John. I would not suggest to ignore it. But AMSAT is not DARPA and cannot in my view afford to fly technology just for technologies sake
Robert WB5MZO
There are all sorts of reasons why flying digital transponders is a good idea. Your cell phone (presuming you have one) uses digital technology to improve battery life, range, and to provide a variety of other services, including digital data, and the same benefits could be harnessed aboard amateur satellites. The desire to do so isn't just for technology's sake: it is to enable a wide variety of new capabilities that can't be achieved with conventional analog systems.
I understand the desire for being "conservative", but there is a different from being conservative and simply ignoring the revolutionary trends in communication that are enabling revolutions in phone, data and voip services.
73 Mark K6HX