[amsat-bb] ME to HI for WAS--Possible at present?

[Wes Baden]

Any ideas about the following? My QTH is in Maine, FN54, 120 feet ASL.  I'm
closing in on WAS, but the problem is going to be Hawaii.  From my rough
calculations, I need a SAT that has a 4500+ mile footprint, meaning an
apogee of 1200+ miles, and even then any operating window will be pretty
short.  Current MEO satellites do not seem to offer a window quite that
big, or am I missing something?  In theory, I guess, I could go to Mt.
Washington, NH (fortunately only 90 miles away) and a KH6 could go up on a
volcanic peak there, to try to make use of over-the-horizon signal
bending.  But I'm not sure if even that would work at the present time, and
in any case I can wait if a better MEO or an HEO bird is in the offing in
the next few years.  Does anyone know if ME-HI will be possible in the
future, and if so when?  WAS SAT is on my bucket list.  Of course I envy
all of you to the west of me, who can contact HI, but on the other hand it
is nice to be only 3200 or so from London, 3800 miles from Berlin.  We are
all prisoners of our locations, at least until another HEO satellite is in
orbit again.  Thanks for feedback.  And by the way, I'm always happy to
sked with anyone needing FN54, not the rarest grid in ME but a challenge
for many stations, especially out west or so they tell me.

73, Wes NA1ME