I have one (immediate) question...why no switches? I thought the AO-40 switches worked well...and if we have "space for rent" why not plan to fly a 2.4 gHz transmitter and use it as an "alternate" downlink?
Alternatively, does the "space for rent" indicate that contributions to another organization or sponsor, who supports 2.4 Gig, could fund a transponder on the spacecraft? A very interesting concept...
Roger WA1KAT
----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Hambly (W2GPS)" w2gps@cnssys.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:21 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Eagle Satellite Design
All,
You have received carefully considered responses from three of the people who were in the fateful San Diego meeting where the revised band plan for Eagle was chosen. You also now have access to the meeting minutes and
spread
sheets on EaglePedia and three articles on the subject in the latest Journal. I too was at the meeting so let me say a few words.
For those of you who still disagree with the decisions we made I am sorry. Your elected volunteer Board members and the volunteer executives and volunteer Eagle team members have done their very best to design Eagle to satisfy the needs of the existing members while providing services that we hope will attract many thousands of Hams to the Amateur Satellite Service who today find us impossible or irrelevant. I congratulate all of AMSAT's dedicated volunteers on a job well done.
The band plan is simple.
a) We will provide an enhanced linear transponder for mode U/V (B) that
will
support traditional linear transponder modes with a performance and signal quality never before seen on a satellite. In addition, other modes may be supported, especially a new high performance SMS service for text
messaging
using hand held or transportable equipment even when Eagle is at apogee.
b) We will provide a modified version of C-C Rider, with the uplink on S-band, so I guess you would call it S-C Rider. It will support a full
suite
of services from voice and video to CW and data using a wide bandwidth digital carrier on the downlink and digitized uplink channels to maximize the link performance using the latest in coding techniques. As a side benefit, we will be transmitting on S-band so you can continue to use much of your existing S-band equipment if you like. We will be developing an
open
design reference ground station that will be available to buy or copy.
c) There are at least two TSFR (This-Space-For-Rent) packages that could possibly contain other RF or other payloads, conditioned on the
availability
of power, antenna space and compatibility with the primary payloads.
If, after considering all the information that is now available, you still feel strongly that we are doing a bad job then ask yourself not what AMSAT can do for you, but what you can do for AMSAT. If you want to have more direct influence on decisions then volunteer your time and money; run for office, join the Eagle team, join Field Operations, or one of the
executive
teams. At the very least have the courtesy of sending your comments
directly
to those who are involved so you can get informed responses. The Board meeting in San Diego is open to all members so you could express your feeling there.
Rick W2GPS AMSAT President
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb