[amsat-bb] PE1RAH's transponder

[Bruce Robertson]

Somewhere in all this discussion about the future of AMSAT we need to
recognize the work that William did on the 10cm^2 U/V transponder that
was featured in the most recent Journal. Here we have a young person
-- by the reckoning of most of us -- taking the very component-based
approach to satellite building that has been seriously suggested as a
way forward. He has made something that will fit the most narrow and
most cheap form in launches today, the cubesat, and the result would
fulfill our interests in analogue communications satellites.

I suppose I see this as something of a challenge for our forward
thinking. As a group, how do we respond to this? I would like to see
his work tested on ground, perhaps in more than one locale, perhaps in
an urban environment where it would get lots of traffic. Perhaps his
design could go through some sort of audit so that some of our
technical team could ensure that the most performance is being derived
from the least power.

73, Bruce
VE9QRP