[amsat-bb] Re: Why do the amsats get more and more complex?

[wa6fwf]

Jason,
   as a Amsat-NA President once told me, the builders do not 
get a "wow" out of  building the same old thing, they
want something bleeding edge and new to pique their interest.

  I believe this to be a true statement from him, and to a end, that 
is why the designers call the majority of the shots,they are the ones 
that are going to build it and it requires a much higher level of 
 knowledge than the average ham , so they are one of the few
 games in town and they are only going to pick projects that
  interest them.

    This is also why I think you will not find layouts and 
schematics for previous xponders anywhere to be found.

  If you did find schematics then even though a person is not 
technical enough to "design" one they might be skilled 
enough to "build" one and end the grip that the designers
 have over Amsat.

  So for the foreseeable future the designers will call the shots
 and we users will be required to foot the bills.

  I completely agree with you that a better course would be 
to build a Sat that is 2/3's old proven tech that has been refined
 to "built like a tank or a DC-3" status and with the last 1/3 the
 designers play ground. 

  Since over and over we are told how hard to get and costly
 a launch is (which I believe completely) then I would rather
 have time tested proven hardware that has a better chance 
of being around for a long time.

But this is just my ramblings...

73
Kevin WA6FWF
Amsat-UK #6505


  
SNIP!
> 
> Wouldn't it be better to separate out some of the more experimental 
> stuff from the old standbys? That way a failure of one whole sat would 
> still leave something usable for the same money spent.  > 
> 73s,
> 
> Jason - N1XBP