I second this idea and would love to have a day I could get in with my mobile setup since I don't have an arrow yet. I would love to try to get in with my FT8900 at 5 or 10w with 2m and a 70cm 1/4 whips on the roof of my car.
Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com
On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:54 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < [email protected]> wrote:
Why Not?
I remember in "the old days" of Sat ops we used to have exactly that. A 24 hour period where EIRP was limited. It was once a week on the same day. It started UTC 0000 and ran for 24 hours. Then the normal free-for-all resumed. People, in those days, had enough self-respect and restraint to actually observe the QRP Day.
It was the "honor" system. But it did allow a lot of marginally equipped stations to make a lot of satellite qsos. Even as recently as two years ago, I can remember standing next to my EggBeaters (7' off the ground), with a piece of coax going from my 5W H/T to the duplexer and up to the eggbeaters. I was able to make a qso then. Now, in most cases, it would be futile.
I don't know if something like this could be organized for the FM birds, but if so, *it would need backing and publicizing by AMSAT*.
It would be wonderful to hear people easily using the bird for even a few hours running nothing but an HT at 2.5 watts output and a hand held Arrow (or the equivalent of that say 10 watts to a simple 1/4w vertical)
If we assume the handheld yagis have 10 dBi gain on 70cm, then the EIRP would be 25 watts.
For home stations, the same idea. No more than 25 watts Effective Radiated Power (RF Output + Antenna Gain - Feedline Loss)
A simple 1/4 wave vertical might be 2 dBi, so 10w would be in the ballpark.
The goal would be to keep uplink power limited to 25 watts effective radiated power.
QRP day could be a celebration of sorts, if it became popular ...there would be a sort of peer prestige thing take place, as opposed to worshiping the mighty grid.
A grass roots approach won't work. It has to be led by people with some standing and credibility, and for AO-91 and AO-92 it would have to be AMSAT. It would require some real effort on their part, not just a by-line in the weekly news.
Once it took hold, some self policing could probably keep it going.
Just and idea for the FM birds. It might be fun. It might give more rovers and portable Ops a chance.
The linear birds don't need it, as the strength of the user downlink signal is to be kept to no stronger than the CW beacon and we can easily identify the offenders. 73, N0AN Hasan _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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