On Tuesday 07 October 2008 15:20:17 Dave Guimont wrote:
Your comment that the League is not interested in satellite operations is, in my opinion, also proper. I posted a few weeks ago here on the AMSAT BB my "first impressions" . I had operated satellites in 1974-1976. Upon my
Jim, and others,
I gave up on ARRL a long time ago...They promote what they can sell. The paucity of information regarding satellites was their standard. I have no idea of what they are doing today.
Seems like we have a role reversal...AMSAT is promoting ARRL, and to what benefit for the amateur radio satellite program is a mystery to me??
Some connection there, obviously, maybe someone can explain it??
73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1@san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...
I think thats unfair, Dave. The ARRL has a ton of interests and tries to do a tremendous amount of stuff with a fairly small budget. They try (and, are sometimes trying), and they do a lot of good.
If you aren't satisifed with their talk of staellites, and I can understand why, it would be best if you worked on teaching them and getting them to really understand.
Don't say that you've tried and failed. I'll believe you, but failures simply mean that it hasn't been brought up enough. This goes for any of the speciality modes that ham radio has. I've heard plenty of groussing on other mailing lists too, for perceived slights by the ARRL from other smaller speciality communities.
The ARRL is all we have. There is no point to try and create something else because I don't think enough people could/would ever step up to do anything, not that I think it would be reasonable to do that. Instead, I think it is encumbant upon ALL amateurs to step up and help the ARRL, to reshape it in such a way as to accurately reflect the wishes and desires of the groups that make up all the interests in our hobby.
What this means is Politics meets Ham Radio.
Politics is the interaction between people, say about three of more of them. An entity like the ARRL has internal politics, and deals with *real world* politics, like BPL. Sometimes, they make some pretty stunning wins, like the recent crabbing they did with regard to the FCC's proceedural moves with BPL. That helped ham radio hugely, for it reminded the FCC that the little puny ham community can create legal muster that has to be reckoned with, not to mention the actual problems with BPL itself.
The ARRL is hardly perfect. They've come a long way however, and with our help they will improve. If anyone reading this has given up on them in disgust, please remember that first (or even fifth) efforts at things might not work, and one needs to plug away at the cause...
Sending reasoned discourse to them--and getting your friends to do that as well--is a start to changing the VUCC regs, or whatever.
But let us not give up on the entity that is us. Instead let us work on changing the parts that need it.
--STeve Andre' wb8wsf en82