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Save Iridium & Use for Amateur Radio
James Frey (K8YD)
on
August 25, 2000
View comments about this article!
Save Iridium & Use for Amateur Radio
First I'd like to start by saying, I only thought of this about an hour ago and haven't put a lot of thought into the whole idea so please don't flame me. I felt that by presenting an article in this forum would allow the idea to disseminate as quickly as possible. From what I have read time is short if anything is to be done.
Supposedly Motorola was willing to sell the Iridium system for $50 million but the company that was looking at buying it didn't feel as if there was enough interest. Since they couldn't sell it they are going to decommission the system (burn them up in the atmosphere). Well it makes me sick to my stomach to see 66 brand new communication satellites destroyed.
There were approximately 686,180 licensed amateur per the FCC database as of Aug. 1st., $50 million divided by 686,180 is only $72.87 per amateur (a one time cost). I know that everyone wouldn't be interested, so lets say that only half might be interested. The price has now gone up to $145.73. I'm sure that payment terms could be arranged with a company the size of Motorola, say maybe 4 years, so know we're at $36.43 per year for 4 years - not too bad. Keep in mind that this is only using US amateurs, I'm quite certain that Hams around the world would be interested.
I know that there would be recurring costs to maintain this system and I have absolutely no idea what they would be. Due to the timetable that has been published, if something is going to be done (or even considered) things have to happen fast. If anyone knows anyone at AMSAT please notify them and see what they have to say. At a minimum I would think that if someone like the President of AMSAT talked to Motorola and said that we might be interested that they would delay the decommissioning until some real numbers could be crunched.
I do not know if the satellites could be modified to use amateur frequencies or if amateurs purchased the system that the FCC would allow us to use them on the frequencies as designed....all details to be considered. But think of this - what a great hook to attract new amateurs into the hobby, 66 new satellites to play with!
This is a serious article, maybe I'm way out in the deep-end but I think that the idea needs to be at least considered by people that know more about the subject than me.
This article has expired. No more comments may be added.
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by KC7BDP on August 25, 2000
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Interesting premise..... I believe some background investigation is necessary. First; if I remember correctly, the system is digital in nature (similar to the PCS sytem). This would be good, bringing us back some where near the forefront of technology. However second; I seem to remember reading in the newsgroups that the satellite transponders operate somewhere outside the Ham bands, and cannot be "re-crystalled". In that respect, we may not be able to use this possible gift.
I'd suggest you get some more background info, then get in the middle of the fracas.
Hey, if it works, I'll be one of the first to get new antennae and rotors!
Jimmy
KC7BDP
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This is interesting...
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by W1GI on August 26, 2000
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Although the chances of this happening are extremely slim, there is one more opportunity that re-activating these Iridium satellites can bring us...
Suppose that both Motorola and the FCC recognize the waste of resources that burning up the Iridium system poses. If Amateur Radio is allowed to take over these satellites, then we gain both these resources AND new spectrum!
New Spectrum is extremely hard to find and get assigned to AMATEUR service. The Iridium system will bring this to us.
Now, how do we properly pitch this to the FCC (and the ITU, these satellites would be usable internationally)???
I think it is simple: Unlike current Amateur emergency communications, the Iridium system could have dual assignments, both Amateur related:
First is conventional Amateur use. We need not discuss the possibilities of 66 digital satellites.
Second, and more important: EMERGENCY USE, Internationally. Of course since this spectrum would be assigned to Amateur Radio uses then our role in emergency situations would wouldn't change but would be enhanced by having Iridium satellites available.
A kind of Win Win for both us and those we try to help.
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A bad Idea
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by EI6IZ on August 26, 2000
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This Idea has been floating around for a while ( saw it posted in Usenet a few months ago)
This plan is a non-starter for several reasons
1/ On going running costs, this would include on going maintenence costs (Launcing new sats to replace boken ones etc) Running ground staions, licencing fees, interconnect fees (to the regular telephone system)Etc.
2/ The Iridium sats are expensive, obselete technology that cannot be modified to do High speed data or other usefull things.
