On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Rocky Jones orbitjet@hotmail.com wrote:
As it is, with the knowledge that suitsat 1 died on deployment...we would never know if the transponder was just not working or wasnt put together well.
I wonder if the misunderstandings I infer in the above sentence might be part of the basis of the disagreement on this list. It was my understanding that no transponder flew on SS1: rather the plan was to transmit SSTV and messages from kids, as well as some telemetry. Here is a typical document outlining the plan for the project:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/26jan_suitsat.htm
Second, the word 'died' suggests that ground stations never received the signals from SS1. They did: even with my modest equipment I was able to reach this challenge. However, the signals were highly attenuated, and after two weeks they stopped altogether. Some of the fun that hams and educators had during this time is documented at:
A further point of fact that might inform this discussion: amateur software defined transponders have been under design by Bob and others for years. Granted, they were originally planned for P3-E and Eagle, but it is an exaggeration to suggest that something that has Howard Long first had working in 2005, and that Tom Clark W3IWI, Rick Hambly W2GPS, and Bob McGwier N4HY ran a QSO through in August, 2005 is not ready for prime-time. Hear that QSO at http://www.gpstime.com/files/amsat/Eagle_SDT_1st_Contact.mp3
73, Bruce VE9QRP