On Jun 18, 2008, at 2:46 AM, i8cvs wrote:
Hi Art, KC6UQH
You are correct 100% because the HEO AO40 was very easy to work using any old TX capable to run about 50 to 100 watt into 70 cm CW and SSB
A 3 to 4 foot dish with a 2400/144 MHz downconverter in the focal point and connected to any old 144 MHz CW/SSB receiver mounted on the balcony was sufficient to receive a nice downlink from all over the world by many users at the same time for many hours every day.
No complicated TX/RX radios and special software was necessary to compensate for doppler just made by hand.
Well, sure, if you want to reduce ham radio to just keying the mic, leisurely yapping along for hours at a time, then by all means, let's have more satellites in HEO. But where's the skill in that?
Hell, you don't even need to know what Doppler is with these easy HEO satellites. If you want to take the easy way out though...
Mark KF6KYI
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