I beg to differ on your statement that CW ops don't cause problems. I'm still fairly new to this game but when I can hear my signal going up and down to the beat of some CW then there's definitely a problem. I think all of us who have spent any time on AO-7 has listened to it throb itself out of existence on Mode B because some op is hammering away and not minding their power. I believe part of the reason Mac brings up CW is the number of complaints he has likely read on twitter that usually goes something like "QRO CW lid flipped AO-7 again".
This is not to say we also don't have a problem with SSB as well. In both cases it appears to be related to a classic case of CHS and turning their power up to 11 just to hear themselves. Ironically, ops who are out roving are many times QRP and they just fade out as the AGC is kicked in making them hard to copy, very counterproductive.
Linear has its own set of problems but to say that CW operators being at a population of 2% can't possibly be a problem is far from the truth. It only takes one bad apple to ruin the whole passband.
73,
Mike Diehl AI6GS
On Sep 10, 2017, at 8:02 PM, MICHAEL WILLIAMS k9qho67622@comcast.net wrote:
I would like to add some comments to Mac's interesting email. As both a CW and SSB op on FO-29, AO7, and the XW birds, I can attest that CW operation is now almost non existent. If I was to guess CW a percentage of total satellite use, it would be less than 2%. At 2%, the CW problems you mention are not a problem. From time to time, there are clearly some issues on the linear satellites. A good example is stations using full Doppler correction colliding with stations under manual control. But in general things roll along pretty well and good satellite operators know how to deal with it. FO-29 is my favorite satellite. It has an excellent receiver and a large footprint. I've QSOed with a station using 50 mW of up link power. With some resourcefulness, I think you could beat the $1000 figure way down. I'd spend $20.00 on a SDR SHARP and see just how well you can hear the linear sats. That would be a good start, and they a fun to play with. All the best in your future satellite opera tions, Mike K9QHO _______________________________________________ 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb