Actually, thinking about it ... making a Skype video call across two continents to talk to my friends and family in HD picture quality is actually pretty exciting if one considers the engineering behind it. Now add to it the fact that I can have a video call with someone and we can both speak a different language and Skype takes care of the translation of the actual call .. that's just fucking amazing!
Mike..... Your QRZ.com page shows "The Amateur's Code". Please follow it when posting here with regard to certain words. ;-)
I was on the first internet with punch cards, and wrote the GUI using the "dead language" PLC by writing new syntax. I frequented TAPR website. They had internet over packet, that suddenly disappeared. Internet is packet after all. They had SSD's on Linux, with no interest in DOS. I emailed, advocating DOS. Look at SSD's now. I got on internet using DOS 6.22 and Arachne 1.47 DOS browser, by learning enough modem-speak to communicate with the tech at the ISP. I still have the WEFAX, that had SeaMail in the package, I purchased when I lived on the coast and I was active sailing. I watched the expense go up, insisting the changes were all about unstable signal or packet protocol. I don't send AMSAT money. I do use their email forwarding, to help get their name AMSAT out as many much as possible. I look at the AMSAT website. They show a photo of a project and discuss their fund-raising goal. There was nothing, then the announcement we saw here. I suggested we have HT's one or two years from now, because that was done when 1.2 GHz came out. I was a Tech when all that was happening: radio amateurs built equipment. I don't see interest. Maybe it is a more efficient "spotting network" and "reverse beacon network". I will look at my other radio amateur websites, but I have the impression this geostationary satellite isn't for radio amateurs.
[QUOTE="MM0TWX, post: 3697591, I, and many, many others, do not commit/contribute/participate becasue there is no viable/realistic/feasible project we can contribute to. "Yes, wouldn't it be great to have a CW QSO between continents via a HEO satellite? But that's been done before. Nothing new here and what is the incentive to spend the money on launching such a satellite?". Dear MM0TWX, thanks for your comments, I agree with you completely. I commented on the first page of this discussion that I wished RS-10 the little Russian bird, WAS BACK. it lasted a long time, it passed thousands of QSO's. it was Not Digital, not a FM repeater in a cube (one channel) , it worked.. and Yes , Totally old school. thousands of hams enjoyed it. however it did require a tiny bit of skill to use. (how to tune in ssb with Doppler ) Helloooooo AMSAT how about putting something up that works .......... This idea of needing ground stations is at best only going to give a handful of Hams access. Every city in the Americas will need a ground station, and what will that be (?), some sort of digital two meter repeater ?? and an uplink terminal. (Yes I understand I can build my own terminal, maybe ???) This idea sounds like another "How to use your walkie talkie in the parking lot for dummies" rerun.. sorry if I'm being too hard? one other note, I won't be answering any replys to my comments, good luck, good bye to this nonsense .
No, not too hard, just showing that you didn't pay attention to the information provided which clearly stated direct access to the sat via 2.4/5 GHz links OR ground stations. So K0IP posts and then takes his playthings to another sandbox pouting and sticking his fingers in his ears . Why post in the first place. 73 Mike K5TRI
We as AMSAT have accomplished alot this year. We got AO-85 (FM) up in orbit, we got 7 Chineese satellites (1 FM, 6 SSB transponders) up into orbit and we got the twins of 1A going up In 2016 on the same launch (FOX 1C&1D). And a India satellite IO-86 (FM). And we have 3 other birds that are in orbit but are yet to be activated until their primary mission is over which is soon (EO-80 FM, EO-79 SSB, UKUBE-1 SSB) As for P3E here's what was released this year after years of it being on the shelf trying to find a launch: http://www.amsat.org/?p=4351 There are videos on P3E during the Amsat Symposium as well. The geo bird sound interesting and I'm looking forward to it.
A quickie reply to those asking "Where are the MEO/HEO satellites with CW/SSB, and more satellites". -Yes, you've had your head in the sand for the last ten years. A multitude of issues have challenged AMSAT-NA. -Generational leadership changes at AMSAT-NA - -US ITAR weapons technology laws threw a wrench in forty years of amateur transparent and open methods. This brought a nearly complete halt in projects due to legal uncertainties and the desire to avoid federal prison! -Space got commercialized! This is good right? Everyone has said "Get government out of launching rockets and let businessmen do it cheaper". NASA and DOD cut back launches and the opportunities for many free rides went away. Commercial launchers want BIG cash for rides!!! The higher the orbit, the more expensive. -Failure of several satellites highlighted need to change design philosophy to be more modern, reliable and degrade gracefully. BTW, there are still three more F0x 1 launches coming! -Any AMSAT activity is better than no activity! If we lose the expertise it may never be able to start again. Keep witholding the donations! That will punish them and somehow make more satellites get launched. *shakes head* p.s. Why is Phase 4b digital, and has ground gateways? Answer: Because it meets the requirements of all the $ponsor$ and donor$. CW/SSB doesn't. "Who pays the piper, calls the tune." You want MEO/HEO/GEO SSB-CW? Go find someone willing to donate about a million dollars for the ride. The satellite itself is cheap.
One more shot: -Amateurs pride themselves on having been experimenters and leaders in radio technology. Well, SSB-CW hasn't been leading edge in ages. It does offer the chance to get your hands dirty in Ghz radios, Ghz antennas, Low Noise Amplifiers, Combiners, Aiming/signal acquisition, Digitial voice modes, TDMA/FDMA, Software Defined Radio; Digital data modes. This is all radio side stuff. If you don't like these, well don't complain that you haven't had the opportunity! p.p.s. I too don't relish the idea of cellphone type contacts. But there is plenty of hardcore radio/antenna technology to get ones' teeth into with Phase 4B! Don't forget that success in this project could generate more donations and offers of rocket rides.
I think it is about time. Why don't we have more satellites up in high orbits. I always visualized ham sats in the 10,000 mile orbit range that would give tremendous coverage for hours on end. Maybe three of them equally spaced in orbit. That could give near world wide coverage I believe. And by the way, SpaceX is planning to launch their Falcon Heavy within a year or two so wouldn't that be a prime choice to get a ride on and get into a high orbit or even geocentric orbit? They just succeeded in launching 11 satellites for ORBCOM and returning their first stage back to Cape Canaveral with their Falcon 9 upgrade. Terry KI7M
I couldn't agree more ! To me the whole point of Amateur Radio has always been that, unlike commercial communication systems, we don't have to rely on phone lines, the internet, satellites or even repeaters to communicate around the country or even around the world . . . we do it all by ourselves (or at least, most of us do!) Equally most of us use very efficient communication modes that don't rely on very complicated digital encoders. Roger G3YRO
So many take analog to mean only CW/SSB. How about an analog digital voice mode that fits into say 100 hz? It doesn't exist? Well maybe someone would work on it to make the most efficient use of bandwidth and it would trickle down to HF. And an FT-817 and CW could use the bird from a remote location with no computer in case of emergency... Otherwise it is going to be a flying internet gateway, whoopee! I am not wasting money on microwave hardware to send a text I can do with my phone!
