Assuming this is successfully put into orbit (due Q4 2018), this Qatar satellite will open up a new era in amateur radio. Southgate News has a piece on this today. 2.4GHz uplink and 10GHz downlink. Fixed dish, modest powers, band always open. Predicted 15 year life.
There is another satellite due to cover the Americans as E'hail does not cover the Americas.
See http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.php/es-hail-2-p4a
and
See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/august/coordinated-frequencies-for-p4a-es%27hail-2.htm#.W2bCMfZFzIU
Will it succeed? Most likely. The off-the-shelf gear is somewhat more expensive than a new HF rig, but not by much. Someone will come along with cheaper antennae and transverters.
ReplyDeleteIt has limitations; you can't reach North America or Australia, for example. Still, I think that it will compete with HF operation in terms of numbers. No tower or large lot for an antenna is needed, nor huge PAs, to have quality comms. No waiting for the band to open.
Sadly, the older potential mentors who would guide people into satcom seem to have a complete disdain and ignorance of microwave comms.