My name is Tom and my call is K5VOU. I am a life-member of AMSAT and the ARRL as well as an Extra Class license holder. I have observed both organizations at work from the inside both as a volunteer and a vendor. My satellite ground station is an old Yaesu FT-726 and the antennas are circularly polarized versions of Kent Britain's 'controlled impedance' VHF and UHF on a back yard tripod with the original KR-5400 prototype AZ-El rotor and the AMSAT tracker box connected to an X machine. I am adding an SDR receiver/panadpter asap.

BTW: The opinions expressed in this email are mine alone and you are not required to agree with them or condemn them. They are just my opinions and observations.

Here are a few observations in brief;

1) AMSAT is a meaningful organization filled with talented and well intentioned people interested in building, operating and communicating through space based radio systems via amateur radio.

2) AMSAT is composed of two special interest groups, the creators of the radio/satellites and the communicators using the satellites.

3) The creators depend on funding from the communicators.

4) The communicators depend on the creators for space based radios through which to communicate.

5) There is 'no free ride' to HEO and the communicators can not raise enough money to purchase a launch at market price.

6) There is no government funding available to AMSAT.

7) The regulatory climate is hostile to amateur radio satellites (ITAR).

Opinion;

The AMSAT paradigm needs to change to allow the creators to get more radios into space for the communicators. Well funded organizations are building satellites with radios for telemetry and perhaps communication. One possible solution to the observations is to get out of the launch business completely and for the creators to build radios for other organizations creating satellites. These radios would include the capabilities desired by the organization and also include the desired functionality for the communicators in order to get a ride to space. In essence trade radios for rides. This would allow AMSAT to use their knowledge and resources for building space based radios.