I've been looking at getting setup to use those oscars over which one can actually communicate via sound, spoken words, voice, etc. in real time. I have little to no interest in listening to/for things that simply take bandwidth to go beep beep or even send telemetry. I'm not really interested in packet either. (there's enough terrestrial APRS coverage that I really have no need for APRS sat coverage either.) So given what is presently or soon will be operational, are there any transponders (fm or linear/ssb) that I would be unable to work with 2 M2 eggbeater antennas (1 each for 2M & 70cm) and a TS-2000X multimode radio, possibly with the addition of a good low noise preamp for each band? does anything on orbit or planned really require the use of directional high gain antennas and a rotator to use effectively, or should the above be expected to be suitable for sat work for the foreseeable future given my interests?
(yes, I know many sats can be worked with an HT and directional antenna. I've done it. Now I'm looking to put something together that I can simply sit down and use, does not require doing a strange dance across the yard or a public park and having to explain to PD that I'm not a terrorist trying to contact space aliens...., and basically points and tunes itself over the period of a given pass with only minor if any adjustment other than keying and unkeying the mic.... eventually I'd like to possibly adapt this to mobile operation for use while driving. What operating would I NEED rotors and directional antennas?)
Thanks,
Eric AF6EP