[amsat-bb] Re: Radio amateur calling protocol

[Tony Langdon]

At 02:23 AM 2/27/2008, Robert Bruninga wrote:
> > ...quit building FM voice 2 user satellites...
> > [on] AO7 none of those problems existed...
>
>Yes, and hardly anyone uses it...
>
> > Why was [AO51] built??
>
>Because lots of people like to use it from their mobiles, and
>their HT's and it is a great way to get into satellites with
>innexpensive radios that everyone has.

This is more of an issue in the lesser populated parts of the 
world.  The number of QSOs I've had on the linear birds that weren't 
pre-arranged with another local is very small.  The majority date 
back to the days of RS-10 (now there's a bird I miss).  Other than 
that, I can recall a QSO on FO-29 during a demonstration at a 
hamfest.  FM, OTOH, gets a reasonable response, though I have had 
SO-50 and UO-14 to myself on late night passes.  Think I even managed 
AO-51 to myself on one occasion. ;)

What's wrong with the linear birds?

Mode A - there's nothing regular there.  Mode A also has the 
disadvantage that the 2m uplink must be tuned, when operating under 
manual control.  Unfortunately, a lot of older 2m SSB radios will not 
tune while transmitting, which makes the operating technique fiddly.

Mode B orJ - UHF SSB gear is still not that common.  Those that can 
afford to regularly update their gear, and those who are VHF/UHF weak 
signal operators will have the necessary gear, but the rest of us 
don't have it.  For a LEO, it's not enough incentive to upgrade.  For 
a HEO, that's a different ball game.

FOr me, there are 2 kinds of satellites that are likely to be 
worthwhile chasing - FM LEOs and linear HEOs.  Where is data?  Well, 
I'm not much one for low speed data, it's not really my cup of tea at 
this time, though obviously, data birds do serve a useful purpose too.


> > Disagree: I learn....
>
>There are lots of aspects to the ham radio hobby.  Many people
>like different things.  Those who like AO51 like it and it is a
>great assset for them.  Those who like AO7 use it.  There is no
>need to try to force all users to like only one aspect of
>Amateur Satellites.  But one thing is certain, we need to reach
>out to more ham radio operators and get them to appreciate how
>easy it is to communicate via satelites.  And every single one
>of them has an FM radio.

Agreed, most are blown away when they find out it IS easy :)

73 de VK3JED
http://vkradio.com