"the team has decided to open up FASTRAC-1 to the amateur radio community with the hope as more people use it to digipeat through the satellite, the battery levels will diminish and cause a hard reset of the microcontrollers on board."
So the only reason we get to use it is to wear down the batteries in hopes of a hard reset. Then what they turn the digipeater back off?
Well at least we get to have some fun, I heard it last pass and will try this next one if I can get the split in my radio in time. I dont suppose there will be a message board like the ISS?
Kevin KF7MYK
On Fri, 9 Dec 2011 19:47:28 -0800 Kevin Deane summit496@live.com wrote:
"the team has decided to open up FASTRAC-1 to the amateur radio community with the hope as more people use it to digipeat through the satellite, the battery levels will diminish and cause a hard reset of the microcontrollers on board."
So the only reason we get to use it is to wear down the batteries in hopes of a hard reset. Then what they turn the digipeater back off?
Maybe we should be launching more c*b*s*ts with APRS digipeaters on board? What we really need is a good, stable TNC that doesn't require obsolete chips or closed-source firmware. It can't be that hard, can it? Oh look, a couple of Arduinos, a Tiny-2 and a week off work - well, let's just try and find out eh?
Well at least we get to have some fun, I heard it last pass and will try this next one if I can get the split in my radio in time. I dont suppose there will be a message board like the ISS?
I don't really like the message board on the ISS, because what invariably happens is that some idiot fires onto the message board and then that's everyone else locked out of the fun for the entire pass. They manage to get logged in, then for the next ten minutes it just ends up sending retrys because the ground station isn't getting in very well. Once someone is on the message board, it stops digipeating.
So the only reason we get to use it is to wear down the batteries in hopes of a hard reset. Then what they turn the digipeater back off?
Again, demeaning what others are doing accomplishes nothing positive.
From inception, through design, and since Launch, the FAST1 team has always said that as soon as the primary science data mission is complete the satellites will be turned on for routine amateur radio APRS operation.
In the past, they have turned it on for special events, and I believe they were on the verge of announcing the official end to the primary mission and were prepearing the spacecraft for this general HAM support digipeater portion of the mission.
Does no good to demean them, since they have invested several years of their lives in this endeavor with the intent of being a good HAM radio service to APRS users.
Bob, Wb4APR
participants (3)
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Bob Bruninga -
Gordon JC Pearce -
Kevin Deane