5 ms·

Amateur Radio in Space Pioneer Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, SK

66 points by fosco 7y ago

codewritinfool 7y ago
I feel that I should mention that his son is Richard "Lord British" Garriott, also an astronaut.
- da_chicken 7y ago
  That's true, but Owen Garriott was a NASA astronaut. Richard was a private astronaut.
  - PostOnce 7y ago
    Or, if you prefer, a tourist.
- jakebasile 7y ago
  And he is also Lord British, ruler of Britannia.
Gracana 7y ago
"SK" is a morse code prosign meaning "silent key," indicating the last transmission from a station. In this context, "SK" indicates that the operator has died, so the edited title reads a little like "Owen Garriott, W5LFL, deceased, has died."
- fosco 7y ago
  changed - pardon my ignorance!
- Stratoscope 7y ago
  "SK" meaning Silent Key is not a Morse prosign, it is an initialism as you might use anywhere else in English. The individual letters "S" and "K" are sent separately just like any other word: ••• —•— or di-di-dit (pause) dah-di-dah There is a prosign <SK> but it has a different meaning - "end of transmission" - and it is sent like this: •••—•— or di-di-di-dah-di-dah A prosign is sent as if it were a single letter, without the pauses you would use between letters. As you might guess, the same prosign could be spelled multiple ways. For example, a prosign named <VA> would be indistinguishable from <SK>, because VA as separate letters would be sent like this: •••— •— or di-di-di-dah (pause) di-dah If you take out the pause you have the exact same thing as <SK> above. Prosigns are customarily typeset with a solid bar over all the letters to indicate they are sent with no pauses as if it were a single letter. When that isn't possible, a prosign may be spelled with angle brackets around it or a similar indication. This may be a subtle distinction, but in the old days it could save your life. If you ever had to send <SOS> in Morse, trained operators would recognize it faster if you sent it correctly as a prosign: •••———••• or di-di-di-dah-dah-dah-di-di-dit instead of sending it incorrectly as individual letters: ••• ——— ••• or di-di-dit (pause) dah-dah-dah (pause) di-di-dit Here is a chart of Morse code characters and prosigns: https://morsecode.scphillips.com/morse.html https://morsecode.scphillips.com/morse.html
  - wrycoder 7y ago
    And the prosign for EOT clearly comes from “key now silent” or “silent key”. What is the end to a life in hamming except “end of transmission”?
fosco 7y ago
I am interested in getting my HAM Radio license. my grandfather had a license, does anyone know a way to lookup call signs by name to see what he had?
- Gracana 7y ago
  https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp I had to search "Lastname, Firstname" to find myself. Also note the "expired" checkbox.
- Zaak 7y ago
  You can try: http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search I don't know if they include inactive licenses though.
- fosco 7y ago
  thanks for both links -- seems I cannot locate him, likely LONG expired appreciate the info!
  - jdietrich 7y ago
    The FCC have a commercial partnership with Best Copy & Print Inc, who can manually search through the FCC archives on your behalf to retrieve and duplicate old licensing documents. A fee is charged for this service, but it's quite reasonable. http://www.arrl.org/call-sign-research http://www.arrl.org/call-sign-research If your grandfather's callsign is not in current use, you may be able to apply to use his old call sign through the Vanity Call Signs program. http://www.arrl.org/vanity-call-signs http://www.arrl.org/vanity-call-signs
    - fosco 7y ago
      thank you! I think I may buy this service much appreciated!
- joshuamcginnis 7y ago
  There are many ways to go about getting your license, but if you decide you want to go the self-study route, I highly recommend using https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/ https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/. I used this tool for a few months before taking my exam at MIT. Also, it's worth studying for the higher class licenses - when I took my exam, the instructor offered and encouraged everyone to take the exam for the higher class for free immediately after.
jdietrich 7y ago
73
sizzzzlerz 7y ago
Had a brief QSO with W5LFL on my 2M rig with a homebrew, handheld antenna in 1973. This was before home computers and orbital path software so I had to research when, approximately, the shuttle would appear above the horizon with its azimuth and elevation, all well ahead of the actual event. It took several attempts before I could even hear him. I had a buddy manipulating the antenna so he had to track an invisible point in the sky while estimating elevation and azimuth. By sheer luck, we did finally hear him and which point I starting making calls. We only had seconds to make a contact with thousands of people trying to do the same. By some miracle, I was heard and he acknowledged my call sign just before we lost him. Eventually, I received a QSL card from him, acknowledging our (brief) "conversation". Still have that framed in my shack.
- mrspeaker 7y ago
  This is fantastic and fascinating... you need to write this up into a longer article - I want to hear more details!
- twmiller 7y ago
  1973...shuttle... 1983, STS-9?
  - sizzzzlerz 7y ago
    d'oh! 1983

66 points by fosco 7y ago

codewritinfool 7y ago

I feel that I should mention that his son is Richard "Lord British" Garriott, also an astronaut.

da_chicken 7y ago
That's true, but Owen Garriott was a NASA astronaut. Richard was a private astronaut.
- PostOnce 7y ago
  Or, if you prefer, a tourist.
jakebasile 7y ago
And he is also Lord British, ruler of Britannia.

