Study › Amateur Extra › E2A › E2A08

E2A08

OPERATING PROCEDURES · Amateur radio in space: amateur satellites; orbital mechanics; frequencies and modes; satellite hardware; satellite operations

E2A08E2A →

Why should effective radiated power (ERP) be limited to a satellite that uses a linear transponder?

  1. ATo prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry
  2. BTo avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users
  3. CTo prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
  4. DTo avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
Why A linear transponder amplifies its whole passband at once, and the satellite's downlink transmitter has a fixed total power budget shared among every signal in that passband. Automatic gain control in the transponder sets the overall gain based on the strongest signal present, so one station running excessive ERP grabs a large share of the power and forces the gain down for everyone else. The result is that all other users' downlink signals get weaker. Good practice is to use only enough uplink power that your downlink is about as strong as the satellite's beacon, never stronger.
Watch out Telemetry corruption and out-of-band emissions are not what happens; the transponder stays linear and in band, it just redistributes its limited output power. Terrestrial interference is not the issue since you are pointing a beam skyward at a frequency the satellite is listening on.
Shared power pie: don't be louder than the beacon, or you eat everyone else's slice of downlink.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
← E2A07 All of E2A E2A09 →

The rest of E2A

  1. E2A01 What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?
  2. E2A02 Which of the following is characteristic of an inverting linear transponder?
  3. E2A03 How is an upload signal processed by an inverting linear transponder?
  4. E2A04 What is meant by the "mode" of an amateur radio satellite?
  5. E2A05 What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?
  6. E2A06 What are Keplerian elements?
  7. E2A07 Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?
  8. E2A08 Why should effective radiated power (ERP) be limited to a satellite that uses a linear transponder?
  9. E2A09 What do the terms "L band" and "S band" specify?
  10. E2A10 What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?
  11. E2A11 What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?
  12. E2A12 What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?
RG-213 Coax Cable 75ft with PL259 ConnectorsSponsored · View on Amazon →Diamond X50A Dual Band Base AntennaSponsored · View on Amazon →