiasts which has met at his home once a month (and now temporarily online) for over 22 years now.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really a technical group,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not so interested in just communicating with each other, but we\u2019re more interested in the technical aspect of it \u2014 developing our own equipment and testing it and such.\u201d<\/p>\n Banke described the group as aging because as more technologies have developed over the years, young geeks become more interested in what\u2019s new.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got my first ham radio license in 1961, long distance telephone calls were kind of expensive, and if you wanted to have fun being able to talk around the world, really ham radio was kind of magic at that point,\u201d Banke said, adding that even today ham radios play an important role among advanced communications technologies.<\/p>\n \u201cHam radio still has its part to play both from technological advancement, but also from a safety standpoint,\u201d he said. \u201cThe thing about ham radio operators is, during a disaster like [Hurricane] Katrina and such, if we lose the cell phone infrastructure, it can be gone for quite some period of time whereas ham radio operators mostly know how to resurrect their system after a disaster like that. It is usually just a matter of hours that they can start communicating again.\u201d<\/p>\n It is that safety that makes ham radios an important part of the ISS.<\/p>\n \u201cOur system has been used as backup a couple of times over the last 20 years and that\u2019s why we get support from the NASA communications department, because they use us a secondary backup,\u201d Banke said.<\/p>\n For information on the San Diego Microwave Group, email Kerry Banke at kbanke@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n For information about ARISS, visit www.ariss.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>