Gracana 7y ago

"SK" is a morse code prosign meaning "silent key," indicating the last transmission from a station. In this context, "SK" indicates that the operator has died, so the edited title reads a little like "Owen Garriott, W5LFL, deceased, has died."

fosco 7y ago
changed - pardon my ignorance!
Stratoscope 7y ago
"SK" meaning Silent Key is not a Morse prosign, it is an initialism as you might use anywhere else in English. The individual letters "S" and "K" are sent separately just like any other word: ••• —•— or di-di-dit (pause) dah-di-dah There is a prosign <SK> but it has a different meaning - "end of transmission" - and it is sent like this: •••—•— or di-di-di-dah-di-dah A prosign is sent as if it were a single letter, without the pauses you would use between letters. As you might guess, the same prosign could be spelled multiple ways. For example, a prosign named <VA> would be indistinguishable from <SK>, because VA as separate letters would be sent like this: •••— •— or di-di-di-dah (pause) di-dah If you take out the pause you have the exact same thing as <SK> above. Prosigns are customarily typeset with a solid bar over all the letters to indicate they are sent with no pauses as if it were a single letter. When that isn't possible, a prosign may be spelled with angle brackets around it or a similar indication. This may be a subtle distinction, but in the old days it could save your life. If you ever had to send <SOS> in Morse, trained operators would recognize it faster if you sent it correctly as a prosign: •••———••• or di-di-di-dah-dah-dah-di-di-dit instead of sending it incorrectly as individual letters: ••• ——— ••• or di-di-dit (pause) dah-dah-dah (pause) di-di-dit Here is a chart of Morse code characters and prosigns: https://morsecode.scphillips.com/morse.html https://morsecode.scphillips.com/morse.html
- wrycoder 7y ago
  And the prosign for EOT clearly comes from “key now silent” or “silent key”. What is the end to a life in hamming except “end of transmission”?

fosco 7y ago

I am interested in getting my HAM Radio license. my grandfather had a license, does anyone know a way to lookup call signs by name to see what he had?

Gracana 7y ago
https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp I had to search "Lastname, Firstname" to find myself. Also note the "expired" checkbox.
Zaak 7y ago
You can try: http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search I don't know if they include inactive licenses though.
fosco 7y ago
thanks for both links -- seems I cannot locate him, likely LONG expired appreciate the info!
- jdietrich 7y ago
  The FCC have a commercial partnership with Best Copy & Print Inc, who can manually search through the FCC archives on your behalf to retrieve and duplicate old licensing documents. A fee is charged for this service, but it's quite reasonable. http://www.arrl.org/call-sign-research http://www.arrl.org/call-sign-research If your grandfather's callsign is not in current use, you may be able to apply to use his old call sign through the Vanity Call Signs program. http://www.arrl.org/vanity-call-signs http://www.arrl.org/vanity-call-signs
  - fosco 7y ago
    thank you! I think I may buy this service much appreciated!
joshuamcginnis 7y ago
There are many ways to go about getting your license, but if you decide you want to go the self-study route, I highly recommend using https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/ https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/. I used this tool for a few months before taking my exam at MIT. Also, it's worth studying for the higher class licenses - when I took my exam, the instructor offered and encouraged everyone to take the exam for the higher class for free immediately after.

jdietrich 7y ago

sizzzzlerz 7y ago

Had a brief QSO with W5LFL on my 2M rig with a homebrew, handheld antenna in 1973. This was before home computers and orbital path software so I had to research when, approximately, the shuttle would appear above the horizon with its azimuth and elevation, all well ahead of the actual event. It took several attempts before I could even hear him. I had a buddy manipulating the antenna so he had to track an invisible point in the sky while estimating elevation and azimuth. By sheer luck, we did finally hear him and which point I starting making calls. We only had seconds to make a contact with thousands of people trying to do the same. By some miracle, I was heard and he acknowledged my call sign just before we lost him. Eventually, I received a QSL card from him, acknowledging our (brief) "conversation". Still have that framed in my shack.

mrspeaker 7y ago
This is fantastic and fascinating... you need to write this up into a longer article - I want to hear more details!
twmiller 7y ago
1973...shuttle... 1983, STS-9?
- sizzzzlerz 7y ago
  d'oh! 1983