[amsat-bb] Re: ANDE and Amateur Astronomers?

[G0MRF@aol.com]

Hi Bob.
 
That sounds very interesting.
 
I and several friends have laser reception equipment and telescopes to go  
with it.
 
What is the modulation or switching frequency of the lasers?
What is the divergence of each beam?
 
If they are switched on and off at an audio frequency you can detect very  
low levels using an audio analysis programme such as Spectran or Argo from 
_www.weaksignals.com_ (http://www.weaksignals.com) .
 
This may be a good opportunity to increase my 'best dx' from 76km 
e.g.  _http://www.g0mrf.freeserve.co.uk/laser5.htm_ 
(http://www.g0mrf.freeserve.co.uk/laser5.htm) 
 
I understand that the laser experiment on AO-40 had a station equipped to  
receive it on the island of  Teneriffe.
 
Regards
 
David  G0MRF
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 08/12/2006 21:59:55 GMT Standard Time, bruninga at usna.edu  
writes:

The next  Amateur Satellite, ANDE, to be launched any day now
will have six lasers on  board that we can turn on at any time.
But the lasers are each dispursed  over at least 45 degrees so
the actual illumination is no brighter than a  common red LED.

I doubt anyone will be able to see it, so don't bother  trying.

However, there are a few very dedicated amateur astronomers  that
have the high precision tracking capability that have taken
photos  of the Shuttle and the ISS.  They might want to take a
crack at  it.

I'm looking for someone with a foot in that camp to be a  focal
point of contact for such an effort.

It would not be soon  after launch, but a little while after they
have developed a really good  track on it.

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR