Wow,

This certainly brought about heavy criticism from the satellite community. I for one encourage this discussion. It seems to break down to having a satellite that is a linear bird and wide enough to let everyone find a good spot and communicate- something like the HF bands provided this past weekend.

It seems that the Field day ops would like to see another HEO or MEO linear since most of them came armed for this type of bird usage. The FM birds are not a useful item for the one QSO that is needed for these 100 points. I had an ARROW that was split up on a Yaesu rotor with LVB tracker controlling the antenna and rig. This was a great conversation demo while waiting for a pass. Many interested operators and satellite user wanabees came to look at the neat stuff.

Unfortunately, In order to get another HEO or MEO bird the class of OSCAR 10, 13, and/or 40 will take a campaign that will ask us operators to dig deep into our pockets to produce such a satellite. With ITAR in recent memory as a roadblock to international co-operation, collaboration between AMSAT organizations is at an impasse. Yes, the smaller more compact cubesats are filled with the newest technology and I believe that this is the way to go. ARRISat is due to be dropped off in orbit in July and has this type of electronics. Another LEO.

I will be monitoring and keeping track of people that are reminiscing about the linear birds we used in the past and were able to satisfy the needs of all that wanted to have a QSO via Satellites. If you feel like me about a new campaign, it is going to have a big price tag. This is why we assist the higher learning institutions to assemble a linear bird along with their experiments since they have the money to put them together along with a "launch opportunity." This saves the satellite community very hard to find funding.

Dee Interdonato, NB2F

Dee Interdonato

118 Westervelt Place

Lodi, NJ 07644

973-772-8229