[amsat-bb] Station decisions re. upcoming Geosync bird

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

One way to get acclimated to that sort of delay, before we have any
of the higher-orbit satellites available, could be to work the current
satellites using an SDR receiver for the downlink. Even the faster
computers introduce some delay in hearing the downlinks, and the
smaller/cheaper Windows tablets I use certainly do that. It takes
some practice to line yourself up on the transponders, knowing that
you won't hear yourself as quickly with an SDR receiver as you would
with a "real" radio hearing the downlink.

With practice, working the transponders using an SDR receiver has
been fun. I get the benefits of SDR like seeing the full transponder,
I can make a recording of everything I'm receiving in my software, and
being able to see and hear myself with the software really helps in
getting lined up (and staying lined up throughout a pass). And for
some of the satellites, I can then take the recording and play it
into software to extract telemetry that I was receiving during the
pass.

This means the delays using an SDR receiver with any of these other
satellites in higher orbits will be longer, but - again, with practice -
it will be doable. I enjoy working the satellites we currently have,
and look forward to these projects being launched and having to
get the necessary equipment to work them. :-)

73!





Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/
Twitter: @WD9EWK





On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 2:25 PM, Jim Walls <jim at k6ccc.org> wrote:

> Sure.  Remember that AO-40 at apogee was WAY beyond the Clark b
> ​​
> elt.  Took a
> little bit of getting used to, but was not a real problem.
>