Exactly. Why anyone would think that an FM bird in LEO is a viable means of emergency communications is beyond me. And then past that if it was the "only means left" why anyone would be surprised that the people needing the comm capability (such as it is) are not going to use whatever ERP it is going to take to get into the bird is beyond me as well.
Most of the complaints strike me as silly. With the technical limitations of an FM bird in LEO the notion of expecting anything different then what exist now is almost tooth fairy like. In the end if FM birds are what the folks and organizations who build satellites want to launch, this is the kind of "operating" environment that they are going to encourage. The argument that "we have to build satellites" that are popular is self fulfilling.
Robert G. Oler WB5MZO (life member ARRL, AMSAT NARS)
From: nigel@ngunn.net To: w1pa@hotmail.com CC: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FD Mess
A bigger FD problem is that FD is advertised as a chance to demonstrate your emergency comms ability to Joe Public. FD is NOT a contest so why are points and bonuses involved at all?