[amsat-bb] Re: 144 Mhz contact made using ISS as passive reflector

[Sil - ZL2CIA]

Greg D. wrote:
> Hi Tony,
> 
> Ah, good point.  Six gigawatts EIRP is certainly a little more than the average Ham station can muster.
> 
> So, now the next question...  How to do this best?  It occurs to me that we should be able to predict when the Station is in a favorable attitude, presumably using the solar panels as reflectors like the Iridium Flares.  There are several programs out there to do this for Iridium; could they be adapted to the ISS?  For extra credit, predict the times when the solar panels are favorable to a QSO between your station and another?
> 
> Greg  KO6TH
> 

Hi Greg,

I don't think there are are software applications 
that do this. I watch for flares from the ISS, but 
have never seen one (others have).

While many satellites (including the ISS) produce 
flares, only the Iridium are sufficiently rigidly 
controlled that the flares are predictable. At 
least that's what I understand. I would love to be 
proved wrong - I'd finally get to see the ISS 
flare. That would be neat.

Sil
ZL2CIA