Well Paul, If you think about it. We might still have a few thousand folks left that are still members of one or more AMSATs. Maybe 10% or less are active at all. For example, the last two passes (a few minutes ago) on SO-50 (2 active). FO-29 (2 active). So, the big question for me is why would anyone spend $10Million for a few hundred folks (or less) to chat on a HEO satellite. The answer for me is simple: No one!
The key is to find additional incentives (PR, payloads, science etc) which Amsat is doing by focusing on STEM, working with universities and looking at new and innovative ways. That's the same route AMSAT-DL has been trying for years. Unfortunately, with all their efforts their own government did not even support them. Also, if you look at the current funding stream from NASA, ESA and others. For example, $1 Million will support a multitude of cubesats in LEO helping students and universities everywhere. ESA supports HamTV on the ISS. Why, because it is great PR, connects thousands of students and classrooms to the astronauts and builds future human capacity in science and engineering. Bottom line: It is all in the package and ragchewing hams is the least attractive :-) Stefan, VE4NSA On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 8:40 AM, Paul Stoetzer <n...@arrl.net> wrote: > We need a very wealthy individual or two to get into the hobby and decide > they want to work a HEO! If I were to win the lottery or somehow come into > a few tens of millions of dollars, I'd pony up for the launch. > > Honestly, though, the numbers aren't completely unrealistic. A long and > coordinated worldwide fundraising campaign could get it done. However, the > website includes the following sentence: > > "The P3E-satellite should be ready for launch by mid-2007." > > http://www.p3e-satellite.org/en_EN/amsat.html > > Who's going to donate to a project when the website hasn't even been > updated in over six years? I see it mentioned often that P3E is > "essentially ready to go." If that's the case, why not press forward. As a > relative newcomer, I'm often frustrated about the lack of updates about > anything and websites that are wildly out of date. I know that everyone is > a volunteer and busy with other things, but would it be so difficult to > send out an update about what's going on once in a while? For example, > TurkSat-3USAT was launched back in April. There have been absolutely no > updates from anyone about what happened. Obviously the beacon is not > transmitting and the transponder is not on, but what happened? Is there > hope for recovery? If it has failed, the entire community could benefit > from knowledge about what has happened so that similar failures don't > happen in the future. Then there is AO-27. The website was last updated in > January saying it will be several months before they know if the satellite > can be recovered. A quick update would be appreciated, even if it's > something like: "Due to time constraints, we haven't been able to attempt > recovery." > > Things like this lead to the perception that this aspect of the hobby is > dying. There is very little traffic on this reflector and not too much > traffic on other web forums for amateur satellite operation. (See the QRZ > forum topic "Is AMSAT dead?") I know there's always a lot going on "behind > the scenes," but the lack of conversation and updates about what's going on > doesn't really encourage hams to get involved or make donations. > > 73, > > Paul, N8HM > Washington, DC > > > On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 8:49 AM, Alan <wa4...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Peter, > > > > Most of us really miss the old birds. I was transferring satellite QSOs > > from the 1980s through the > > early 2000s to my electronic logbook, and was amazed at what I worked. > > > > AMSAT-DL has an excellent P3 satellite, currently being updated, but > > essentially ready to go. Here is > > the problem: $5M - $10M launch costs to HEO. Even a super discount rate > > of $1M would be impractical. > > In the old days, we could beg, borrow, and barter for launches at nominal > > rates on test flights. > > Unfortunately, the launch industry has matured, and can find buyers for > > even the smallest spaces and > > mass. Sometimes counties can get what I think of as National Prestige > > Rates for a first launch, but > > those days are largely behind us. Personally, I am confident that > > AMSAT-DL will fly their satellite, > > but it is clear that future HEOs will be few and far between. > > > > That is the highly abbreviated answer. > > > > 73s, > > > > Alan > > WA4SCA > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On > > Behalf Of Peter Klein > > Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 1:59 AM > > To: amsat-bb@amsat.org > > Subject: [amsat-bb] High orbit satellites? > > > > What are the chances that there will be another high-orbit satellite > > like AO-10 and AO-13? Does AMSAT have any plans in that direction since > > the demise of AO-40? My main satellite interest is live communication > > with faraway places, and I really miss those Molnya birds. > > > > --Peter, KD7MW > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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
