- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: [amsat-bb] Publications and mailing lists
by Brennan Price 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

Bruce, There is no bylaw guidance on point here, so much of this falls to the interaction between and practices of the candidates of the day and the Secretary of the day. In this particular case, I finished verification of nominations on June 20 and asked for candidate statements by June 29. All candidates substantially complied with the timing I requested. >From that point, there are two relevant events that occur on different schedules: access to corporation mailing lists for the candidates, and the layout of the candidate statements to accompany the ballot packages. The corporation mailing list was offered to the candidates on July 3 (with individual candidates accepting either immediately or soon after), after checking to ensure that the voter list provided to Paladin met Paladin's requirements and matched the list offered to the candidates. The candidate statements required typesetting (by me--Paladin simply printed the finished product), which was concluded July 5. Typeset statements were sent to the candidates for proofing, and released for printing by me on July 6. Whether mailings a candidate may choose to undertake or commission arrive at a member's address before the ballot arrives depends on whatever actions (with the safeguards discussed below) the candidates have taken since July 3. I am not privy to any candidate's plans in this regard and don't wish to be. On the other hand, it is not possible for the candidate statements to arrive later than the ballot, as they were sent in the same package on July 14. 73 de Brennan N4QX On Monday, July 13, 2020, 11:23:15 PM EDT, Bruce Perens <bruce(a)perens.com> wrote: Brennan, Thank you very much for this discussion, and please bear with me for one more question. How much time are the candidates given to prepare, print, and have mailed their campaign documents between the time that AMSAT informs them that it ratifies their candidacy, and the time that the ballots are mailed? It seems very likely that some members will have voted before they could possibly receive the mailed campaign information. Thanks Bruce On Mon, Jul 13, 2020, 7:44 PM Brennan Price via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > I generally don't intend to engage in the ongoing discussion s beyond an announcement on process once the ballots are mailed (which they will be, tomorrow or Wednesday, on or before the date specified in the bylaws), but I do want to address what the Bylaws say about the organization's publications and mailing lists, as I think (perhaps naïvely) that would be helpful. > Article III Section 3 provides, in relevant part: > <<Duly nominated and eligible candidates shall be afforded equal opportunity to circulate statements of their qualifications and positions to the Members through the corporation’s publications and shall have use of the corporation’s mailing lists for election-related purposes at no cost to the corporation.>> > The production and publication schedule of the AMSAT Journal does not render it a suitable vehicle for candidate statements given the bylaws-mandated nomination and election timing. The absence of campaign statements from the Journal is entirely consistent with the Bylaws: no opportunity for any candidate is inherently equal opportunity for all candidates. > Traditionally, the organization has used the ballot mailing itself the relevant publication, and this is the approach that will be taken this year. The "equal opportunity" requirement and paper format (not to mention common practice across multiple organization's) necessitates a target word count, balanced to the extent possible against letting candidates have their say. All candidates met or came close to meeting the target I suggested (350 words), with the most long-winded exceeding by 14 words according to the Word 2016 word counter. Upon review, I offered the remaining candidates the chance to expand up to 364 words. None of them took the offer. All six statements will accompany the ballot, and none of them required editorial work beyond the correction of a repeated word and an excess space. I thank the candidates for making that part of the job easy. > I have construed the mailing list as the postal mailing list, which has been offered to each candidate (and thus far, five of the six have accepted the list). Data protection regulations require the corporation to take reasonable efforts to safeguard personally identifiable information, and candidates accepting the list have agreed to support those efforts by limiting use of the list for the "election-related purposes" specified in the bylaws. Two results follow: > 1) There are no election-related purposes once the election ends. Accordingly, candidates have agreed to discard the list after the election. > 2) It is common to engage agents for mailing and postage purposes. I will not hyper-officiate any candidate's choice to do so, but candidates have agreed that any agent will have access to the list only for the time necessary to execute the mailing and will be required by the candidate to discard it afterwards. > This is a reasonable effort to safeguard in light of the bylaws requirement for candidate access to mailing lists, which establishes an expectation (however infrequently it came to fruition in past) that members may receive election-related postal mail. > I think that's enough for now. > 73,Brennan Price, N4QXSecretary, AMSAT > > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >

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Election Packages mailed July 14
by Brennan Price 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

The ballots, candidate statements, and return envelopes for the 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election were prepared by Paladin Commercial Printing of Newington, Connecticut. Paladin mailed the packages from Hartford, Connecticut, on Tuesday, July 14, to members of record on July 1. Non-US addresses were sent first class (the only option for overseas). US addresses were sent presorted standard, which is routine for mail that requires a two-way response time measured in weeks, as this does. Allowing for postal delivery standards and guard time, the Secretary will not consider a ballot as lost in post any earlier than August 12 (four weeks after the mailing). This timing permits a replacement ballot to be mailed first class in both directions, even internationally, with time to spare under prevailing postal delivery standards. Paladin has shipped materials for 100 blank election packages to me. I will use these materials to assemble and mail replacement or substitute packages as necessary. These requests and packages will be tracked and accounted against the voter list and returned ballots to guard against duplicates, and will be identifiable against the package mailed by Paladin for further verification and accounting by the tellers. Members desiring a replacement ballot package should contact me no earlier than August 12. The package is clearly labeled as election-related and contains: 1) An instruction and ballot sheet, with the ballot perforated, 2) A sheet of candidate statements, and 3) A No 9 return envelope, which bears the address to which ballots should be returned and the member's name and address for verification against the voter list and any replacement ballot requests. Secrecy at the time of counting will be maintained by separating the ballot from the envelope without inspection, placing the ballot in a receptacle, and scrutinizing the ballots after all have been separated from the envelopes. Ballots should be returned in the return envelopes provided to arrive at the designated Post Office Box in Vienna, Virginia, by 5 p.m. Thursday, September 15, 2020. Separation of the ballots from the envelopes and counting will occur as soon thereafter as practicable, and no later than September 30. 73, Brennan Price, N4QX Secretary Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation

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Re: [amsat-bb] Who I'm voting for (long)
by Steve Kristoff 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

As Stephen has painted them in a negative light, I hope we can hear from Patrick and Michelle concerning their perceptions of the events described by Stephen. Steve AI9IN ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb(a)amsat.org) Date: 07/14/20 16:30 To: AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb(a)amsat.org) Subject: [amsat-bb] Who I'm voting for (long)

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AO-92 Mode L/v postponed
by Andrew Glasbrenner 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

I placed AO-92 in Mode L/v this evening at 0302Z. I tested the L band uplink and it was fine. About 6 minutes later and after I had quit listening, the voltage on the satellite dipped below 3.6v and it went into auto safe mode very briefly before exiting eclipse and rebounding. When entering auto safe mode, the L converter is reset to off. So, despite the mode change we are back into U/v. In a way this is good because auto safe mode is doing its job protecting the batteries from over discharge. Until I can work with the engineering team as to the best way forward, we'll have to postpone L/v for now. Sorry, and I'll share more when I know it. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations

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Re: [amsat-bb] Slack vs. eMail -- The medium is the message
by Daniel Schultz 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

> The benefit to Slack is having channels for each topic. In this case, > discussion about Board Membership can be in it's own channel. People who > are not interested are not required to read. That is the basic problem with American politics today. Each of us can choose our own news sources so that we hear only the news that we want to hear. When the whole country tuned in to Uncle Walt (that's Walter Cronkite for you younger folk) every night at 6:30, we still had disagreements but at least we started out with the same facts. I'm sorry if you find these political matters distracting, but as I said before, these satellites are not going to build themselves. They take extreme effort and dedication from a lot of passionate people, and any time you have more than a few of these type-A personalities assembled together, there will be disagreements. Your support of AMSAT through your dues is important, but paying dues once a year is not enough. You have to be an involved citizen of YOUR organization, you have to keep up with issues, even political issues, and you have to cast your vote wisely. And if you care enough to read Amsat-bb every day but you are not an AMSAT member, why the heck not? We need your money, but more importantly, we need your active participation. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Field Day results are due soon
by Bruce 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

Time is drawing near. If you have not submitted your field day report, you still have a little bit of time left. They are due to me at kk5do at arrl.net or kk5do at amsat.org by Friday, July 17, 2020 at 11:59 PM. Even if you only made one contact, you can still submit. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Member 2016-2020 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

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AO-27
by Steve Kristoff 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

Did AO-27 shut down in the middle of a pass over N. America in the most recent pass a few minutes ago (or was it just me)? I heard some folks and was ready to call, then nothing but static. Steve AI9IN

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Former AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Endorses N8HM, N8MH, and KK5DO
by Upward To HEO 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

We are honored to receive the endorsement of former AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, in this year's AMSAT Board of Directors election. Please read his letter at https://www.upwardtoheo.com/updates/former-amsat-president-barry-baines-wd4… While you're there, please check out our biographies and information about our plans on our website. We'd like your support. Together we will return amateur radio to HEO! 73, Paul, N8HM / Mark, N8MH / Bruce, KK5DO www.upwardtoheo.com

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Brief summary of the "unauthorized expenses" claim
by Rich Gopstein 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

First: I'm not a lawyer. These are my observations only. This is what I learned over the past few days while researching the claim that the AMSAT money spent on legal services related to the new directors was "unauthorized". - I read the AMSAT bylaws. They are very readable, BTW - and not long. - The bylaws say that expenses can be authorized either by the board itself or by the officers of AMSAT if the board delegates that authority. - If an expense went to the board for approval, it would show up in the minutes of that board meeting. - If an expense were authorized by an officer, then it wouldn't show up in the minutes of a board meeting. - The claim that the expenses were unauthorized was based on the observation that there was no record in the board meeting minutes of the authorization. However, as mentioned above, not everything has to go to the board for approval. And that decision is up to the board itself. - In this case, the members of the AMSAT board at the time said that the expenses were authorized. - Since the board has the authority to authorize expenditures (directly or indirectly) and they say the expenses were authorized, that indicates to me that the expenses were authorized. Note: Michelle and Patrick were not members of the board when this happened. They were analyzing this after the fact. Rich KD2CQ AMSAT Life Member

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Emergency Moderation Update.
by Robert Bankston 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

As you may or may not be aware, our IT department activated the Emergency Moderation feature last night. I am restoring AMSAT-BB back to full functionality; however I offer you this stern warning. If you violate AMSAT's Acceptable Use Policy, you will be individually moderated. This will serve as your first warning. A second offense will result in permanent removal from the list. Subscribing to the AMSAT-BB is a privilege, not a right. If you feel free to yell, scream, attack, and/or make false/baseless accusations, do it in your own back yard. It will not be tolerated here. Myself and my volunteer moderators are not here to babysit you. Read the AUP and understand this List is for constructive discussion, appropriate in content and respectful of the other readers. https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AMSAT_AUP_061819… understand Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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