3/ Iridium will in all probibility loose money for whoever runs it, When Iridium was desined, motorola Et all never thought how widespread GSM cellular coverage would grow to be, I have a triband GSM handset and I can use it everywhere in Europe, A lot of the US (the US is a Mess for cellular coverage due to the poliferation of diffrent, incompatable systems) a lot of Africa, almost all of Asia (except for Japan),India, Pakistan, Russia, Austrailia, New Zeland and a good proportion of south America, In total well over 100 Countries.
Where Do we need Iridium, Oh yes, those places where there is no GSM coverage which tend to be the places where there are no people either, A difficult market to sell a telephone service to, Especially an un-reliable one that requires you to stand outside holding a Brick to your ear.
4/ Why on earth (Or space!) would the Ham community want to run a telephone system, Disaster relif??? But aren't you guys Hams? Most emergency communications is about handling traffic in an efficent and timely way, Comms usually isn's the problem, it's the traffic handling that is important, Efficent traffic handling allows the rest of the disaster relif team to get on with what they are good at. (rescuing people, putting out fires, etc)
5/ Who is going to build the equipment? You need a BIG market for manfacturers to be able to get the cost down, How many hams are going to spend over $1000 for a telephone that you can only use outside and that has a habit of dropping your call every 10 minutes or so. (Iridum's biggest bug is that the system messes up handovers when the radio horizon isn't perfectly clear in all directions.)
If you need a relibale Phone service in the middle of nowhere then Use inmarsat terminals.
let's de-orbit iridium and put someting usefull in those orbits instead.
BTW: Can Eham come up with some sort of spell check for these forums? I know I need it!
Best 73's De Brendan Minish EI6IZ
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Authors additional thoughts
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by K8YD on August 26, 2000
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I believe that EI6IZ missed the point - it is not to run it as a phone system. It is to used it as an amateur radio communications device. Use the downlinks that would normally go to phone systems and have them go to other amateurs.
I know that here would be alot of work converting the system but as long as all of the work would be ground based I would think that it could be handled.
Another thought that ran through my head last night - If Motorola is decommissioning the satellite so that they can write them off there books as a loss, why not donate them - they would still get the same tax write-off? I know I'm probably going further off the deep-end but what the heck, if you don't ask you'll never know!
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RE: Authors additional thoughts
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by EI6IZ on August 26, 2000
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The Whole point is that they can't be modified, they are in orbit, the Iridum sats are not 'Bent pipe' transponders (like a lot of ham sats) a lot of the call handling and processing is done by the sats and this is the very thing that make the whole system a huge white elephant.
Dumping the whole system in the Ocean and putting a better sytem in those oribts is the only way to go. We might get some meteor Scatter contacts out of Iridum yet.
Even if the Ham community got them for nothing it is still going to cost an fortune to keep the system operational. The iridum system is absolute junk which is why it has been such a commercial falure.
The sad thing is that iridum's commercial falure is going to make it more difficult for other companies to get the backing needed to build good, well designed LEO communications systems.
From a Ham prespective it is of no real use anyway, most of us outside the US aren't allowed handle 3rd party traffic (except for emergencys)
If I want to phone my ham buddies I can use the Land line or my GSM mobile and we don't need to be both standing ouside in the yard holding Expensive bricks to our ears.
My GSM handset weighs about 130 Grams (~4.5 Oz)will standby for several days on one charge and give me about 5 hours talk time,lets me send and recive text messages (including to and from internet addresses) I can also use it without going outside. I agree that it isn't Disaster proof but I have HF,VHF and UHF equipment in my van that is.
For Disaster ops the Iridum system might have limited use, but I for one would much rather be using an Inmarsat terminal or HF radio as at least I could rely on it to work when I need it.
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by KI5YI on August 26, 2000
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Hello..............You don't have to recrystal the sat's. Transverters work just fine and that's all ground work.....Think........ I think it's a good idea and deserves some thought. 73......Jim.
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by EI6IZ on August 26, 2000
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Hello..You don't have to recrystal the sat's.
.......
I agree, but they would have to be used on the frequency that they were designed for and for the design purpose of terminal to terminal (or landline) voice comms, I.E Phone calls. I already have a phone AND it works inside the house.
......
Transverters work just fine and that's all ground work.
.......
Yes but the problem is that The iridum sats ARE NOT straightfoward transverters (like most of the HAM sats)
....Think........ I think it's a good idea and deserves some thought.
