On 7/19/2014 4:50 PM, Phil Karn wrote:
Ah, because launches are scarce and expensive, and (re)developing even "the same old thing" consumes much of AMSAT's limited resources. And they're limited because we have yet to interest more than a tiny niche in what we're doing.
But you arguing about something that has already happened. That makes no sense. Arguing for doing something different, as you also did just a bit ago today, makes sense. Why did the U.S. go back to the moon so many times? I don't know. But we did, and that is done. You could argue now that it had been done before, why did we do it over and over, it was the same old thing. That doesn't change the facts. There is an audience for these FM satellites.
It's great to have universities looking to partner, but what do they bring to the table, really? Are we sure they're not just looking for free spectrum?
Both universities that I am working with are building amateur radio ground stations and interesting the students in becoming hams. We all benefit from that. And some other universities want to fly an ADAC system. We may benefit from that on Fox-2.
one flying soon, so that we can learn how well they work and apply those lessons to Fox-2 while we're working out the design.
We already know how well they'll work because we've done the same thing many times before. I hate to say it, but this is no longer "rocket science". The physics is well understood, and those same physics tell us how we could accomplish so much more with our (currently) limited resources.
We have already learned a great deal from an engineering process perspective, as well as about cramming a lot into a little cubesat. Not rocket science, but certainly for a large all volunteer group a valuable step toward what it will take to build something more complex. I think you over estimate the ability of an all-volunteer workforce, in terms of churning out satellites akin to how a business does it. Amateur radio is a hobby!
You see lemons. I see lemonade. But by all means, let's go for pink lemonade and keep on talking about Fox-2 opportunities while people enjoy what we have already done with the Fox-1 series!
Jerry Buxton, NØJY