[amsat-bb] AO-7 orbit count.

[Greg D]

Besides seeing the satellite - I've seen several zip through the field
of view in my telescope - tracking the object, even if you knew it was
coming (and which one it actually was), would be very difficult.  Way
too fast for regular astronomical telescope mounts.  And, yes, point of
light is all you'd get.

We have had (very) limited success with doing a manual track of the ISS,
during a visible pass.  We used a Dobsonian scope with a Telrad, and a
low magnification eyepiece.  One person does the tracking, arm wrapped
around the OTA, while the second person tries to look through the
eyepiece to see the Station, as the whole thing is moving around. 
Amazing when it works, but requires practice and some luck.

Greg  KO6TH


Bob wrote:
> Hum,
>
> Don't know what the thought of viewing AO-7 caught my attention, but it
> did.  So I did some quick math:
>
> In round numbers AO-7 is about 0.06 arc seconds across (1450 KM orbit, 0.4
> meters diameter).  That's the theoretical resolving power of a telescope
> with a 16,000mm focal length and magnification of about 500, constructed
> with perfect optics and operated in a vacuum.  So I wouldn't hold my breath
> thinking you can observe it with a ground based telescope.
>
> But maybe as a point of light?  N2YO.com doesn't even list a magnitude for
> visible passes.
>
> 73, Bob, WB4SON
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 9, 2018 at 7:38 AM, Samudra Haque [TTLLC] <
> sehaque at tekterrain.com> wrote:
>
>> Well, it is a well known that in some universes a double negative results
>> in a positive result. I'm interested in taking an attempt at imaging OSCAR
>> satellites. Any tips from the community for say, AO-7, using an optical
>> telescope and a DSLR mounted at its focus?
>>
>> Samudra N3RDX.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org] On Behalf Of Greg D
>> Sent: Friday, July 6, 2018 8:07 PM
>> To: APBIDDLE at MAILAPS.ORG; 'Ray Hoad' <ray.hoad at mypbmail.com>;
>> amsat-bb at amsat.org
>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 orbit count.
>>
>> With any luck, AO-7 will outlive (or perhaps it already has) the IBM punch
>> card that caused the whole 5-digit thing in the first place.  Of the
>> constants in the universe, the first one is 42, immediately followed by
>> either 72 or 80, depending on your background.  We apparently had
>> programmers define the KEPs format, as both lines are 71 characters long...
>> :)
>>
>> Greg  KO6TH
>>
>> (For source code, columns 73-80 were reserved for sequence numbers, so
>> that when you dropped your deck, the cards could be reassembled in the
>> proper order.)
>>
>>
>> Alan wrote:
>>> Tom Clark, K3IO (ex-W3IWI) once observed that AO-7 was the only
>>> amateur satellite known to have suffered two catastrophic failures,
>>> thereby returning it to service.  Hi HI
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Alan
>>> WA4SCA
>>>
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