........
I am thinking about it and I think it is a really bad idea that won't work, the Iridum System is Junk, Badly designed and obselete before it even got into orbit.Iridium can't even do Call handoffs correctly.
Now if it could do Highspeed data (which it can't as it wasn't designed with DATA in mind) they might of had a market for it.
The problem is that the failure of iridium is going to make it more difficult for other, better LEO systems to get Financical backing, this is bad for everyone.
There is,In my opinion anyway, a market for LEO based comms systems but it will be for High speed data, Once you have a data link you can do voice, Iridum can't do data (at rates better than 2400 Bd) and this makes it useless, I can get nearly 2400 Bd on HF (pactor2)
Iridium cannot be 'Modified' on the ground to be anything other than a pretty poor flying cell Phone system, If it could be modified to do something usefull then there would be a market for it.
Iridium is a White Elephant and will make a pretty meteor shower.
As Hams we DO NOT need (or even have much use for) an obselete flying cell phone system which is all the iridium system can ever be.
73's De Brendan Minish EI6IZ
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by KF4KPR on August 26, 2000
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This seems like it could be a worthwile idea, maybe we could get Mototola to donate the system to the ARRL or AMSAT as a tax write off. Then since amateur radio would have ownership of the system and licenses we could lobby the FCC to reassign the frequency space to Amateur Radio, this way even if we as a hobby decided not to use the satilites we would at least gain some more precious spectrum.
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Iridium Financial/Legal Issues High As Mt.Everest
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by K1BRF on August 26, 2000
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The following are non technical comments. The residual liabilities, both financial and legal, are so sizable it would require dozens of communications lawyers for the next several years to clear the pathways to usage. Pick up the phone and call the General Counsel or CFO of MOT to receive the documents. Others have done so and walked away shaking their heads. So the problem is not technical but financial/legal. Assuming these were all wiped away, the ground costs/clearances/etc. mentioned in an earlier posting would be very sizable and the cash requirements would put it out of our price range. Again, this is well-plowed ground and MOT can send you the data. The system is still operating to a limited degree so it is not yet available - see http://www.motorola.com/satellite/info/
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Ham #'s
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Anonymous post on August 27, 2000
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Reality:
700,000 hams
10% are active = 70,000
Of the 70,000 "active" hams, only a small percentage would be interested in saving this technology (guys who are in to satellites, saving technology, promoting the hobby, etc). Lets assume optimistically that 10% would be interested:
10% of 70,000 = 7,000
Of this number you have to assume only a small percentage would be financially able to make a donation of one hundred dollars or more. Maybe some would contribute more, but they would certainly not make up the majority.
I figure best case you are talking $500,000. A long way from the numbers needed.
73
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The Real Value
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by N3HKN on August 27, 2000
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The real value is the spectrum. This may drive it into the ocean despite any other efforts.
Also, if hurdles overcome ($$), then all it takes is a well equipped PC to handle the comms. Yes, a larger computer is needed for commercial call volume.
If it were donated it would be "free & clear". That is the only way it would work. Of, course that would include the software and MAYBE a computer and ground based RF gear. A smart lawyer may be able to make a donation a better writeoff than an atmospheric burn.
The fact that it was a commercial disaster, and embittered some who bought the bricks, does not preclude it from working in other services.
I would enlist the Surrey group that manages some of the ham LEOs. If they had the code in a PC could they manage the array?
Do not let the digital nature and proprietary protocols scare you. I bet that there are one or two hams at Motorola that can help there. The legal stuff can be handled by Motorola via a free & clear donation. They have to do it anyhow. Make it an international effort. Use imagination and assume that we have it what could we do with it?
N3HKN
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Iridium
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by KC8FMR on August 27, 2000
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Unfortunately the spectrum that would go along with the Iridium sats is worth more than the sats themselves.
Jonathan | KC8FMR
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Iridium Status
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by K1BRF on August 27, 2000
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Iridium's Sky is Falling
Wired News Report
10:55 a.m. Aug. 24, 2000 PDT
Nearly a year after the Iridium phone network filed for bankruptcy protection, its chief backer is planning to take its constellation of 66 satellites out of orbit.
