ISS has a much higher orbit than the other sats ~250 miles vs ~150 miles or so for other LEO sats IIRC!
Jeff Moore -- KE7ACY
On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 7:31 PM, Douglas Tabor dtabor@estesvalley.net wrote:
Looking at n2yo.com NO-84 has a perigee of 348.9km, 216.8 mi and an apogee of 599.7km, 372.6 mi. ISS is in the 250mi range.
73,
Mike Diehl AI6GS
Actually, the opposite is the case. The amateur satellites have somewhat higher orbits. For example, AO-85 (Fox-1A) has an orbit of 518x810km (321.7x503.1 miles). The other amateur satellites are in similar orbits if not higher.
Cubesats launched from the ISS will remain in orbit only a few months before atmospheric drag causes them to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. This is why there are thrusters on the ISS that keep it in its orbit. One of the significant payloads in the resupply rockets is fuel for these thrusters.
Regarding the ISS packet transmitter - I wonder if the power setting on the transceiver have been reduced for some reason. That might explain the weaker signal. Just a thought.
73,
Mac Cody / AE5PH AMSAT Member 40065
On 05/16/2017 10:01 PM, Jeff Moore wrote:
participants (3)
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Jeff Moore -
Mac A. Cody -
Mike Diehl