It is interesting that an organization like AMSAT, one that is trying to increase membership and raise funds for a new satellite, would try to limit the usefulness of its prime satellite to a few dozen stations (number based on WA4SCA's message from earlier today regarding L/U activity during Field Day last year) during the busiest on-air activity for hams across North America. Yes, V/U may be chaotic, no matter if the uplink mode is FM or SSB for Field Day. Work 20m SSB during Field Day, and that is also chaotic. We don't try to have ARRL rule out using SSB or CW on 20m during that weekend. Even V/U FM on AO-51 is a "good mode when everyone behaves", ;-)
No one is trying to limit the the usefulness. Exactly the opposite, the idea is to pick the mode that is the MOST useful. It's a quantity versus quality problem. On a typical V/U FM Field Day pass, very few contacts actually get made, and most of the pass (at least on the east coast) is nothing but a fragmented dogpile of pieces of calls, whistles, blowing in the mike, etc. Some people enjoy that, others walk away in disgust, and think "why would I want to be part of that mess".
It's my contention that we pick a mode on AO-51 that provides a more challenging goal for the technically inclined portion of the hobby, encourages clubs to actively seek help from their local AMSAT types, and provides a more civilized environment on just one of the eight LEOs likely to be active that weekend. Think of it as showcasing what amateur satellites can be like on days other than Field Day. By limiting the accessibility, we improve the quality of the experience for those actively participating, and just listening. Again, AO-51 is one of many satellites. If it were just AO-51, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
One option that hasn't been floated is trying a mode switch on the early AM Sunday pass. We could go from L/U to V/U very easily. If we do this, I'd like to work with Bruce and actually count the number of QSOs reported per mode.
73, Drew KO4MA
73, Drew KO4MA