23 Feb 2023

Oscar 100 narrowband

My most recent peek at this geosynchronous satellite last night was worse than last time! Activity was pathetic. My most recent look was at 2220z on a Wednesday evening. There were just 2 stations only active. 


My only recommendation is just don't bother. By now, I was expecting it to be busy, whereas it is seriously under-used. As mentioned before, people (well a few) enjoy the challenge of getting active, then lose interest. 

My own view is this is just too hard for the "appliance operators" of today. If one of the big manufacturers offered a rig (they won't as Japan and the USA are outside the footprint of the satellite), things would be different as "black box" operators could chat with much of the world without big beams and linears and with a small, fixed antenna. Don't tell them they can do this for free on the Internet!😀

What will happen? Things will carry on as now and activity might pick up as solar activity wanes. What is needed is a low cost add-on to enable appliance operators to get on the satellite using their main rig.

People happily shell out huge amounts for linears, beams and towers. None of these would be needed.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

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