Motorola (MOT) said Wednesday it was finalizing a schedule to destroy the 66 satellites of Iridium LLC because the bankrupt satellite telephone it backed failed to find a buyer.
See also:
Iridium, We Hardly Knew Ye
Internet Satellites Going Cheap
Join The Wireless World
There's no biz like E-Biz
A bankruptcy court hearing originally set for Wednesday to discuss possible takeover bids for Iridium had been cancelled because no qualified buyers emerged, Motorola spokesman Scott Wyman said.
"We're putting together a final schedule to decommission the (satellite) constellation," Wyman said. "It's costing us several millions of dollars a month to maintain the network."
Motorola said the decommission schedule has not yet been completed. There was no target date to start de-orbiting the network and allowing billions of dollars of communications gear to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
Iridium spent close to $5 billion building the first-ever satellite phone service capable of transmitting calls anywhere on Earth's surface. The company filed for bankruptcy in August of 1999, however, less than a year after it began offering commercial service.
The service failed to take off for a number of reasons, including high competition from cellular phones, costly handsets, and a system which had trouble transmitting calls inside buildings.
Iridium ended commercial service March 17, but its phones continued to work in some locations. However, Motorola has been telling Iridium customers since that date that the Iridium service could end at anytime, without any advance notice.
This week, Motorola said that Iridium North America -- the service that transfers Iridium satellite calls to and from the public telephone switching network -- is scheduled to be shut down at 7 p.m. (CST) Thursday. Once the service goes down, no one will be able to place a call to or from an Iridium phone in the Americas, Iridium said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in March gave Motorola permission to destroy the satellites, Wyman said. Motorola declined to comment on the cost or the time required to destroy the $5 billion network.
Iridium, which filed for bankruptcy last year, has been searching for a buyer since March, when wireless telephone pioneer Craig McCaw scrapped a $600 million rescue plan.
In July, Merchant bank Castle Harlan said it dropped its $50 million bid to buy Iridium because it doubted the company -- which once promised communications service to anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world -- would be able to produce steady revenues.
(Reuters contributed to this report.)
Related Wired Links:
Globalstar Off to Slow Start
May. 8, 2000
Falling Globalstar Raises Fears
Mar. 27, 2000
Iridium Soaks Rower's Pipeline
Mar. 21, 2000
Iridium, We Hardly Knew Ye
Mar. 18, 2000
Copyright © 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
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Authors Final Comments
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by K8YD on August 27, 2000
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The reason I wrote this article was to make sure that the idea was considered by people knowledgeable about the subject and could make an educated decision. I keep up on most of the Ham news/happenings and had not hear of any discussions on the matter. Apparently both AMSAT and ARRL have already studied the idea and came to similar conclusions.
I thank everyone who contributed comments to the idea.
====================================================
Below is an email I received from AMSAT.
====================================================
Hello Jim,
Keith Baker AMSAT President (KB1SF) has asked me to reply to your e-mail about the Iridium satellites.
About 2 to 3 months ago we had a discussion on this at the AMSAT Board Level and on the AMSAT-BB, the results of the discussion were (regretfully) that
(1) the cost of purchase of the satellites was completely out of the financial ball park for AMSAT even with the other AMSATs around the world also participating. It is unfortunate that only a small proportion of Hams are (currently) interested in the satellite program and would be
prepared to pay for such a purchase.
(2) The Liability of maintaining these satellites in appropriate orbits (all 66) so as to avoid collision with other objects is too great, and at some time they have to be brought back to earth, they have that capability.... better let Motorola do it.
(3) they are not on Ham Frequencies and for Hams to use them it would require approval of a change of these frequencies from both the ITU and IARU, this would require approval from every jurisdiction World wide as the satellites cover the total planet.
(4) with this type of operation it might require a full time
satellite operator, again a funding problem. However I can appreciate a number of "advantages" with another 66 satellites to play with, and I do thank you for your interest. I am advised that ARRL have also looked at the Iridium situation and have arrived at the same conclusion as AMSAT.
Once more thank you for your interest in bringing this matter to the attention of AMSAT.
