>> ... because since 2004 when AO-51 was operational a lot of Hams invested a >> lot of money to buy FM hand held equipments, Arrow antennas and ELK antennas to work ...
Huh? 2004 was the year the Yaesu FT-60R was released. For under $200. The Kenwood TH-D7 was available - always a battery hog, but expensive due to its TNC/APRS capabilities. To say that we blew our collective wads on "hand held equipment" for working FM birds doesn't make sense to me. And I was working at the US' largest ham radio equipment dealer then: that phenomenon did not occur. >> ... if AO-51 will be in trouble for a long time and if a similar satellite >> will not replace it than a lot of money all around the world has been invested in FM equipment for very small ... The equipment purchased to work the FM sats covers the two most popular voice bands in the US, if not the planet. There's no "handheld equipment" that is exclusively made for sat work. >> ... The situation for the linear satellite users is very bad as well because HO-68 was only activated for a limited numbar of orbits ... I do not understand why some folks are so hot for '68. Its primary mission was never going to be "amateur radio." It is run by the Chinese, who could really care less about what we would like to see happen with it. (Sorry, my wife has been to Tibet three times in the past five years, and has some really illustrative stories on how obscenely the Chinese treat some very peaceful people.) The Chinese projects have little or no interest for me. >> ... I don't have any information about the Fox project ... Right at the top of the AMSAT-org Web site you will find ... http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/ >> ... I wanted a HEO so bad! When I win the lottery, we'll have a geo-synchronous bird above North America ... Clint, K6LCS _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
