AO-40 (sobsob) type orbit-everyone gets it Bob W7LRD

On 06/17/2020 2:45 PM Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:

On 06/17/20 15:54, Matthias Bopp wrote:

...

A big credit goes to the president of AMSAT-DL Peter DB2OS who personally initiated / arranged this opportunity and to him and his team for guiding the development of the payload and building the groundsegment with multiple groundstations in Qatar and Germany.

This is no small feat, to be sure, but here's why it doesn't "blow my skirt up":

1. No tracking, store-and-forward, or Doppler correction -- Might as

well be a repeater on a very tall tower. Plus, RF doesn't propogate through the planet very well. :-)

2. No amateur-built hardware on the satellite -- Yes, specifying and

overseeing development takes a LOT of work. I do this for my day job, not satellites, but just as complex. However, designing, building, testing, and deploying amateur-built hardware is what I feel AMSAT is all about.

3. No management of the satellite by control stations, with all the

planning and problems-to-be-solved that brings.

I find that the journey is the part I like, with the destination being a fleeting moment at the end.

This is my $0.02 and I speak only for myself.

--- Zach N0ZGO

(Now where did I put the rest of those parts for my rotator ...) _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb