I encourage the team to continue with the schedule as is, for multiple reasons. AO73 is the only transponder satellite with passes occurring in the late morning and late evening hours at the moment, with AO7 and FO29 in the early early morning and afternoon. For instance, AO73 will (hopefully) provide the demonstrations in the morning for the Orlando Hamcation, as it did last month for the Tampa Hamfest.
Additionally, I believe, based on my experience with managing AO-51 operations, that a consistent schedule of operation is essential when new operators who may not be on -bb or other media are getting started. AO-73 is a great entry level transponder due to it's signal strength and mode, and confusion from shifting schedules will reduce that usefulness.
To sum it up, it's great having it a available on the weekend mornings with the current schedule.
Thanks for the team's dedication, and Happy New Year!
73, Drew KO4MA
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 4, 2015, at 4:17 PM, Jim Heck jimlist@zoho.com wrote:
Hi Folks,
I have just switched (2110 UTC) FUNcube/AO73 into auto eclipse mode (so transponder on when in darkness, full power beacon when in daylight)
We are considering NOT switching to full time transponder mode for the next few months, as the sat is in darkness for most of the day in the N hemisphere. Comments on this proposal would be welcome.
73s Jim G3WGM and the FUNcube team.
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