Steve that is about what I expected. I had always hoped it could happen again. I guess all the AO-40 equipment - amps, pre-amps, antennas, rotators, rigs, switches, and a-lot of stuff I don't even remember will remain in sealed boxes - a-lot brand new and even more used only a few hours will remain there until my estate sale... back to my old 40 M dipole like Ed said. You guys take care & 73's. De WA5QAP ---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Phase IV satellite or GOLF
From: "Edward Maikranz" maikranze@gmail.com
Date: Mon, August 15, 2022 2:07 am
To: jim@beeson.cc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I cant address any of the technical issues, but maybe the operational side
of things. One of the things we are able to do with the current fleet is
start a conversation on one satellite and continue it on another. Say you
w\are working a guy on CAS-4B, before you reach LOS you can look and see
what is going to be overhead next. You tell the other station I will catch
you on the upcoming pass of RS-44 (For example). That can be fun and
challenging to do. Maybe not as convenient as having a 30 minute rag chew
on 40 meters but still fun in a different way.
73,
Ed
KG5UN
EM50
On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 8:38 PM jim@beeson.cc wrote:
I have realized the past few days that our AMSAT group has some really
smart Hams! Thanks very much for the information. I have a few more
questions. As I said before I would like to have more than a five minute
QSO. I am not much of a contester, more a rag chewer. But I am afraid, if I
understand most of you correctly, that is probably not going to happen in
my life time? I reference K0JM's comments it's not so much the money but
the regulatory environment that will stop this. I don't see this getting
any easier in the next year, five years, or ten years. Does anybody else
see anything different? And throwing in N8FGV's comments about the timing
of the launch seems like a long shot as well. I spent a ton of money prior
to AO-40 getting equipment ready to go in high hopes of having an AO-13
length run with so much more to do! I was terribly excited about this bird
only to have it vanish before my eyes before I really got started. My last
question is would a GOLF type satellite have the same obstacles as a Phase
IV bird? If so I am probably going to have a-lot of satellite ham gear for
sale real soon. Again thanks for your input.
WA5QAP
(licensed in 1966)
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Phase IV satellite
From: "Daniel Schultz" n8fgv@usa.net
Date: Fri, August 12, 2022 6:57 pm
To: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org
Hosting our payload on a commercial GEO satellite would likely cost more
than
$10 million if the commercial satellite owner is to be fully compensated
for
the engineering modifications to their satellite and potential loss of
transponder revenue from diverting satellite resources to a
non-productive
payload over a 15 year design lifetime. Offering a tax break will
probably not
make up this difference. You might have better luck seeking hosting on a
government owned satellite such as the Air Force mission that was
discussed by
AMSAT a few years ago, but eventually fell through. This is where
carefully
cultivated personal relationships can come in, if you have any such
friends in
high places. OSCAR-1 got its launch approved back in 1961 because of a
few
highly placed hams in the Pentagon, so keep up with your networking and
maybe
it can happen.
Some orbits are inherently unstable, for example 63 degree Molniya
orbits will
reliably decay in a few years. The Late, Great OSCAR-13 provides a prime
example of this. Their orbital lifetime is heavily sensitive to the time
of
launch, if AO-13 was launched a few hours earlier it would still be up
there,
a few hours later it would have reentered a couple of years after
launch. This
is easy to model in GMAT.
As a secondary payload, we don't get to choose the launch time, our only
hope
would be to use thrusters to make slight post-launch adjustments so the
satellite reenters not too early (as AO-13 did) and not too late. I have
been
trying to figure out how to do this but have not had any results so far.
If we
have a dedicated launch all to ourselves we can choose a launch time that
meets our requirements.
The NASA Cubesat that was recently grounded was aiming for a GTO launch,
which
has been mentioned as a possible target for an AMSAT mission because we
could
possibly get one cheap. Analysis of NORAD tracking data shows a lot of
spent
rocket bodies that have been in GTO for decades, so this might not be
the best
choice for a mission that needs a guaranteed reentry date.
Another possibility would be to place the satellite directly into the GEO
graveyard orbit and let it slowly drift around the Earth. There are
plenty of
other HEO or Cislunar orbits that are not sensitive to orbital debris
requirements and may not be commercially attractive but would work OK
for our
needs.
So yes, if we had $10 million in our bank account we could buy our way
out of
a lot of problems that only affect poor people who are lacking options.
73, Dan N8FGV
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 12 Aug 2022 12:28:55 PM EDT
From: Paul Andrews w2hro.fn20@gmail.com
Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Phase IV satellite
Yes! Find a commercial GEOsat with room to support an amateur payload.
Leverage commercial economics for launch and platform reliability. The
commercial operator can donate (tax break) the value of the ham (STEM)
capability. Maybe ham bands at 10 GHz and above. Simple bent pipe.
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 12 Aug 2022 11:28:21 AM EDT
From: "Mark Johns, K0JM" k0jm.mark@gmail.com
Subject: Re: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Phase IV satellite
The launch costs, while significant, are beside the point. The biggest
issue with HEO satellites are the regulatory challenges. AMSAT and
international partners could build and get ready for launch such a
satellite within a few years, just as they did with AO-10, AO-13, and
AO-40. But they would not get a license to put it into orbit in the
current regulatory environment. The technical and financial challenges
can be met, but the licensing requirements are killing us.
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expressed
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