Hi List, If I may add to the conversation about linear birds, that Delfi-C3 (an Cube
On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 8:01 PM, Bill Ress <[email protected]> wrote: > Nicely put John and thanks for putting the time into composing and posting > it. > > Regards...Bill - N6GHz > > > On 8/28/2012 10:10 AM, John Papay wrote: >> >> The Funcube Dongle postings veered off into a >> discussion of the current state of affairs with >> the satellites that are still working. After reading >> about how the activity on the linear birds was down, I >> had to wonder a bit. It has not been my experience. >> >> I really expected the activity on the FM birds to diminish when AO-51 >> died. We only get 7 minutes of AO-27 and that doesn't make >> up for the much longer passes on AO-51. SO-50 has never been >> off the air since I started in 2006 but it is the most difficult >> to hear throughout the pass. For that reason, activity on SO-50 >> was fairly low. If you can't hear it, you can't work it. But >> to my surprise, SO-50 activity dramatically increased when AO-51 >> went silent. Those who work the FM birds became determined to >> work through this satellite despite the difficulties in hearing it. >> Of course, if you are not full duplex, you don't know when you are >> hearing the bird and that sometimes results in those who call but >> cannot hear the responses. They might assume that there is no activity >> on the bird when in fact there are many stations trying to make qso's. >> >> I started using the ssb birds in late November 2007. There wasn't much >> activity on AO-7, FO-29 and VO-52 at that time. But over the last two >> years, activity on the linear birds has steadily increased. Much of the >> increase can be attributed to the newer people who started on the FM birds >> and quickly decided to get involved with the linear birds. I think the >> availability of satellite capable radios has really helped. If you have >> a TS2000 you can be on a linear bird without much effort. They are easier >> to hear than an FM bird. Some are using a pair of radios to achieve full >> duplex with great success. And I highly recommend SatPC32 which I have >> used >> now since 2006. It runs 24x7 on a Vista Quad machine and doesn't crash. >> The >> recordings on my website were made possible using the auto multi-satellite >> tracking feature of this program. Recordings are made without any outside >> intervention. >> >> One of the things that powers DX on the HF bands are dxpeditions. Groups >> spend large amounts of money to travel to destinations all over the world >> so that others can put that country in the worked/confirmed column. With >> satellites today it's the VUCC award that drives the activity. When >> someone >> shows up from a rare grid, the birds are sometimes overwhelmed. ND9M has >> worked from hundreds of USA grids and has also worked from his ship on the >> linear birds. UT1FG/mm has been very active over the past three >> years and has created pileups on the ssb birds not unlike those on HF. To >> say the activity is down on the linear birds in recent years is simply >> incorrect. And more hams are operating satellites away from home than ever >> before. You work with what you have and make the best of it, fm or linear. >> >> The future of AMSAT and the satellite phase of our hobby is all about the >> new people. When you hear someone new on the bird and it's a noisy signal >> with an incomplete callsign, maybe without phonetics, call that station. >> Giving out that first contact with a newbie far outweighs 100 contacts >> with >> those that you have worked many times before. Sometimes the effort doesn't >> result in a qso, but maybe there is a possibility to follow up with an >> email or postcard with an offer of help. Just remember we all started out >> at some point with no experience. Most everyone can remember their first >> contact and how important it was in terms of encouraging future operating. >> >> So if you're reading the AMSAT-bb and are discouraged by the fact that >> there >> are no High Earth Orbit Satellites, don't be. Times change, technology >> changes but we continue by using what we have to the max and working >> towards >> improving our situation where we can. AMSAT works very hard to explore >> every possibility for building and launching new satellites. It's a >> tremendous >> effort that most of us don't realize is happening day after day. We all >> need to support this effort. FOX I and II will be here before we know it. >> These birds should give us some room for more qso's and new operators. >> >> In the meantime, AO-7 continues to work at an altitude of 1450KM. FO-29 is >> at 1200 or 1300 KM some of the time. These birds provide an opportunity to >> work DX if you can see down to the horizon. If you can't, you can always >> go to a location that is better and use your FT817 with an Arrow antenna >> and work down to the horizon. There is nothing wrong with using an Arrow >> or ELK antenna to work DX. WD9EWK has proven that point time after time. >> >> A good ham radio operator is one that looks at a problem as a challenge >> rather than a show stopper. Ham radio ingenuity over the years has been >> amazing. So if you are having trouble and are frustrated, develop an >> action plan to move forward. The resources available to us today are >> unprecedented. And there are mentors out there that are willing to help. >> Above all, stay positive and have some fun! >> >> 73, >> John K8YSE >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> >> > > -- > Regards...Bill Ress > High Sierra Microwave > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
