As noted, the entry to Ham radio is not via HF these days, but with no HEO sats, one can stretch the footprint pretty well with an HF bird,
Is this true? On one hand, it makes sense, but on the other hand, the closer to the horizon the smaller the angle of incidence and the thicker the ionosphere becomes. It woiuld seem to me maybe that this would bend the user's horizon waves downward and therefore miss the satellite.
In other words, I'm thinking that an HF satellite with a footprint that is 2000 miles in diameter would in fact only have an operational range that is less than that due to bending at those low angles.
On the other hand, some could argue that some ionospheric bending coiuld do the opposite and enhance somewhat beyond the line of sight horizon... Which is it?
Bob, WB4APR