C'mon, Drew ... you're only suggesting that because of all the fun you're having on AO-16 :-)
I like this idea a lot, primarily because of AO-16's unique configuration just now. It's great fun to work. Cubesats with this configuration would be great, especially if we could get them together and "on the shelf" as you suggest, ready to go when an unexpected opportunity arises.
Best of all, from my perspective, it gives those of us who enjoy totally portable stations the chance to continue using what in essence amounts to an SSB-capable handheld station (e.g., my FT-817 and Elk antenna, handheld).
Thanks JoAnne for the initial post. And thanks Drew for the great concept.
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL -------------- Original message from "Andrew Glasbrenner" glasbrenner@mindspring.com: --------------
I'll play!
On the drive home from the symposium in Atlanta, I was thinking about a cubesat with a "hybrid" voice repeater. My idea would use a 435 FM uplink because it's easy to generate power enough on the ground, and the Doppler shift moves QRM out of the uplink fast, it's FM and not picky about tuning, and there aren't any illegal telephones that work on the uplink AFAIK. We'd use a 2m SSB downlink, for a few reasons. 2m path loss is less, so given similar antennas we'll get a better downlink. SSB is more efficient than FM, and we also save power by not transmitting unless there is audio on the uplink, a squelch of sorts.
No computer on my satellite either! We'd have some sort of hardware timer that has to be reset every few days to keep the repeater running, so we could meet FCC rules on control. Maybe PL or DTMF?
Wouldn't it be neat to have one of these sitting on the shelf in case a empty spot on a PPOD became available?
73, Drew KO4MA
----- Original Message ----- From: "JoAnne Maenpaa" To: Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 8:40 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] BBsat Call for ideas
Ok folks,
Its time for some fun ... how about we design and fly our own transponder via the amsat-bb?
I propose BBSat (sounds better than AdHocSat). This is a call for ideas of a single board transponder in cubesat form factor ... what can we put on a 10cm ^2 circuit board? FM, SDR, packet?
Initially there are only two rules ...
- No griping
- This is going to be an open source project
Let us know what you think right here on the -bb ...
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org
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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