73 de Robin Haighton VE3FRH
Executive Vice President AMSAT-NA
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opps :o
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by K8YD on August 27, 2000
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Change the word "hear" in the third line in the above comment to "heard" :)
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by N7NBB on August 28, 2000
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Well according to the news article on CNET, which I believe (not sure) is just an Associated Press article... Motorolla estimates the cost of maintainance at around 10 Million per month.
"Iridium was given court permission to destroy the constellation in March, but Motorola has kept the satellites running at a cost it estimates at $10 million per month, hopeful that a new investor might emerge"
That would "BUMP" significantly the on going cost to the individual amateur.
Please don't take this as a FLAME... I just finished reading about the DE-ORBITING of the entire network, and yes to think about all that $$$ and technologies just burning up makes me sick (and burned up) TOO ~!
But as has been stated, the technology has been surpassed in many ways, and sometimes it *IS* best to cut your continuing losses and move on.
73 all
N7NBB
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Uridium
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by W5JON on August 28, 2000
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Anyone who has ever attended any meeting of Hams would know that it is almost impossible to get 10% to agree and 1% to fork up money on anything!
So to each of you that think it is "a great idea", get your check books out and write that check for $500,000.00
W5JON
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RE: Uridium
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by WO6T on August 28, 2000
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Cost $50mil. insurance $10 mill. per year fcc/law/ $4 mill.
thats $64 mill. ground control $10 mill. pre year,now up to $74 mill plus to replace 6 sat.s that do not work
thts as $200 mill. thats 270 mill. and thay dont work any ay. === not any good for any one == not for the Ivestors that took ther losses and ran, MICROSOFT DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO MAKE IT WORK, == LESS THAN 1000 U.S.A. HAMS HAVE SENT $ 50 BUCKS TO 100 BUCKS TO AMSAT for 3D SAT.
SO AS FAR AS money, Uridium can not be fixed at any price
it has no value, it is worthless add the transciver did cost $1000 plus, but it can not be used for HAM RADIO
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RE: Uridium
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by WO6T on August 28, 2000
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Dear Valued MOTOROLA Customer = URIDIUM LLC has ended.
Terminated 5PM (PST) Thursday Aug 24, 2000
=== see http://motorola.com/satellite/info ===
=== THATS ALL FOLKS == Uridium sk
de WO6T Mickey
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by W5HTW on August 28, 2000
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Maybe we hams should buy Verizon, while they are having labor troubles. Quick way to get all those kids using cell phones into ham radio, and they won't even know they've changed! I think, in the phone industry, they call that "getting slammed." Instead of being on US West, they'll wake up and find they are on HamSat-I, and they won't even know the difference. Sure would magically increase the number of hams. And give us a lot more population in our 800 MHZ ham band. Heck, that might make monitoring 800 MHZ legal again, since it would be a ham band.
I recall the first or second April QST I ever read. I think the story was on the radiation patter of the buried antenna. I still remember the punch line, as the antenna was buried in a marsh. All the frogs were croaking CQ.
Ed, W5HTW
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Iridium SK?
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by WN3VAW on August 29, 2000
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Technically, if you look over at Motorola's web site, Iridium isn't "dead" yet. What's been turned off is the gateway between Iridium & the Public Switched Telephone Network. So it is possible to make an Iridium-phone to Iridium-phone call, but that's all.
Brings to mind the "Bring Out Your Dead!" routine from Monty Python & the Holy Grail...
Now, anyone think that when the Iridium phone's start showing up for pennies on the surplus market, someone won't be trying to figure out a way to use them? (Whether or not they'll succeed is another matter)
73
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RE: SAVE Iridium....
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by WB6QZL on August 29, 2000
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We still may have a amateur radio use for the Iridium
satelites, as they de-orbit we can bounce radio signals
off their ion trails! 66 to go and counting.
73 Jim
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RE: Iridium SK!
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by W7DPS on August 29, 2000
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1. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the system is analog. That's probably why data transfer is only at 2400 bps.
2. From http://www.sat-net.com/L.Wood/constellations/iridium.html, "Would all those journalists writing breathless articles about how Iridium has to deorbit 66 satellites please note that ninety Iridium satellites are in orbit? See the two-line orbital element data for yourself. Thankyou."
3. I hope they bring them all down at night, so we can all stand outside and go, "OOOooooohhh, look at the pretty colors!"
