[amsat-bb] 2013 AMSAT Symposium in Houston - My Observations

[Clayton Coleman]

1.       It was great to see so many operators in attendance.  I lost
count of the total but here are just a few of the more frequent North
American stations heard on the birds: N5AFV, N5ZNL, AC0RA,
CO6CBF/KF5YXV, KO4MA, WD9EWK K5OE/M0GOE, WA5KBH, KF5LOQ, N8RO, N0JE

2.       There were lots of great presentations.  I stayed awake for most!

3.       The forecast for future transponder-capable satellites (FM &
SSB) looks bright.

4.       The banquet panel was outstanding and very well received by all.

5.       Houston knows how to put on a fun Symposium.  Kudos to the
host committee!

6.       I was pleased to see some of the developments around
licensing Cubesats in terms of experimental versus amateur licensing.

7.       We had an eclectic collection of amateurs in attendance – all
with their own unique perspectives in building and/or operating
satellites.    You could likely never assemble such a team outside of
the AMSAT Symposium venue.

8.       There are many kind and generous individuals within AMSAT-NA
who were supportive of one of our foreign visitors and in making his
journey special.

9.       Only a few people fell asleep during my presentation.  None snored.

10.   Even Texas BBQ from Papa’s is better than Memphis B-B-Q.

The opinions and observations made above are those of W5PFG and not of
any other entity.

73,

Clayton
W5PFG