Transatlantic ISS-Bounce Reported

2-meter signals bounced off the International Space Station
by a ham in England have been monitored in Canada.
(NASA photo)

Two hams in England and Canada reported successfully bouncing 2-meter radio signals off the International Space Station as it crossed over the Atlantic Ocean in early May. According to Southgate Amateur Radio News, VE1SKY in Nova Scotia was able to monitor an FSK-441 transmission bounced off the ISS by G4LOH in Cornwall, England, at a distance of 4,441 kilometers (2,759 miles). It is claimed to be the first "intentional" transatlantic reception of a signal reflected off the space station. The stations were not able to complete a two-way contact.

In a different approach to a similar effort – bridging the Atlantic on 2 meters – three amateur radio clubs in Newfoundland have put a full-time digital receiver on the air at the summer home of VO1HP. According to the ARRL, the VO1FN "Transatlantic VHF Digital Beacon Receiver" is a software defined radio listening continuously on 144.488 MHz for JT65 signals originating in Europe. It is primarily listening for signals from Irish beacon station EI2DKH. However, VO1HP says operators are willing to turn the station's 5-element loop-fed array quad (LFA-Q) Yagi in any direction in order to conduct tests with distant digital stations.