Re: [amsat-bb] Amateur radio module on commercial Geo Sat?

["Laura Jolley" <jolleybuckaroo@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The largest problem with "hitchhiking" is both weight and qualifying the 
payload in terms of interference.

Geosats usually die due to manuevering fuel being gone (there are 
exceptions) before their electronics croak.  So if your choice was 10 pounds 
of ham payload or ten pounds of station keeping fuel for another year or so 
of ops which would you chose?

The second is interference.  The GPS sats seem a natural (and they sometimes 
carry ballast) as do the NOAA GOES but getting a payload there would require 
a lot of test that someone is going to have to pay for to make sure "our" 
payload doesnt screw the other primary one.

What I would like to see in the hamsat program is a sort of Arsene redo or 
even an Oscar IV redo or maybe even an attempt at say something on like an 
ATS 6 package.  Its just not that easy to get on a commercial or government 
payload.

Robert Oler WB5MZO




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