Sanford, Fred wrote:
I hope that AMSAT NA does not use an 70cm uplink, because that band is not available for transmitting in all areas of the US. I live near Cape Cod, MA and 70cm is not available for transmitting because of PAVE PAWS.
Fred - KA1CQD
70 cms is actually the preferred uplink for a number of reasons, including less path loss on the downlink, less ground based QRM, and easier Doppler management. This was part of my lessons learned at LEO paper from the Symposium.
I'm aware that the FCC and DOD has restricted some repeaters that were causing interference to PAVE PAWS, but I'm not convinced your blanket statement about 70cms being completely off limits is accurate at all. There is plenty of activity on AO-7 and VO-52, and 432 terrestrial from that area now even. While you may not be able to transmit more than 50 watts without the waiver, or below 15? degrees, thats about 10 times more than I'd expect necessary for this new satellite.
Can you point me towards more information on this prohibition?
73, Drew KO4MA