40km is a good number. If each station has a 100m mast with a microwave horn at the top, that gives line of sight on earth of 82km. Spacing them at 40km will allow for terrestrial microwave communication of the comm net as back up should the sat links be down.
Another consideration is that the broadcast power does not need to be that high for radio if it is just used for Project personnel. Project radios all have RF-preamps, so really weak signals can still be readily picked up. If the communication network is also to be used for public/civilian use, then you do need to start pumping out tens kilowatts or more of broadcast power versus several hundred watts. This may make a difference in the means to power the unmanned stations.
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12-06-2018, 11:13 AM
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