Great message. I too have noticed that AO-51 is so extremely busy to the detriment of all of the others. I have used SO-50, and it's generally quieter, I'm guessing simply by virtue of it not being 51.
To be honest, the fact that I cannot run SSB full-duplex has kept me away from the linear satellites. That, and the fact that I worry about AO-7's fragility. I'd hate to be the one to blow it back into a coma.
On joining AMSAT, I received a laminated card that describes the available modes for each satellite. One of the more useful (for me) sections is a "channelized" list of frequencies for the linears. Though this probably bothers the purists, it's given me a little hope of at least attempting them since I will have a neighborhood to look for.
For those more experienced, I do have a couple of questions:
When operating an inverting linear, do you generally transmit on USB and listen LSB or visa versa?
When operating linear, what's the accepted approach to doppler correction? It seems that you would be able to transmit without any correction, but that your receive would vary a lot more - or perhaps again, visa versa?
There are a number of articles in amsat/arrl journals about getting started on FM, but considerably less written about making the transition to linears. Maybe you can help us get on!
thanks,
Scott NW2S