Re: [amsat-bb] P3D/AO40 Contingency Plan

["David M. Tipton, PhD" <tiptond@xxxxxxx>]

Jon,
That's exactly what I was getting at.  The reality is, that manufacturers 
aren't going to build radios that don't sell, and hams aren't going to buy 
rigs that serve no real purpose.  I will be calling Amsat on Monday morning 
to make my donation.  I suggest we all do so quickly, as it looks like we 
may just be needing a new bird.

Dave

At 13:28 12/17/00 -0600, Jon Ogden wrote:
>on 12/17/00 11:47 AM, David M. Tipton, PhD at tiptond@psi.com wrote:
>
> > God forbid, but if AO-40 does not come back to life, are we to believe that
> > it will take another 10 years to put another satellite up that would have
> > the High Orbit characteristics?  It seems that unless you're a LEO junky
> > (Like myself), most people would be swayed from getting into this aspect of
> > the hobby.
>
>Dave,
>
>Yours is a good question and one that needs to be seriously considered.  I
>don't know if AMSAT could undertake another AO-40 type project since they
>are already $300K in the red at this point.  However, I feel that another
>P3D type will certainly need to be built.  But that will take a serious
>amount of time and amateur satellite operations will suffer horribly.  What
>needs to be done is an interim satellite that can be built and launched
>within a year.
>
>Someone mentioned the idea of a "P3C light" - An AO-13 size bird that would
>sit on the ASAP ring of an Ariane V.  The bird would just stay in the
>geosynchronous transfer orbit.  That is not a bad idea at all.  A mode U/V
>or V/U bird could be built and launched pretty quickly, IMHO.  Then once a
>large coverage bird is up there, we could begin building the next big baby.
>
>If something like this doesn't happen, we'll see the radio manufacturers
>stop making radios for satellites, etc.  For example, if AO-40 is dead,
>Kenwood and Icom will get burned horribly on their new radios - sales will
>dry up.
>
>I hate to say it, but the statements I see from the command team: "We don't
>know when the rest may happen." are full of doubts.  I really hope the bird
>does come back, but I am beginning to fear the worst - that we hams have
>launched yet another piece of space junk.  Such is life.......
>
>I hope and pray I am wrong.
>
>73,
>
>Jon
>NA9D
>
>-------------------------------------
>Jon Ogden
>NA9D (ex: KE9NA)
>
>Member:  ARRL, AMSAT, DXCC, NRA
>
>http://www.qsl.net/ke9na
>
>My President is George W. Bush -> The legal winner in Florida


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