I would vote for switching from L/U to V/U. I would love an opportunity to work a satellite on L band, if only for the technical challenge of it. Mode S would be harder to do, as I'd have to build a downconverter to hear it (though such a project would not be totally out of the question).
My feeling is this--with 7(?) other birds up there, variety is a good thing.
73 de Mike KI4RIX
On 05 May 2010, at 07:19, Andrew Glasbrenner wrote:
No one is trying to limit the the usefulness. Exactly the opposite, the idea is to pick the mode that is the MOST useful. It's a quantity versus quality problem. On a typical V/U FM Field Day pass, very few contacts actually get made, and most of the pass (at least on the east coast) is nothing but a fragmented dogpile of pieces of calls, whistles, blowing in the mike, etc. Some people enjoy that, others walk away in disgust, and think "why would I want to be part of that mess".
It's my contention that we pick a mode on AO-51 that provides a more challenging goal for the technically inclined portion of the hobby, encourages clubs to actively seek help from their local AMSAT types, and provides a more civilized environment on just one of the eight LEOs likely to be active that weekend. Think of it as showcasing what amateur satellites can be like on days other than Field Day. By limiting the accessibility, we improve the quality of the experience for those actively participating, and just listening. Again, AO-51 is one of many satellites. If it were just AO-51, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
One option that hasn't been floated is trying a mode switch on the early AM Sunday pass. We could go from L/U to V/U very easily. If we do this, I'd like to work with Bruce and actually count the number of QSOs reported per mode.
73, Drew KO4MA
73, Drew KO4MA
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Best regards,
Mike Benonis mike@benonis.net KI4RIX