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Iridium Pipedream
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by K7LA on August 30, 2000
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Dream on. The Iridium network is costing Motorola millions of dollars monthly to maintain. The amateur community can't possibly commit those kinds of resources on a go-forward basis. By the time you read this, the network will probably have been deorbited and gone up in flames - literally.
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Positive Spin
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by K1BRF on August 30, 2000
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The whole dialog about iridium, from Jim's bravely creative idea, through the responses and the comments, was, in itself, fascinating and encouraging. Even though this one can't make it into a takeoff slot, I applaud Jim for broaching his idea and hope he advances more. It was also interesting to see the span and density of knowledge that hams collectively can muster. It shows that folks are out there probing the most interesting ideas (like AMSAT) and many are directly involved in them. Bottom Line: a very positive and educational exchange.
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HDTV is the next Iridium
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by AC5WO on August 30, 2000
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The Iridium satellite phone system is unfortunately useless junk because it's so inflexible. It is a very expensive lesson to investors that in an open market, cheaper flexible solutions win and expensive solutions fail. I don't see any service that Iridium could provide that can possibly earn enough money to cover its maintenance cost. In the end, all that remains is the word "Iridium" to be used to describe a business failure much as "Edsel" did in the past.
The lessons learned from Iridium could be applied to the US digital television modulation standard and HDTV in general. The current DTV standard in the US, 8-VSB is optimized to deliver HDTV over the same range as analog TV while causing the minimum interference to analog television reception. However, it doesn't work well in the presence of dynamic multipath...people walking near indoor TV antennas, reflections off moving vehicles, etc. The standard was selected assuming outdoor TV antennas (10dB gain directional TV antennas at 30ft elevation in many tests) at a time when CC&Rs prohibit outdoor antennas in new neighborhoods and 2/3 of households get TV via cable. Meanwhile other parts of the world are using a much more flexible DTV standard that allows tradeoffs between data rate and robustness. These multi-carrier COFDM based standards allow DTV to adapt to changing demand, either greater mobility or higher data rate for HDTV. In addition, the technology for inexpensive, large, high-resolution displays necessary for the viewer to see the extra picture detail of HDTV at normal distances isn't even on the horizon. Expensive $2000 TV set, yes....<$500 TV set, no. What lesson did we already learn about the probability of success of expensive, inflexible systems?
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Irridium Concept
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by K4YJ on August 31, 2000
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NOTE: This post is authored by Steve, K4YZ from K4YJ's shack. These are my comments ONLY and not those of K4YJ.
Interesting idea.
However, how are we going to decide who gets to ride the Shuttle to recover the satellites to bring them home and modify...?!?!?
If Senator Glenn could go at age 70+, I would hope they'd take me at 45!!!!
73
de K4YZ
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IRIDIUM SATELLITES
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by K8XF on August 31, 2000
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I HAVE BEEN KEEPING UP WITH THIS SYSTEM EVER SINCE IT WAS PROPOSED YEARS AGO. ITS DEMISE IS A TESTAMENT TO POOR BUSINESS SENSE AND STUPID ENGINEERING. THE FREQUENCIES USED AND THE MASSIVE GROUND STATION NETWORK REQUIRED DOOMED THIS VENTURE FROM THE BEGINNING. IT HAS NO APPLICATION FOR AMATEUR USE. PLEASE READ UP ON THIS SUBJECT. YOU WILL THEN SEE THAT IT FOOLISH TO EVEN CONSIDER ITS USAGE UNTO THE AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE. OSCAR SATELLITE ARE STILL THE WAY TO GO....
73
MIKE, K8XF
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Iridium, No, but don't overlook uses for idle tran
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by WF0H on September 1, 2000
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It doesn't sound like the Iridium satellites have a lot to offer Ham Radio - too bad. But, I think that the amateur community should be on the lookout for unused satellite transponders. These have been used in the past to accomodate long-distance linking of amateur repeater systems. I remember a repeater owner in California who had 'connections' with a telecom company - his repeater was often linked to others around the country. This is like linking repeaters over the telephone - the satellite just becomes part of the telephone link - no long distance charges, though.
