[amsat-bb] Re: PCsat Keplerian Elements

[Bob Bruninga <bruninga@xxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 1 May 2002, Donald B. McGehee wrote:

> How often should Kep elements be updated for PCsat?

PCsat is in a very stable 800km orbit which should last over 100 years.
So the drag is very small.  I'd think elements should last a few months at
a time because PCsat requires no antenna pointing and so a few degrees
error in angles wont make any difference to someone listening on an OMNI.

The higher altitude means that PCsat has a lot bigger coverage area than
ISS.  Compare the footprints of ISS and PCsat and you will see a
difference.  But although ISS and PCsat have identical transponders, and
ISS sees a smaller area, it seems taht the activity on ISS is at least 3
times that on PCsat...  I donno why...

bob


PCsat WEB  page     http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/pcsat.html
ISS-APRS FAQ:       http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/iss-faq.html
CUBESAT Designs     http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/cubesat.html
APRS LIVE pages     http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs.html
APRS SATELLITES     http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/astars.html
MIM/Mic-E/Mic-Lite  http://www.toad.net/~wclement/bruninga/mic-lite.html

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