On 9/24/12, Bob- W7LRD w7lrd@comcast.net wrote:
What if we convince a consortium of educational institutions they need a HEO. Do educational institutions have to pay the going rate?
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If my alma mater is an indication, it might be a waste of time trying to convince a lot of educational institutions to put anything into orbit, let alone an amateur radio satellite.
Several years ago, I attended an alumni function hosted by the department where I studied for my last 2 degrees (a master's in electrical engineering and a Ph. D. in electrical and computer engineering). I asked the chairman at the time why there was no interest in amateur radio in the department, figuring that it has covers many of the topics taught by the professors there plus it's a fun activity in which the students could use the technical knowledge that they learned.
His answer was along the lines of "no interest" or "not popular". In other words, amateur radio doesn't bring in large research grants and corresponding bragging rights which the department could use against its competitors at other universities. Since it doesn't have the same pizzazz as, say, nanotechnology or wearable computers, why bother? Besides, isn't amateur radio obsolete technology? (Of course, it didn't surprise me that he didn't know what D-STAR was.)
However, I'd bet if a "leading" university would get involved in amateur radio satellites, a lot of engineering and physics departments would be falling all over themselves trying to get one into orbit.
Meanwhile, my alma mater wonders why it's been years since I donated any money....
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL