[amsat-bb] Re: IF you had a choice...

[David - KG4ZLB]

Drew just e-mailed me about my comment:
/
"It may only affect one bird but there are not that many left up there 
and no plans to get any more up! "/

and that that might be misleading!

I am happy to correct my statement by saying that what I was referring 
to was the easy sats, the FM voice, 2m up 70cm down or 70cm up 2m down, 
that everyone cuts their teeth on!

Drew has pointed out that Sumbandilla is V/U FM, CAS is V/U FM and 
transponder both, and Kiwisat is U/V FM and transponder.

According to the AMSAT website, Sumbandilla and Kiwisat are both 
awaiting a launch date and I have just heard that the other one is not 
up there either but all are slated for this year.

On the basis that they actually make it to orbit (and that's a big 
*"if"* of course, no sure thing in the launch business!), there will be 
AO-51, SO-50, AO-27, AO-7, ISS, and the three to come. Throw in FO-29 
and VO-52 (not strictly FM easy sats being as they are SSB birds) and we 
might have 10 usable voice birds.

Take out the two "birdie" issue satellites from the *current* 7 usable 
easy sats and the TS can not work nearly 30% of the available easy sats.

Factor in that AO-7 is getting old, ISS is rarely in cross band mode, 
and that brings the figures down to 5 working birds, three (or 60%) of 
which the TS *can* work.

If Kenwood have fixed the problem (and I haven't heard that they have or 
how they could retrospectively) and you want to get into serious 
satellite work, don't hamper yourself with a radio that will not do the job.

I am sure someone will say that my math is wrong but you get the point.

(Standing by with helmet and flak jacket on :-D )

-- 
David
KG4ZLB
www.kg4zlb.com


David - KG4ZLB wrote:
> Hi Norman,
>
> This is a topic that surfaces every so often and is not an easy one to 
> answer.
>
> So my two penneth worth is this!
>
> If you are only interested in VHF and above, Satellites and 
> terrestrial work - the 910 every time.
>
> If you want a shack in a box that can do (primarily) HF, then the TS 
> wins the day!
>
> The reason I say "primarily" is that the TS exhibits a "birdie" right 
> in the downlink frequency for SO-50 which renders use of that bird 
> more or less impossible on that radio.
>
> Its like trying to compare apples with oranges.
>
> For sat work (for me) the 910.
>
> For HF work, the Icom 756 Pro series. :-D
>
> Others will give you different answers of course but the main factor 
> for me if I was buying a radio now would be the SO-50 "birdie" issue. 
> It may only affect one bird but there are not that many left up there 
> and no plans to get any more up!
>
> 73
>