Re: AO-40 Replacement
I miss linear transponders .... I grew up with the early RS birds particularly RS-6 and RS-8 .... I was only a "kid" in college ...
If you're looking for EASY ENTRY .... MODE A ROCKS!
That said .. I never bother with the FM birds .... tried once and it's was just a barrage of callsigns and grids ....
I've been sticking with FO-29 and VO52 ... I need to give AO7 a try
Also ..... if anyone is looking for a great transponder module for a cube sat ... look no further than the work of PE1RAH .... his transponder fits in a "cube" and is already flight proven ....
High elliptical orbit satellites are cool .... harder to work ..... more transmit power ... receive preamps ... probably not entry level stuff ... I'd a rather see a couple LEO linear transponders rather than ONE HEO ...
--> Rob, KA2PBT
Get on AO-7! It's certainly no harder than FO-29 or VO-52. You just have to know if it's in Mode A or B (see here http://oscar.dcarr.org/). For next next few months, it will alternate between Mode A and B switching some time around 0300Z every day. When it reaches a point where it's eclipsed on every orbit (while in the southern portion of it's orbit during part of the southern hemisphere winter and while in the northern portion of it's orbit during part of the northern hemisphere winter), it will always be in Mode B (or off if it's eclipsed). It can also act a little strange at times - FMing of the transponder, etc. AO-7 is fun because it has the widest footprint with decent opportunities to work into South America, Europe, and even Africa (I've heard EA8 and CT3).
As stated earlier in this thread, if all goes well, we'll have three more Mode B linear transponders in orbit by the end of the year (FUNCube-1, UKube-1, and Delfi-N3xt), though I believe they are all slated to be in orbits at an altitude similar to VO-52.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 4:28 PM, Rob pabutusa@gmail.com wrote:
I miss linear transponders .... I grew up with the early RS birds particularly RS-6 and RS-8 .... I was only a "kid" in college ...
If you're looking for EASY ENTRY .... MODE A ROCKS!
That said .. I never bother with the FM birds .... tried once and it's was just a barrage of callsigns and grids ....
I've been sticking with FO-29 and VO52 ... I need to give AO7 a try
Also ..... if anyone is looking for a great transponder module for a cube sat ... look no further than the work of PE1RAH .... his transponder fits in a "cube" and is already flight proven ....
High elliptical orbit satellites are cool .... harder to work ..... more transmit power ... receive preamps ... probably not entry level stuff ... I'd a rather see a couple LEO linear transponders rather than ONE HEO ...
--> Rob, KA2PBT _______________________________________________ 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
participants (2)
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Paul Stoetzer -
Rob