Re: [amsat-bb] The next satellite

["Robert Oler" <cvn65vf94@xxxxxxx>]

Jon.

<snobs<
What amazes me is that people forget that this is really just a hobby.  It 
should be a "fun" thing to do and to the extent that it is personally fun 
(and of course legal) then thats the extent to which one should enjoy it.  
It doesnt matter wheather or not your fun is CW, 2 meter HT's or DSP or well 
the satellites.  If you are enjoying the hobby then your doing good.

So I alwasy shake my head when people refer to those operating a particular 
mode as "snobs" or when they belittle people for not operating "their mode" 
(what did one person...not you of course say to a person who submitted their 
AMSAT resignation..which I thought in itself was silly...dont let the door 
hit your HT on the way out or something)

Folks of either ilk will be convinced of almost nothing other then their set 
beliefs so I really dont try.

It also strikes me that someone who is so uninformed about the current 
status of AO-40 to think that it is totally dead (my guess is that they read 
it was at one point...which it darn near was...and tuned out and assummed 
that it still is) ISNT/WASNT likely to support any satellite period with 
cash.

I dont have the numbers but I bet that there hasnt been a statistically 
significant drop in AMSAT membership...

I would imagine that eventually a couple of good QST/CQ/73 etc magazine 
articles will discuss its current status and what its uses are and that will 
vanish that fog.

AMSAT NA would I think promote this process if it came out with a frank 
assesement of what caused the problems, what lessons were learned (and its 
not just ...no propulsion), and what the plans are to create a viable 
satellite constellation that is not just one bird deep.

<<>The fact is that MOST people hear rumors or read a headline in QST, 73, 
or
>CQ.  They don't bother to look into the facts.  Then these people go
>spreading what they believe to be truth, but the fact is they didn't take
>the time to inform themselves.  There is no excuse in today's modern age of
>communication to not be properly informed.  If you are going to comment
>publicly on some subject such as AO-40 and/or Amsat, you have no excuse if
>you have not properly educated yourself.<<

this is the human condition...and its true in almost everything.  Its called 
"more heat then light" and its just something one has to live with...grin


Robert Oler WB5MZO Houston TX



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