A
>
>I've been waiting for the ham radio types to come in, who know more about
>the radio side, and especially what is legal.  For that kind of range, you
>need either a short-wave radio that will skip, or a transmitter that can
>talk to a satellite.
>
>For the short-wave approach, the ham guys might know how you can legally


I think this project sounds way good as well..

BUT some of the ideas are way over the top....I like the migrating bird
trackers etc, but use of any commercial system will simply move the thing
down to "yeah so what" impact as you will just be using them for what they
are designed for...this is money not fun !!

any 'commercial' or 'institutional involvement may also lead to heavy
politics and control...

also you do not need any high technology or high power for this, you need
PSK31...and you need to exploit/harness its enormous postitive image that
has been created in the last 2 years....that may get you masses of FREE
support and enthusiasm.

my approach would be like this:


..the issues from a 'ham' point of view are that in general (each territory
differs a bit) 'unattended' operation is now allowed, for the various data
link systems we have (some of these do included fully automated self
tracking sat systems) BUT...you need a license in the first place AND the
location of the unattended operation has to be registered....so that rules
it out on a personal basis I think...

which is a GREAT pity because the technical transmission side of this could
be very interesting to many....in the last two years a data transfer system
called PSK31 has been developed by a UK amateur and has taken off worldwide...

this digital data system goes slow, but uses extremely narrow bandwidth (in
the proper use of the word) and thus can operate at very low signal to noise
ratios...it would be just perfect for this application as I believe the
protocol etc is totally open and free, so being compatible with it means
only hacking the code, no messy royalties etc etc....in addition with this
level of efficiency and careful choice of frequency band employed then you
would have a good chance of getting a *very* low power HF (say 14 or 21 mhz)
transmitter with only a few mW power heard (I am assuming the project is
solar based) and in varying locations at varying times of day, so some good
coverage might be expected.

NOW, given that this relatively new data mode has only been launched in the
recent past and has 'rocketed' into view/popularity, I am sure there would
be thousands (literally) of new converts to this mode that would just love
you to do this.....in addition there is a co-ordinated and licensable
'beacon' system operated by the ham community worldwide.

now lets get practical....

this is a kinda long shot, but I would do some web searching and make
contact with the following interest groups within the hobby....I would
advise you to proceed on the basis that this would be a world roving beacon
for use in propogation studies and effectiveness of the new psk31 data
transfer mode. (you may also want to dangle a ham media promotion 'carrot'
along the lines of "first attempt to make an UNMANNED atlantic crossing " or
some such.....AVOID commercial sponsorship etc etc though as this would
contravene many ham rules and be a turn off for those that need to be on
your side )

a) the ARRL beacon co-ordination manager
b) the ARRL propogation studies commitee
c) ARRL probably has some kind of data within the hobby steering group

if you really are unfamiliar with what you want to do and how to do it
(sounds like you might be) then first hook into the releavant 'informal'
groups, I am not totally familiar with the stateside ones, but you will find
special interest groups for PSK31, Beacon building and maintainance, and
there also exists a HAM PIC INTEREST group. (they even have an email forum
like this one, not very active, they are sitting there waiting for someone
like you !!)

using this approach you might just get it off the ground

good luck Graham



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