[amsat-bb] Rebuttal to L Mode Attacks

["James Tudehope" <James@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My thanks to OZ1MY for his rational comments in a previous post.
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" It is no good to stamp Italian radio amateurs as the problem.
The problem is with the individual person weather Italian,
Danish, American or any other nationality.

The last trend with anonymous postings on the AO-40 logger is
non-productive. "
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Here is a sample of the postings I viewed on
http://www.artieda.net/hb9dri/ao40logger/

27.01.2004 20:55:59 XQ3SA Many tnx to all stations who operate in 23 cm with
excessive power .... Shutdown L1  if AO-40 is still alive !!!

The implied conclusion is 23cm ops have destroyed AO-40.  Are you sure about
that conclusion ?  I must disagree with the conclusion until I see more
facts.

27.01.2004 13:04:26 AO-40 IHU crashed due to low voltage. Many Thanks to the
23 cm Alligators ! ...

Here is an anonymous operator who makes the conclusion that the 23 cm group
has destroyed AO-40.  Is that really the case ?  Is anyone associated with
Amsat making the same argument ?  If so I haven't heard it yet.  Please
inform me.  Does this operator have superior knowledge about the true cause
and effect ?  I doubt it.

27.01.2004  14:22:29  QRPer  Your're right... Italian alligators... All the
orbit... All the time... STRONGER THAN THE MB !!!

Who ever this person is seems afraid to identify himself other than we see
his/her IP address as 62.37.90.249.  If it were a valid argument ( L mode
ops killed AO-40 ) then no one should be ashamed to identify themselves to
the world and defend their case.  If you are correct then how is anyone else
suppose to arrive at the same conclusion without any supporting evidence and
debate ? Identify yourself, stand and deliver !  Prove the argument that L
banders destroyed AO-40.  If not then be quiet.

Perhaps the best solution is to block the IP addresses of such individuals
who wish to remain anonymous to prevent them from using the posting services
?  Their comments are destructive to the relationship between operators and
threatens an already tenuous hobby.  Amsat needs all the support it can get
to finance future projects.  Do you want to alienate every L bander to the
point they all abandon the hobby ?   Wouldn't that hurt your cause to
finance and launch new satellites ?

I operate L band and have thousands of dollars invested in my satellite
system.  I think in general L banders have a higher cost than most U banders
for their station setup.  Do you think that I, or any other L band operator,
wishes to see AO-40 crash and burn thus making our investment worthless ?
Think again.  If one person has twice as much money invested in an
earthstation it makes sense that this individual would have twice the
concern about losing his investment.   I suggest that L banders have more
interest in seeing a healthy bird than U banders based on their higher
financial outlay.

As an L band operator I disagree with the negative comments I am reading in
the public forum.  For the first time I sense some real hostility towards L
band operators as viewed on the AO-40 Activity Logger .  I choose to respond
and at a very minimum simply say that I disagree with the messages that I am
reading.  As an L band operator reading such comments does not make me feel
welcome in the satellite community.  I think it creates and perpetuates a
negative bias against all L mode operators.   Is this the message of the
majority to be biased against L mode operators and blame them for AO-40's
current problems ?

26.01.2004  20:20:22  PA3BWK   Shut down the L band, that will solve the
problem

If you were to look at shutting down a mode then which mode would be the
best one to keep ?   U mode has QRM from terrestrial sources, UHF FM, radar
and so on that seems to cause much higher AGC action and false Leila
triggers.   The L mode seems free from these problems.   So if anyone were
to argue about shutting down a mode it would make sense to keep the best
mode in operation.  In my opinion L mode works better than U mode and would
be the logical choice to keep in operation.  This posting is just an
emotional response to "punish" L mode operators as the perceived cause of
AO-40's problems.

26.01.2004  06:11:59  K0BLT  I hope the L banders have learned their
lesson!!

This argument assumes the L banders have destroyed AO-40 ?   Is that really
true ?   I am an L bander.  What lesson is it I am suppose to be learning
from these messages anyway ?

26.01.2004  06:06:50  F/HB9RM  For a long time some OMs use incredible ERP
in L mode to the detriment of all ...

Perhaps the best solution is for all operators to politely inform anyone who
is stronger than the MB to reduce power and if they persist refuse to QSO
with them.  I ask all hams how many QSOs did you have with these operators
that you identified as stronger than the MB ?   If you choose to QSO with
them then aren't you part of the problem and in fact encouraging the
unwelcome behavior ?  Think of all the power and battery life you could have
saved by simply refusing to QSO with any bad actors on the transponder.  Any
operator who ever QSO'd with a station they identified as louder than the MB
and did nothing about it is equally guilty of encouraging excessive power
drain on the transponder.  The posted statement indicates the issue went on
for a long time thus proving that many other operators QSO'd with these bad
actors without addressing the problem.  Perhaps the best solution is for all
operators to identify any bad actors, persuade them to modify their behavior
and bring them back into the fold so everyone is in compliance with the
accepted operating practices.

Paul Harvey once said "Life is too short to spend with a kicking mule."  If
this L mode lynch mob mule keeps kicking then maybe soon some will conclude
it's time to find a new hobby.   If you choose to alienate fellow L mode
operators and they leave the hobby then break out your check books because
that next launch will be twice as expensive, or more,  per capita for who
ever is left as an Amsat member.  Before some of you write that next
negative post about L mode ops consider this.  It is in everyone's best
interest to have the largest number of contributing Amsat members as
possible.

73,

Jim Tudehope KL7QR
AMSAT # 27264
Ham Site: http://members.cox.net/jtudehope/KL7QR.htm
Stereoscopic Photography: http://members.cox.net/jtudehope/stereoscopic/


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