Well my point exactly. Somebody a while back jokingly put the concept out to tape 2 woxoun ht's together, mount 2 antennas on some solar panels and throw the thing out the window ...
I mean just think about it for a second: : take a 2 U cubesat frame, put the guts of 2 HT's in there, together with a battery and some charging electronics, mount antennas and of you go ?
Do you think that will pass thermal, vaccuum or vibration testing? Without that, you aren't getting on a launch, period. Designing, building, testing, and passing those tests, takes effort, time, and money.
Do we really _need_ remote command capability ?
Yes, it's a regulatory requirement. If your satellite interferes with some other system, say a SARSAT or early launch warning satellite, you have to have the ability to shut it down.
I mean the concepts of Fox & friends and great. But I think we are at the 'less is more' point. I think many of us would prefer a simple-and-dirty fm repeating sat which is actually flying, rather then all the great plans and concepts which take years and many many dollars to complete. ARISSAT was great, that the antenna was missing not our fault. Cant we put another ARISSAT in cubesat format together rather >quickly, instead of re-inventing the wheel over and over again ?
I agree with the sentiment, and have made the argument myself many times, as some of the AMSAT engineering guys will loudly attest to. However, there is a minimum level of responsibility and sophistication that has to go into a satellite to meet launch requirements, and regulatory requirements. The division of Fox into two satellites, one simple, and one more complex, is an attempt to address the urgency of the situation now. A pair of HTs strapped together would likely just make it harder to get on the next launch.
What we CAN do is provide two-way packages to other, usually larger, missions for inclusion into their satellites. SO-67 and UKube are good examples of this, but it could certainly be tried more often.
73, Drew KO4MA