[amsat-bb] Satellites need to be open source

Robin Theunis robint91 at gmail.com
Thu Nov 12 09:17:57 PST 2009


I am telling maybe something controversial to you guys but I think
it's this idea is needed for amsat.

The post is made because I had a question to amsat and the satellite
users, builders, controllers,... Why aren't the schematics of AO-7,
AO-51, SO-50,... not posted on the internet?
In these satellites is are huge amount of magnificent design
electronics. Why can't ham-radio amateurs not reuse those design in
other satellites, things.
You will think: "That is simple to say that everything needs to be
opensource but I have worked so long I don't this that other people
just copy it!".
If I design something for Radio amateur, I will shared it. I find it
more important that someone else can use it also. He can make
improvement to my design and so gaining better design/ software.

Do you know many stops the mail has. Any how many of those stop are
thing that run open-source software. I will start. This email is wrote
in Firefox, mailed to Google (which use open source software), the
mail packet is routed at my home. Which is an linksys with standard
open source linux OS. Then is goes to different routers, smtp relay
server which is 9 on 10 a open-source linux server. Then it goes to a
POP3 server of amsat which is al so an open-source linux server.

Opensource in not a bad thing. There are a lot great projects. Ubuntu,
OpenOffice, gpredict, fldigi,...

Why can satellite builders, controllers share the designs, software of
satellite? And if you publish it with the correct license aka GPL,
BSD,... Other amateurs can help, improve, make other satellites with
the same tested designs.
I have a lot of respect of the satellite build at amsat. They have the
know-how. But I in my world I find that everyone can access that
knowledge. In other words no one can own knowledge in my opinion.

Smaller clubs with not so much knowledge can design his own satellite.

I vote for

http://www.opensatellite.com/

I gave you some stuff to thing/discuss over. What is your opinion?


73

ON8RTH
Robin Theunis

http://robin.tussen.be


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