Hi Les,
I think Amsat would love to put something like this up there, but I think it comes down to how deep your pockets are, I suspect the people behind Es'hail-2 have a little more free cash than Amsat does. That said, I would think ARES types would go crazy for 24/7 access to a satellite, not to mention other disaster relief types. Maybe Amsat needs to be approaching them (if they haven't already) to sell them on the benefits of continent-wide radio coverage with portable equipment and no need to worry about changing propagation conditions.
Myself, I would miss the challenge of predicting satellite orbits and manipulating handheld antennas to aim at satellites as they pass over. Operating through a geostationary satellite presents a technical and financial challenge to build or acquire the necessary equipment. After that it sounds to me like we're just picking up the phone to talk to someone. VUCC, DXCC etc. could probably be banged off in a weekend. Not quite the same feeling of accomplishment. Anyway, that's just me. I'm sure many others can't wait!
73, Ken Alexander (still VE3HLS) So Phisai, Thailand Blog: bueng-ken.com
On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 9:57 AM Les Rayburn les@highnoonfilm.com wrote:
:-)
After listening to the WebSDR of Oscar-100 for nearly 24 hours now, it’s easy to imagine how my parents must have felt on October 4, 1957 as Sputnik transmitted it’s “beep beep beep” message to the world. Everything had changed in an instant.
A geostationary hamsat is a quantum leap forward—and I confess to feeling a twinge of disappointment that someone other than AMSAT-NA accomplished this feat first.
As a teenager, I remember driving a friends brand new, 1974 Corvette Stingray. My first thought was “Man! I gotta get me one of these!” Color me jealous.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member
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