Dee (N2BF) wrote:
Keith, First, good to hear from you. Many have asked at the AMSAT booth of your whereabouts. Sorry you feel this way, however, AMSAT does have a lot of bright stars and people that try to keep everyone informed. I am "one" of the ANS editor's that try to keep the group and others in the world up to date. I am hampered by lack of information being forwarded by the various groups doing wonderful things for us. I always ask these groups to send a note or two to the ANS editor so we can keep the AMSAT members informed. I attended Dayton again this year to get scoops on items happening. The forums went well and up to date information was dispensed. ITAR is alive and well, yes, but the strings are becoming untangled. Remember, sometimes no news means that there was no progress to report. AMSAT has the Eagle project working too so don't forget about that project's needs since AMSAT has contributed many times to Phase 3E and this is AMSAT-NA's contribution to the ham community. 73, Dee, NB2F NJ AMSAT Co-ordinator
------------------- And it's nice to hear from you again as well, Dee!
Please understand, my original query was not meant, in any way, to demean the fine work of either our experimenters or those of you doing the reporting of what our experimenters are doing. So I have no feelings to be "sorry" for. And there is absolutely no need for you to apologize on behalf of the organization.
In fact, I well remember from my own experiences with Phase 3-D that there are always delicate negotiations going on behind the scenes for such things as satellite launches (particularly those of the "bargain basement" variety!)
I also know that revealing the details of those negotiations until they were completed could very well throw the proverbial "monkey wrench" into those proceedings. Few people will ever know how perilously close AMSAT came to NOT having an affordable launch for Phase 3-D as a direct result of such "loose lips" among some of our more vocal (but nonetheless still horrifically ignorant) AMSAT-BB posters.
All I was asking in my original post was if anyone had heard any "official" word on when we might expect to have P3-E in orbit. And, as you say, "no news" is often "good news", which appears to now be the case.
And, let me also say that my absence from the mainstream of AMSAT-NA activities over these last few years has had nothing to do with my harboring any ill will towards anyone in the current organization(s). Rather, I have been grappling with a whole host of daunting personal and family issues that have, of necessity, largely kept me from doing so.
As a few trusted folks within the AMSAT management team already know, those issues have involved a lengthy (and very sad) divorce along with a subsequent re-marriage to a wonderful Canadian lady named Kate (who has since become a licensed Ham in both the US and Canada).
I have also been busy getting both myself (and my teenage daughter) firmly established as permanent residents here in Canada. Needless to say, the latter has been a long and arduous process for my daughter, Emily, and me, given the fact that it has all happened in an increasingly bureaucratic, post 9/11 world.
And, as I said, my personal and family choices now also mean that I am no longer a US resident. And, judging from all the hassle we were going through with P3-D and MOST over ITAR issues when I was still President, I well realize that my "foreigner" status could also create a whole series of negative implications for any "official" participation I might have in any corporate AMSAT activities due to the stringent reporting requirements of those US laws.
So, rather than complicate those already overly-complex AMSAT organizational issues any further, I've also thought it best to simply sit on the sidelines and let others "carry the torch"...at least until someone in authority in the US Congress finally wakes up and realizes just how utterly ineffecitve (as well as fiscally devastating) ITAR has been for our own US space industry.
Rest assured, Dee, I DO keep tabs on what's going on in the organization, both by the fine work you and others are doing with the Journal, and also by the fine work our Webmaster(s) are doing with the AMSAT-NA Web site and AMSAT-BB.
As I have often said, I learned long ago that, sometimes, "help" is not "helpful". And, you folks are all doing just fine without any of my added "help"!
Please pass my best wishes to all!
73,
Keith KB1SF / VA3KSF Past President, AMSAT-NA