Bill. I think I owe you the favor of an apology, if you sent me something off line and I didnt reply to it. Sorry.
I will check back and make sure that 1) it didnt by accident go into junk mail and 2) I just didnt miss it in the regular folders.
We had quite a crush of email over the last few weeks...my wife and I had shotgunned out a "we are pregnant" email...and I might have just missed it.
I'll look for it tonight...
Robert WB5MZO
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:38:32 -0700 From: bill@hsmicrowave.com To: orbitjet@hotmail.com CC: rwmcgwier@gmail.com; rswart1@twcny.rr.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Volunteered
Rocky Jones wrote:
Bob
What has been remarkable about this thread, is that it has shown how dysfunctional AMSAT NA is.
Forget satelllite
It's satellite - by the way! construction etc...people point out problems with the web site and next thing you have is someone explaining who can and cannot comment on the state of the organization (to paraphrase "we dont need weak volunteers who are discouraged by no real method of being able to volunteer one has to earn the right to be critical...")
Forget the ability to answer serious questions like (and I know its annoying) As a team memb"how was the suitsat 2 program allowed to not meet the ability to use the "suits".
As a SuitSat team member, I gave you a brief answer offline and offered to get more detail if you so desired. You didn't respond. It's obvious to me that you really don't want an answer, You just want to be a boring, broken record.
So I'll repeat the simple answer, here, why we missed the suit launch. Listen up.
The SuitSat team is made up entirely of volunteers who have real jobs, families, and other responsibilities. Hey, we're just pursuing our Amateur radio HOBBY - not a professional job. Some of you folks talk like we're a Loral or Lockheed. Did you critics forget that Amateur radio satellites are a hobby - not a business?
Well, by golly, along the way technical challenges delayed progress. Jobs and families got in the way. Son of a gun - we missed schedules. I'm not offering excuses, just offering the reality of having folks on the team that aren't getting paid for their fantastic efforts.
Sure, it's not nice to have technical issues show up or to miss schedules but in the scheme of things, what have we lost - except maybe creditability in YOUR eyes. We now have a new satellite structure more suited for what we are trying to do technically - called ARRISat.
The way you've been carrying on, I am so very glad we don't have you volunteering - even to stuff envelopes. You'd probably say that we were doing that wrong too. Personally, I thought that refunding your AMSAT life membership would make me feel better, but on further reflection, AMSAT should just keep your money since it is helping fund efforts to serve it's members who appreciate what volunteers are trying to do for them and their hobby.
And if you think any of your comments have caused the ARRISat team to miss a beat on the way to our 2010 launch, then think again. This team has tackled and solved technical challenges more significant for the future of AMSAT and its members, than ANY of the issues you raise.
Regards...Bill - N6GHz
And from what I can tell no one has a clue why Suitsat 1 failed (I know it was a glorious success by just deploying) much less how to avoid a repeat of that with a much more complicated followon which is now functionally a new satellite.
And of course the whole concept of board meetings which really are not is entertaining.
The answers are "you cannot criticize "us" we are working 16 to 18 hour days doing things that no one else will do"...
and then one wonders why donations are at an all time low.
Robert WB5MZO Amsat NA life member
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