If the owners are willing to donate airtime, we should be willing to take advantage of it until, if ever, ham radio can afford its own geo-synchronous birds, or enough sun-synchronous or LEO satellites to provide reliable round-the-clock coverage.
We seem to have thousands of repeaters around the country that do nothing but ID occasionally and QRM the other idle repeaters just over the horizon. Unusued satellite transponders could change this situation. It would be great if we had several of these 'wormholes' set up as 'roundtables'. Then, local repeater operators could decide which roundtables to join with their repeater. Perhaps, they could change frequently, to provide some variety. In areas where there are many low-level repeaters, some could be dedicated to certain wormholes.
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Iridium
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by W9NET on September 2, 2000
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Hughes DirecPC system is great but it would be better if their system could have a wireless uplink capability. With the addition of some moderate power hardware and an omnidirectional antenna at the client site, low cost wireless footprint-wide and potentially worldwide uplink capability could be achieved.
Seems there has to be a way to make improvements in each Iridium sat's software to optimize the efficiency of its data-handling. If NASA could get Gallileo to work, I have hope that a similar data compression improvement could be implemented in Iridium.
OTOH, the world is full of geniuses and I can't believe a use for Iridium can't be found, unless its really impossible.
It is said to be behind its time, but with refrigerators and toasters and numerous other monitoring technology on the horizon, maybe its real use could be realized if it could wait for such technology to catch-up to it.
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Iridium
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by W0HDD on September 3, 2000
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It sounds like readers have given reasonable consideration to the use of the Iridium system. Still, two big problems. Motorola says it takes millions per month to maintain (clearly less if not supporting the phone system), but by far the biggest obstacle is the competition for frequency spectrum. Someone will buy this one out of bankruptcy for the license and they will have deeper pockets than the amateur community.
It was worth consideration! I hate to see that much money just burn up in the atmosphere. Hope for scatter!
W0HDD
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Good Idea!
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by NI6EE on September 4, 2000
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I like the fact your willing to step out with a idea, even if it doesn't fly, maybe there is spin or addition to the idea of using the "near space junk" to bloster Ham radio.
Maybe something else will come of your idea! Thanks
NI6EE
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by WB2GFR on September 4, 2000
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Hams are too cheap to go for it, if it was donated by the big M, which I think before they donate it to hams they would let it crash into the moon, the arrl would stick there two cents into it and screw it up.
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RE: Save Iridium?
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by W6AMH on September 6, 2000
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As a management consultant, I for one would like to see a copy of the Iridium business plan. If Motorla invested billions without seeing a sensible business plan, I'd be surprised.
Imagine how long the principals of this ill-conceived project will be able to ammortize their capital losses!
Sounds like a good way to get rid of a backlog of analog equipment, keep a bunch of people employed for a couple of years and then end up with a giant tax write-off.
Why would the Amateur Radio community (or anyone else) want to buy this pig in a poke?
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Save Iridium & Use for Amateur Radio
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by WB8DCW on November 10, 2000
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Since Iridium is defunct, I was able to acquire some Iridium equipment free from the organization where I work. I now have two Iridium hand held units plus part of a four channel ground station that linked Iridium to our office phone system. (only have part of it because I split it with another man here who is also a tinkerer - he got the computer parts and I got the RF parts). Maybe someday we can convince the facilities department to take the antennas down off the roof for us as well.
I am sure there must be a way to use the four, computer controlled, transceiver modules I pulled out of the ground station for amateur radio purposes and possibly even the hand-held units could be reprogrammed to work as two-way radios.
Any ideas as to where I could get information on this? Thanks!
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Save Iridium & Use for Amateur Radio
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by WO6T on July 9, 2001
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Not so Fast,
The United States GOVERMENT PAID FOR THE uses of the IRIDIUM AND HAS A LONG TERM CONTRACT with the new owner. THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD That had the MONEY TO DO IT WAS YOU.
SO Your tax money is at work NOW, JULY 9 2001
(I think it was about 3 months ago this happened .
Mickey WO6T ====
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Save Iridium & Use for Amateur Radio
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by WO6T on July 9, 2001
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P.S. I can see no need for posting any more about IRIDIUM, IT IS NOT FOR SALE, ! ! DONT GO BY THE OLD INFORMATION, Everything has changed.!! MICKEY WO6T
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