3 ms·
Commercial FM transmitters routinely have outputs on the order of several kW, and have ranges in the low hundred kilometres. The lowest low earth orbit is 160 k
by mseebach 11y ago
Commercial FM transmitters routinely have outputs on the order of several kW, and have ranges in the low hundred kilometres. The lowest low earth orbit is 160 km, TubeSats are in 320 km orbits.
I doubt you could fit enough PV cells on a TubeSat to power a FM transmitter that could be heard on earth with standard equipment.
- viraptor 11y agoI guess it's a question of what's the squelch level in retail radios. It's FM modulation, so it doesn't have to be very strong - just high enough above the noise level. Also local transmitters are either omnidirectional, or it's a few wide-angle antennas that need to send the signal over hills / through buildings, etc. From space you could easily do only ~20 degrees and there's practically nothing in your way. For comparison, LEO weather satellites send data at around 6-7W (not kW).