I started playing with a script after you mentioned this using random.seed((26 * 0xFE), 2) and the results look pretty good, I'll keep you posted with what I can cook up.
73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID
On Wednesday, February 19, 2020, David Swanson dave@druidnetworks.com wrote:
I believe Mike is on to something here, this surprise mode change idea sounds interesting. Perhaps our outstanding IT volunteers could code a random number generator script that sends an email to the 2 command station volunteers on a surprise day each week. It would be a requirement of the position that those holding command station authority shall upon receiving this email halt their other activity and command AO92 to L mode on the next available pass. Exceptions of course could be made if any 2 directors object via the social media format of their choosing. If the command station volunteer misses this message then they shall forever be banned from command station authority, and will be forced to wear the "brown baofeng of shame" at every symposium thereafter.
Who's with me?
Dave, KG5CCI
On Wed, Feb 19, 2020, 6:53 PM Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
It's always the same people anyway. Generally those are the same people who spend all day everyday beside their radio so it doesn't matter what day it's on. Weekends are where new people with their dual band rig decide to give the birds a try typically, keeping U/v gives them more chances to make a first QSO.
Personally, my vote goes to turning on the camera on the weekends so everyone can be frustrated equally with how our volunteer command stations operate.
73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID
On Wednesday, February 19, 2020, Ernie via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I agree, it may be time for a change to a weekend L/V operation. It
seems
like I've worked the same 5 people on Tuesday nights..... Variety is
good.
Ernie W8EH
On 2/19/2020 4:44 PM, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) via AMSAT-BB
wrote:
Mark,
A few months have passed since this discussion. Based on activity I have seen since that time, it appears that L/V activity on the Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings dropped, compared to the previous schedule on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. The only times I saw activity that approached the previous weekend schedule were around Christmas and New Year's Day which fell on Wednesdays.
I think it is appropriate to consider moving the L/V activity back to weekends. There are many with new IC-9700s that might have an easier time trying L/V on a weekend, rather than a late weeknight or a weekday morning, along with others trying all sorts of combinations of radio and antenna for the 1.2 GHz uplink. I'm still enjoying the Alinco DJ-G7T HT with a 10-element Yagi for my L-band uplink, sometimes dropping from 1W "high power" on that band to 300mW.
As for the previous experimenter's activities on AO-51... those ran for a week at a time. After AO-40, I think running those different modes for a week at a time on an LEO satellite like AO-51 was better than simply scheduling one day a week. You and Drew may have had to put AO-51 into a mode like V/S, and then put the satellite back into its normal mode, where AO-92 automatically switches from L/V to U/V after 24 hours. I enjoyed V/S in those days, even with the need to adjust for Doppler on the 2.4 GHz downlink almost constantly for 10 to 15 minutes, along with the cross-mode V/U where we had to transmit in SSB or CW to be heard on the FM downlink. I worked a couple of stations one year during Straight Key Night on AO-51 that way.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 12:37 PM Mark L. Hammond <
marklhammond@gmail.com>
wrote:
Thanks for pointing out some things for consideration, Patrick and
others.
There is, naturally, a long list of pros/cons for any day we might choose. I seem to have good memories about AO-51 (a LEO)
experimenter's
nights--and it seems like it was usually a Tuesday night event?
Anyhow,
no matter when we schedule, we'll have conflicts. What we'll do is run
an
experiment, on Experimenter's night! Effective this week, we'll
switch
AO-92 L/v operations from Sat/Sun to Tues/Wed, and run it that way
for a
few months. Then we'll reevaluate to see if it makes sense to keep
it on
Tues/Wed or switch to another night.
Hopefully this will change it up enough that some who could NOT
attempt
L-band on our usual schedule due to conflicts, might now be able to
give
it a shot!
73,
Mark N8MH
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Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb