I am always amused by FD on the FM birds, and even more so the post-action comments that:
1) Don't understand what 2600 FM carriers on the input of an FM repeater does 2) Think that the other 2599 are LIDS and KIDS and are abusing the system 3) But they are doing it right by calling CQ with 5 watts 4) Have high expectations of making a contact 5) And then blame others when they don't. 6) Build up public expectations during demos and then fail miserably 7) etc etc...
Everyone with a license should know what "doubling" on an FM repeater sounds like. Now multiply that by 2600 and you should have ZERO expectation of anyone getting through... EXCEPT those that are 10 dB closer to the repeater, or 10 dB stronger than EVERYONE ELSE. In space, everyone is somewhere between 400 to 1500 miles away, so there is only a small discrimination in range (but it does give everyone a slightly better chance for a minute or 2).
Even if EVERYONE ran 5 watts, still absolutely no one would get through. Even if only 10% are actually key-down for 1 second to see if they can get in, that is still 260 signals at 5W each or about 1300 W. (continuous horizon to horizon).
Thank goodness a few people ran enough power to overcome the input NOISE floor and made a contact so that those of us doing RECEIVE-ONLY Demo's had something to demo. And to educate observers about the nature of a single channel FM bird... and a few comments about human nature.
Having high expectations and then condemning other operators is the wrong way to demo ham radio. It only shows that one does not have a good understanding of the system, of RF, and of human nature. Everyone should read the "Tragedy of the commons". We have known about this problem of human nature for hundreds of years. It's amazing how many people have to learn it every year at FD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Remember, the THEM is you and me.
Bob, Wb4APR