Whats the difference between high and low power mode? I know its determined by being in eclipse or not and I believe high power is 0.5 W on SSB and FM. But no luck in finding more info than that on the web about power.
So far, all passes I’ve been able to copy here Eastern US are late at night (11PM-1AM) so I’m assuming I’m getting low power mode.
Mike WB1AAT
These modes are confusingly named. The transmit power is the same in both; what changes is the power consumption. Better to think of it as high vs low duty cycle. I don't recall the low power duty cycle for sure, but it's something like 40 seconds on/2 minutes off. This happens automatically during eclipse.
-- Dave, W8AAS
On Aug 8, 2011, at 11:09 PM, Mike Ryan wrote:
Whats the difference between high and low power mode? I know its determined by being in eclipse or not and I believe high power is 0.5 W on SSB and FM. But no luck in finding more info than that on the web about power.
So far, all passes I’ve been able to copy here Eastern US are late at night (11PM-1AM) so I’m assuming I’m getting low power mode.
Mike WB1AAT _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
Mike,
High and low power refers more accurately to power consumption rather than transmitted power. Low power means a less than 100% duty cycle. Many of the popular tracking programs such as SATPC32 and MacDoppler will tell you when the satellite is in daylight or eclipsed. A spacecraft is often illuminated when the ground track is in darkness, though the passes you mentioned would be in eclipse.
73s,
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Ryan Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 10:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Diffference between high and low power modes on ARRISat-1
Whats the difference between high and low power mode? I know its determined by being in eclipse or not and I believe high power is 0.5 W on SSB and FM. But no luck in finding more info than that on the web about power.
So far, all passes I've been able to copy here Eastern US are late at night (11PM-1AM) so I'm assuming I'm getting low power mode.
Mike WB1AAT _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
On 8/9/11 4:56 AM, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
when the satellite is in daylight or eclipsed. A spacecraft is often illuminated when the ground track is in darkness, though the passes you mentioned would be in eclipse.
It's very easy to tell just by looking at a tracking map whether a spacecraft is in sunlight. If any part, even a tiny bit, of the satellite's range circle is lit, then the satellite itself is lit. Only if the satellite's range circle is completely dark will the satellite be in eclipse.
-Phil
participants (4)
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Alan P. Biddle -
Dave Taylor -
Mike Ryan -
Phil Karn