[amsat-bb] Re: KH2?

[Stephen Melachrinos]

A couple of people have responded to me, but it's not clear that the geography and geometry is obvious to everyone.


>From all I've read, the maximum distance anyone has worked AO-27 is about 3300 miles. This distance is limited by the altitude of the satellite. (My calculation of the AO-27 footprint diameter at apogee is 3775 miles, but that would imply a zero-duration window with a satellite at the exact midpoint. 3300 miles seems reasonable to allow time for a short QSO.)


Guam is about 3800 miles WSW of Honolulu, so even that path is not possible, let alone anything on North America. Possibilities within a 3000 mile range appear to be places like Japan, China, Taiwan, Philippines, maybe Australia, etc.  


Steve Melachrinos
W3HF/KH2 (for the next 12 days)