Re: [amsat-bb] Question on AO-40 for downlink

[Bruce Nolte N3LSY <brucenol@xxxxxxx>]

Ronald Nutter wrote:

>I am putting together an AO-40 station that will also be portable.  My question is the amount of tilt I need to have for the antennas to point to the bird.  I have a commercial grade tripod that I will be starting out with.  Assuming that straight ahead of you is 0 degrees and straight above is 90 degrees, in north america, how far above 0 degrees should I expect to be able to point the antennas to see AO-40 ?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ron
>Ka4kyi
>
>
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>  
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In most of the middle lattitudes, (that is about 40 degrees), you will 
need to be able to point the antenna up to about 47 degrees. IIRC that 
is as high in the sky as the bird will get on a good pass. Add 1 degree 
in elevation or so for every degree south of the 40th parallel that you 
travel.  Since the satellite's position changes constantly, you will 
either need the printout from a satellite tracking program or a laptop 
to track it in real time. NOVA has a listing utility for all of the 
critical parameters, and a printout can be more reliable out on the road 
than a laptop with a dead battery, and save complication while setting 
up to operate. For Field Day, I printed out the position and squint data 
for each 15 minute interval, this is usually good enough for portable 
operation.

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