[amsat-bb] Digital Voice Transponder Satellites

[Clayton Coleman W5PFG]

Historically, strong opinions about digital vs. analog voice 
transponders have been made public here on the AMSAT-BB.

Since Chinese satellite LO-90 recently re-entered and is no longer 
available, I wanted to hear from those that are pro-digital-voice 
satellites on their experiences using it. LO-90 was single channel but 
it offered a perfect platform to experiment with digital voice on an 
amateur satellite.

I congratulate the team that built it for trying something new and 
giving us an opportunity to play with it.

It is my observation that the satellite had very little use, as 
evidenced by the telemetry dashboard statistics. Why was that? I seem to 
recall many pro-digital voice conversations on the AMSAT-BB in the past. 
This was an excellent opportunity to try digital voice, and yet so few did.

My excuse was that “life got in the way” and I didn’t spend the time 
until near the very end of its operational life. Unfortunately, I let 
time slip away and didn’t get to enjoy this fascinating digital voice 
experiment as much as I should have. Thankfully I was able to get my 
station up and running in time to hear my own voice, decode, and submit 
telemetry before re-entry.

Are we ready for digital voice? Why or why not?

73,
Clayton
W5PFG