[amsat-bb] A suggestion for Experimenter's Wednesdays on AO-91

[Mac A. Cody]

Patrick,

If, as you stated, SSTV has run its course, maybe Experimenter's
Wednesdays on AO-85 could be changed to experiment with EMCOMM using
NBEMS, thereby keeping AO-91 as free as possible.  Once that has
run its course, then move on to another experiment.  That would
keep things fresh.  I think a report on each experiment would be an
interesting series of articles in the AMSAT Journal.  I think
continuous experimentation is a good thing!

Mac Cody - AE5PH

On 12/14/2017 08:33 PM, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) wrote:
> Hi Mac!
>
> You offer a good idea. I thought about things like that, but
> came back to the simple fact that AO-91 still has the "new
> car smell" for being the newest and (in my opinion) best
> performing FM satellite we currently have. Especially given
> the recent series of messages discussing the new document
> Sean KX9X wrote, it might be better to hold off on anything
> that limits the use of AO-91 to those who would have a
> computer or other accessories to do the experiment. Once
> we have another one or two FM satellites, Fox-1C and/or
> Fox-1D, then it would be a great time to have something
> else for the weekly experiments.
>
> The APRS-capable satellites might be better for what you
> propose, yes. Unfortunately, there is the issue of the
> misuse of 145.825 MHz by stations automatically beaconing
> their existence. Any experiment using ISS or NO-84 would
> be tougher as you move east across the continental USA,
> as well as some other parts of the world.
>
> 73!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
> http://www.wd9ewk.net/
> Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 1:53 AM, Mac A. Cody <maccody at att.net 
> <mailto:maccody at att.net>>wrote:
>
>     Patrick,
>
>     This is certainly a fine idea, which may very well gain traction.  If
>     I may, though, I'd like to propose an alternative experiment. Given
>     the recent (and ongoing) disaster and recovery in Puerto Rico after
>     Hurricane Maria,I was wondering how amateur LEO satellites could be
>     used for emergency response (I know that the use case for the Phase IV
>     satellite terminal is emergency response.).  While DX and chasing grid
>     squares is great fun (I do both myself.), I am hoping that there might
>     be a way that LEO satellites could be used as a public service
>     resource.
>
>     Traditionally, long-distance emergency response has relied upon
>     shortwave
>     communications.  It takes a bit of infrastructure cost to set up and
>     operate a shortwave station.  Effective antenna deployment, available
>     transceiver equipment, and a sufficient power supply are
>     considerations
>     to be addressed.  Perhaps, a pair of hand-held radios (or single full-
>     duplex), an Arrow antenna, and a computer (Raspberry Pi) could be
>     used to
>     send and receive emergency messages via LEO satellites and might
>     be a viable
>     alternative.  The messages could be sent digitally via, say,
>     Narrow Band
>     Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) to improve reliability of
>     transcription.
>
>     I'm sure that you or someone else might say "Use the APRS birds for
>     emergency response messaging.".  That may be a fair statement, but my
>     idea might, at least, be an interesting experiment to try.  An
>     experiment
>     is still valuable when it shows that an idea does not work!
>
>     73,
>
>     Mac Cody / AE5PH
>