For those wanting to get on the linear birds and work portable I think the new Icom-705 might fit the bill. It will do both 144/430 MHZ full duplex QRP and give a spectrum display as well. Very similar to IC-9700 with a satellite mode. It looks promising. Far from the days of dual 817's.
Cal / N3CAL
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Ray Soifer via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, May 08, 2020 11:40 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] FM vs Linear Transponders
Being neither a grid-chaser nor a ragchewer, I hesitate to get involved in this debate, but my flak jacket is on so here goes.
There is a fundamental difference between FM satellites and linear transponders: every LEO FM satellite that has been put up so far has only one channel, while linear transponders can accommodate several QSOs at the same time. Thus, for those of us operating from densely populated areas, using an FM satellite to talk with friends seems a misuse of available resources. It also creates an incentive to run excessive power in order to keep others from taking over the channel. A linear transponder is much better suited to that type of operation. Rapid-fire grid-chasing, state-chasing or DX chasing, on the other hand, can easily make 3 or 4 QSOs per minute, a more efficient use of a single-channel transponder.
That's my input. Now I'll go back to CW.
73 Ray W2RS
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