[CQ-Contest] Contesting from Space!.

[Olof Lundberg]

Brian: Yes, that would be an interesting exercise and also a non-trivial
one. As a starter I believe the Space Station orbit is approximately smack
in the middle of the F2 layer except that the Space Station altitude varies
slowly and the F2 height certainly varies. Then the orbit is inclined some
50 degrees which means that the Space Station in each one of its 90 minute
orbits "turns south" when at 50 deg N and then "turns north" when at 50 deg
south while the earth rotates about 24 degrees underneath.

While we wait and then wait some more for the opportunity to put a
contester in space, wouldn't it be interesting with a multiband skimmer on
board the Space Station? Or at least a multiband QRP HF beacon? That might
help us learn more about propagation and ionosphere behaviour.

Randy & Co would of course have to come up with a new category for CQWW.
There is a tremendous scope for long threads on this reflector on that
subject alone ;-)

73 Olof G0CKV

On 16 December 2015 at 13:07, brian coyne <g4odv at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Watching the recent rocket take off to the International  Space Station
> one of the experts mentioned that the station orbits earth 16 times per
> day, which I think I heard before, but he went on to add something I had
> never thought about previously that is - they get 15 sunrises and 15
> sunsets.
> Now consider - it is 2055 - you are working on that space station, get the
> weekend off - you want to do one  of the major CQ or ARRL contests - you
> like to do all bands.
> Each orbit is 90 minutes, you have 8 bands to work.
> What operating  schedule would you prepare ahead of the contest to work
> all of those bands to the maximum?
>
> A bit of  fun to think about ahead of the holidays.
> 73  Brian 5B4AIZ / C4Z.
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