[amsat-bb] Re: JUBILEE and other frustrations

[Robert Bruninga]

> There seems to be a proliferation of satellites 
> using the Amateur bands as cheap down links,  
> and using Radio Amateurs as a cheap way of 
> collecting their data. It is MY personal belief 
> that a satellite should only use our hard-earned 
> and much coveted frequencies if they REALLY do 
> carry an Amateur Radio payload... I.E. 
> a Transponder! 

While I too like to see transponders, I do not like to see all
the negativizim, hate and rabble-rousing against those who
actually get something into space.  The self-richeous nay-saying
comments are about as practical as these:

"Those HF contesters should not be using the Amateur Bands, they
should be passing useful communications or traffic!"

"Those Traffic passers are not real amateur operators, because
they will not respond with QSL's!"

"Those old fud rag chewers on HF think they own the frequency.
They should let others use the frequency for more useful
communications"

"Those FM commuters are just wasting air time, saying the same
old thing every day.  Why don't they just use a cell phone!"

"Those AM guys are just wasting 6 KHz of spectrum, they should
be made illegal on the amateur bands"

"Who wants to look at all those SSTV pictures,  Its just the
same old post-card!  They should not be using 3 KHz of bandwidth
for such stupid applications"...

"Those Winlink guys are killing amateur radio by turning the
bands into an automatic communications system."

"Those Echolink and IRLP links are bad for ham radio.  Why don't
they just use HF or a phone if they want to talk to someone far
away."

"Those Radio control Airplanes operating on the Amateur band
should never be there, they are not communications".

"Those experimental Balloons just transmit pictures and
telemetry, without a transponder, they have no purpose in
Amateur Radio"

And on and on...

Face, it.. Ham radio is as rich in applications as there are
innovative and resourceful people.  If you want something done,
then go do it.  If you don't like what others are doing with
their hobby, then get out of the way.

Public negativizim and constant complaining never accomplishes
anything except darken our collective hobby.  Save that for the
politicians who are supposed to respond to their constituents.
For a hobby that is just the collective "us" with each licensed
individual having the same equal opportunities as everyone else,
complaining about what others do is just pointless.

Bob, WB4APR