Expanding on my previous thoughts pasted at bottom...
It seems to me that the 'easy" thing has run it's course. Again, just one mans opinion but I think if you had some sort of setup outside a hamfest with a card table and a folding chair, a sat rig and an Arduino based rotator controller running off a laptop or I-pad and antennas on a "WRAPS" ( I think?) type tripod tracking both Azimuth and Elevation, you'd attract the more technically savvy hams. Probably more youth too. I know in my model railroading hobby that the fact we can now run trains with a smart phone is a big draw. Back in the day, on the not so great passes, I would sometimes fire up the shack computer and my BASIC STAMP based Sabretrack homebrew rotor controller and walk outside and watch my old surplus OR-360 TV rotators moving my homebrew antennas to track the sat across the sky. To me there was a certain "coolness factor" in that which can't be matched by the guy holding the antenna in his hand and waving it about. In fact, my whole idea in buying the beat up telescope tripod was to sit outside at a table with a couple of HT's and my old notebook computer driving the thing with a couple of light weight antennas on board. Yes, I know that I don't necessarily need to track elevation with an LEO but watching the antennas track both is awesome to me. I think we miss the boat sometimes by constantly harping on and touting the "easy" aspect of it. Sometimes complex and high tech is more attractive. Digital modes, SDR and computers have made HF radio hi tech and cool again, at least for me, yet the sat hobby seems to be bending over backwards to over simplify and make things BORRRING! Even model railroads are computer controlled these days! It doesn't have to be super expensive either. An Arduino and some DC motors and gears can be had for less than the cost of a meal for four at Mickey D's. All my OR-360's were was Mabuchi style hobby motors hooked to a gear train. You controlled direction by switching polarity of 12VDC sent up the line and they had position pot feedback. EasyComm format for AZ/EL. But hey, what do I know, I've only been in this hobby forty one years. Just my opinion anyway. That and five bucks will get you a "Venti" designer coffee at Starbucks.
73,
Michael, W4HIJ
Just from the outside looking in...
AMSAT APPEARS only to be interested in hoisting flying repeaters and PACSAT/APRS and showing the average ham how "easy" it is to work sats with a handheld and a simple antenna. I guess that's all well and good but I didn't get in the sat end of the hobby for "easy". I wanted a new challenge. I was too late for A0-40 because of lack of funds for a station but I did have fun for awhile chasing AO-51, FO-29, AO-7 etc. with a TS-2000X and a homebrew rotator and antenna system. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I needed family funds so the Kenwood hit Ebay and I'm inactive on the birds now. I sometimes consider buying a couple of Baofengs (you should ALWAYS operate full duplex but that's another thread) and getting back in on the cheap, I even recently bought a beat up old telescope with a computer tracking tripod system I spotted at Goodwill, but honestly, the challenge isn't there to give me motivation.
Before everyone flames me, as I said, this is from the outside looking in and just one man's opinion. I really wish AMSAT would do something, anything, to change my perception. Seems to me I saw something about a YL running for the board who's interested in open sourcing stuff. Her candidate statement was IMHO, a much needed breath of fresh air but I'm no longer a member and don't keep up so no idea if she got elected. If AMSAT wants my membership and donation dollars back, they need to change perception and I suspect there are many out here in the community who feel the way I do.