[amsat-bb] Eagle and emergency traffic (was Re: Galileo interference on L band)

[George Henry]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John B. Stephensen" <kd6ozh at comcast.net>
To: "amsat bb" <amsat-bb at amsat.org>; <sco at sco-inc.com>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 7:16 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Galileo interference on L band

<snip>

> The other
> impetus for 256 kbps is that NGOs need it for emergency data 
> communications.
> Another use could be to provide an SSTV-like service, but with
> high-resolution images.
<snip>


Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't AO-51 made available for 
disaster communications after the Christmas tsunami, yet NOT ONE piece of 
disaster traffic was ever passed on it?  Was ANY disaster traffic ever 
passed on any of our satellites after Katrina?  Yet, how many hundreds or 
thousands of messages were passed on HF and 2 meters?

Why?  Because HF and 2 meter nets work 24/7, and no emergency agency, 
whether governmental or NGO, wants to wait for a satellite to come over the 
horizon to pass their traffic.

Until such time as we have either a fleet of HEOs (or a geostationary 
satellite) providing 24/7 access (at least 15 years off), I have to 
seriously question how useful any NGO would find a 256kbps data link that's 
only available a few times a day, and for relatively short periods of 
time.........  especially when the Red Cross disaster response vehicle that 
was at our hamfest has a ZERO-SETUP, instant-on, 24/7 high-speed satellite 
internet connection (HughesNet, I think), with both CAT5e and WiFi 
connection sharing.  I believe SATERN either has, or is looking at, the same 
type of setup.

Has the design team received any input from the NGOs on this emergency data 
"need"?  If so, please share it.


(and while I have the floor, it's "lose" and "losing", not "loose" or 
"loosing"....  and don't even get me started on "there", "their", and 
"they're"!
We're supposed to be COMMUNICATORS, for God's sake!)