[amsat-bb] video: satellite power-saving through on-board tracking

In a further exploration of the use of the Plan 13 algorithm in Atmel (or similar) micro-controllers, I've posted a youtube video and related text that suggests how an amateur satellite could use such a device on board to change its mode based on its location over the earth.

http://sites.google.com/site/qrptracker/applications/modeswitcher/

The video includes a sped-up night-long tracking session, some current consumption testing on the bench and a calculation of the power budget, which show that even for birds transmitting in the tens of milliwatts, this approach can provide about a 14% improvement in power budget.

73, Bruce http://ve9qrp.blogspot.com/