[amsat-bb] PCsat DIGI is off

[Bob Bruninga <bruninga@xxxxxxxx>]

We just turned PCsat DIGI off because we are running out of battery near
the end of each eclipse.  I got into this by my enthusiasm over
transmitting the CW "S" and "HI" in commemoration of Marconi and OSCAR-1.

It worked the first few orbits, then I decided to add the CW sigs to the
B-side over the USA.  That crashed it.   The CW on PCsat is FM AFSK and so
is only say 30% as efficient as real CW.  Even at only sending "S S HI HI"
once every 3 minutes (round the world 24 horus a day) was too much of a
load on the batteries.  The CW message  above takes about 6 seconds of
solid Key down FM compared to about .8 seconds for a packet.

Once we get a day of charging with no users, we will turn it back on for
limited use.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Again, if you are scheduling a
special event or VIP demo, let us konw and we will try to work around you.

Bob, WB4APR


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