[amsat-bb] My Take

[MICHAEL]

I guess I'm in the 25 percent who doesn't complain at Hamfests. My first
AMSAT exposure was at Dayton in 2010 I had played with the idea of receiving
satellites and back in the 90's actually received DOVES beacon. Back then I
was a bit confused and never thought much about it. After Dayton 2010 I have
slowly been assembling a station. I joined AMSAT but dropped out when they
had some problems getting newsletters out. I will be rejoining shortly and
hopefully have my station ready for satellite use before Winter strikes
here.  I honestly believe some people think AMSAT has tons of money or maybe
inside contacts just to get the birds "they" want into space. When in
reality it takes a lot of work from AMSAT to be considered for a ride by
NASA plus donation drives to pay for these birds to be made. Once the birds
are in orbit they can be used by anyone not just AMSAT members. Can you
imagine if AMSAT had the power or would lock these birds down for "members
only" satellites? The membership would go through the roof.

Just my opinion, that and $ 2.00 might buy you a good cup of coffee these
days!

73's

Mike/N8GBU