Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Re: Re: AO40 Hiatus / sunangle

[Douglas Braun & Nadia Papakonstantinou <doug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>Scattered throughout these, particularly the last one, are the substantive facts about the transmitter testing and status, the momentum wheels, changes in software, plans for 3-axis, perigee eclipses,  the need for off-pointing for bad solar angle by the end of the month, etc.  I think you'll find much of the ARRL article, nearly word for word in these postings.  If there's a "problem" here, I sure don't see it.

The 11/5 message mentioned the offpointing, which did not surprise me
when I read it at the time.

But the ARRL article was the very first place I heard that the transponders
would be shut down for the duration.  This surprised me, since I assumed
that the offpointing could be done by changing only the ALON and leaving
the ALAT close to zero, so that the transponder could be operated for a
brief but usable period during each orbit when the squint angle would
be small enough.

BTW, the article also said:

>The satellite is currently in a long period during which Earth
>eclipses the sun near perigee--its point closest to Earth. AO-40
>relies on solar panels for its power.

The the perigee eclipse actually have a significant effect on
the power budget? I thought this eclipse only lasted for about
10% of the orbit.

Doug
NA1DB


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