Hi Clint,

speaking for QO-100 it is indeed not overloaded by newbies but there are quite a number of them.

Several of them actually made their license after participating in school contacts via QO-100 e.g. with DP0GVN in Antarctica and other remote ground stations.

If you start from scratch (you do not have any TRX which can be repurposed for the IF) you are about right: an SDR based ground station for the narrowband transponder will cost you about 700 USD to build.

Add 120 USD and you can also receive the wideband transponder (DATV).

If you also want to transmit via the wideband transponder you need a bigger dish and more power, so add another 400 USD.

Kind regards

Matthias

www.dd1us.de

Von: Clint Bradford via AMSAT-BB <[email protected]>
Gesendet: Montag, 8. August 2022 21:42
An: amsat BB <[email protected]>
Betreff: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Was: RE: Re: Fixing the FM Stompfest Now: Phase IV satellite

I see an amateur radio-equipped Geo bird over Central, South and North America as a phenomenal resource 

for the American Red Cross and others working disasters. 

It’s not in the traditional “easy sat” category, since it will take about $1000 for a decent 

ground station. So I cannot anticipate it being “overloaded” by newbies.

Clint K6LCS

On Aug 8, 2022, at 12:25 PM, Gary <[email protected]> wrote:

Since we are on the topic of a GEO sat. Am I the only one the questions the point of a GEO bird from a ham radio perspective? No doppler, no propagation, no antenna pointing, just set up your station and have comms with anyone in the footprint.