You said you wanted this thread to stay positive so I will refrain from making any comments about getting 35,000 hams to shell out $300.
73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID
Now that I have your attention; I want this to be a positive thread. If it goes somewhere it provides a selling tool for potential stakeholders, donors, commercial entities, etc.
There are 3,440 members of AMSAT, not huge by any means. ARRL has 161,000 members.
Add some of the other groups, AMRAD, SVHFS, AMRAD, TAPR, any others?
Sure there is some overlap, but those members will be more likely to contribute. How many would contribute to a GEO program? 35,000? if the average were $300, if collected over 4 years, a small amount. $10,500,000. The project would have to be well spelled out and provide interest to a wide number of experimenters. The funds would have to be earmarked for the project.
Can we leverage on huge success of the QO-100???
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The Spacecraft; A commercial ride along. This would solve a lot of problems such as:
- Orbital Debris Mitigation
- Solar Power
- Redundancy
- Thermal Control
- Longevity
(Please feel free to add problems _solved_. Lets be positive for once)
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The transponder:
- Qatar-OSCAR 100 design sure seems achievable! It is proven to
Amateur and commercial community. When can we sign the order? 2. 2.4 GHz S band uplink 10 GHz X band downlink 3. Bent pipe VS digital argument: Why not do both? NB side stays analog, WB side digital like P4XT proposal
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Who benefits:?
- Most importantly, boomers like me who have SSB equipment need only
to build one or two transporters. Not really that hard. 2. Newbies techs who want to experiment and communicate digitally 3. SAR and EM teams can actually have 365/24/7 emergency satellite transponders both analog and digital without the huge monthly outlay. 4. Universities, ARISS, etc can up link from LEO satellites and ISS via OSCAR-2024 to simple ground stations. Uplink Doppler could be controlled by having those space terminals monitor a polling/beacon from a ground station and adjusting accordingly. Similarly experiments deployed in jungles can use the satellite. With coordination and MOU with Qatar-OSCAR 100, both satellites and hemispheres could each benefit from a wider footprint of both satellites. 5. AMSAT ARRL, AMRAD, SVHFS, AMRAD, TAPREtc through increased interest in satellites, digital experimentation and ham radio in general 6. Commercial entities gaining recognition by providing in-kind services. Elon Musk SpaceX, etc.
Who else benefits? Those who benefit will donate. Again _positive _comments right now. Problems can be fixed later.
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-- Joe Leikhim
Leikhim and Associates
Communications Consultants
Oviedo, Florida
JLeikhim@Leikhim.com
407-982-0446
WWW.LEIKHIM.COM
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