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WG3K > PACSAT 12.01.25 01:39l 15 Lines 2202 Bytes #276 (0) @ WW
BID : 12311_WG3K
Read: GUEST
Subj: New PACSAT satellites coming?
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<K7EK<KA1VSC<WG3K
Sent: 250112/0019Z 12311@WG3K.#SMD.MD.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
Earlier this evening I went digging into the AMSAT website looking to see if any PACSAT satellites still exist. (Spoiler alert, they don't.) I did find some new discussions, including a presentation that was made back in 2022 at the AMSAT Symposium that seems to suggest that new hardware and software is being developed. With this development, I have hope that we might see some new PACSAT satellites flying which could be used to move messages around on our network!
For those that don't know, PACSAT is a protocol for sending and receiving "files" through a satellite. (A file could be a message, binary data, an image, etc.) These satellites basically announce themselves while passing over and a ground station can listen to "files" being downlinked and copy them, along with every other ground station within the satellite footprint. The ground station can also uplink files it has pending to be sent, grab a directory of the files currently on the satellite, and request delivery of certain files from the satellite. Any incomplete file downlinks can be continued during the next pass of the satellite.
How would this fit into our current BBS network? Say that my station is the ground station for Maryland (MD.USA.NOAM), my ground station could request any files for stations that have an address that ends in MD.USA.NOAM that havne't already been delivered to someone else. Once my ground station has these files, they can be sent over to the BBS for delivery on the terrestrial radio network.
Many BBS links, today, are accomplished using connections over the Internet and wouldn't immediately benefit from satellite connectivity. But these satellites could provide connectivity from areas without Internet access (rural or disaster areas) or as a means of reducing some of our commercial network connections. These satellites could also provide a backup to our current links.
An overview of the PACSAT protocol can be found at https://tapr.org/pdf/CNC1990-PacSatOverview-NK6K-K8KA.pdf.
I don't see a website specifically discussing the future of PACSAT in AMSAT(-NA), unfortunately. As I find additional information on the subject, I'll try to pass it along.
73,
Eric WG3K
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