Comment by PaulHoule

From time to time I have heard people talking to the space station as it passes overhead on my 2 meter handheld.

Sometimes the radio on the space station is connected to an APRS repeater which will repeat packets. With a very modest home station (a 2 meter radio marketed for use in a car and an omnidirectional antenna) I have communicated with stations 1000 miles away.

To really have a talk w/ people on the space station you really do want a better station, at the very least a directional Yagi with a rotator.