Re: [amsat-bb] Re:FO-20

[Richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Richard W L Limebear)]

> You'll find that, over time, FO-20 will be available at convenient hours
> during the evening. The orbit shifts, with respect to local time, over the
> course of several years.

FO-20 passes usually arrive about half an hour earlier per month. FO-29
passes get earlier at a much slower rate. Also relevent is the orbital
cycle of which part of the world sees apogee. Apogee/perigee distances
are different by several hundreds of Km (FO-20 is 912/1745 Km, FO-29 is
800/1325 Km) on the Fuji birds and it *does* make a difference in 
visibility and DX potential. From memory this cycle is typically about 
five months.

The following month-at-a-glance view of FO-29 for next January shows that, 
at the start of the month, I'm not seeing apogees so there are two periods
of passes per day. Later in the month I can see apogees and this tends to
fill in the gap between one set of passes and the other. The gaps are less
visible on FO-20, I guess because the perigee is higher, but they *are*
there.

    SATSCAN-II      VERSION 3.01               (C)1990 AMSAT_UK,G4GPQ
    MONTH AT A GLANCE.   SAT = FO_29      MONTH OF JANUARY 2001 QTH = G3RWL    
     *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*-- HOUR - GMT *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--
     00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
DAY
 1   I----I--------------I----I----II----I---------------------I----II----I--
 2   --I----I---------I----II---II----I---------------------------I----I----I
 3   I---II--------------I----I----I-----I--------------------------II---II--
 4   --I----I---------I----I----II----I--------------------------II----I----I
 5   ----I--------------II----I----I----I---------------------------I----II--
 6   -II----I---------I----I----II---II--------------------------II---II----I
 7   ----I--------------I----II----I----I---------------------------I----I---
 8   -II---II---------I----I----I----II--------------------------I----II---II
 9   ----I--------------I----II---II----I--------------------------II----I---
10   -I----I---------II---II----I----I---------------------------I----II---II
11   ---II--------------I----I----II----I--------------------------II---II---
12   -I----I---------I----II---II----I--------------------------II----I----II
13   ---II--------------I----I----I----II--------------------------II---II---
14   -I----I---------I----I----II----I--------------------------II---II----I-
15   ---I----I---------II---II----I----I---------------------------I----II---
16   II----I---------I----I----I----II--------------------------I----II----I-
17   ---I----I---------I----II---II----I---------------------------I----I----
18   II---II---------I----I----I----I---------------------------I----II---II-
19   ---I----I---------I----II---II----I--------------------------II----I----
20   I----I---------I----II----I----I---------------------------I----II---II-
21   --II----I---------I----I----II---II--------------------------II---II----
22   I----I----I----I----II---II----I--------------------------II----I----II-
23   --II---II----I----I----I----I----II--------------------------I----II---I
24   I----I----I----I----I----II---II--------------------------II---II----I--
25   --I----I----I----II---II----I----I---------------------------I----II---I
26   I---II----I----I----I----I----II----I---------------------I----II---II--
27   --I----I----I----I----II---II----I--------------------------II----I----I
28   I---II----I----I----I----I----I-----I---------------------I----II---II--
29   --I----I----I----I----I----II----I--------------------------II---II----I
30   ----I----I----I----II---II----I----I----------------------I----I----II--
31   -II----I----I----I----I----II---II--------------------------II---II----I

73
Richard W L Limebear G3RWL
g3rwl@amsat.org
FOC # 1188

          So many beautiful girls ..... (sob) so little time
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