Hi, few minutes ago I've called for half a pass over Europe when EO-88 was in eclipse but no signal hrd, except mine... anybody use EO-88?
73, de Lapo IK5NAX
It is used here in North America but just barely. It’s a great satellite but, like most linear transponders, it’s woefully underused.
Jeff WE4B
On Jul 18, 2019, at 4:11 PM, Lapo Pieri via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Hi, few minutes ago I've called for half a pass over Europe when EO-88 was in eclipse but no signal hrd, except mine... anybody use EO-88?
73, de Lapo IK5NAX _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
16:34 Thu 18 Jul 19 , Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote:
It is used here in North America but just barely. It’s a great satellite but, like most linear transponders, it’s woefully underused.
Sad, but I agree
Lapo IK5NAX
EO-88 is in a low inclination orbit and so stays close to the equator. Many of us in the northern part of the continental U.S. and Canada cannot access it because it never passes far enough north for us to be in the footprint.
That said, it can sometimes be lonely on linear satellites on passes that cover much of the continental U.S. I can’t understand why people would prefer to step all over one another on a single channel FM bird rather than spread out on a nice passband.
Yes, the linears require a bit more effort, technical skill, and possibly a bit more of a monetary investment. But by finding some bargains on used gear and learning a bit more about how things work, they are well within reach of the average ham.
On Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 16:20 Lapo Pieri via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Hi, few minutes ago I've called for half a pass over Europe when EO-88 was in eclipse but no signal hrd, except mine... anybody use EO-88?
73, de Lapo IK5NAX _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
21:51 Thu 18 Jul 19 , Mark D. Johns wrote:
EO-88 is in a low inclination orbit and so stays close to the equator. Many of us in the northern part of the continental U.S. and Canada cannot access it because it never passes far enough north for us to be in the footprint.
Really EO88 has 97deg of inclination, maybe you confuse it with IO86? However some birds are not for all locators, that's true.
That said, it can sometimes be lonely on linear satellites on passes that cover much of the continental U.S. I can’t understand why people would prefer to step all over one another on a single channel FM bird rather than spread out on a nice passband.
I agree, absolutelly. This is the age of "quick&dirty" to be short. More to this: how many qso can be done on a crowded FM sat and how many qso could be done on an even small, say 20kHz, BW of a linear transponder? Maybe ssb voice is not the future, even for ham. Maybe we'll have (soon?) a digital voice satellite on microwave band to be used with phased array antenna (!), maybe. But for now I think linear transponder allow the most valued ham communications.
Yes, the linears require a bit more effort, technical skill, and possibly a bit more of a monetary investment. But by finding some bargains on used gear and learning a bit more about how things work, they are well within reach of the average ham.
Ham is also challanging, right?
73, Lapo IK5NAX
participants (3)
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Jeff Johns -
Lapo Pieri -
Mark D. Johns