[amsat-bb] Behavior on FM Satellites

[David Swanson]

I want to further elaborate on Matt's point he just made. I'm very likely
the number one suspect when talk of 'calling out' people comes up - and I
fully admit to it as well. I am also quite often accused of 'noob bashing'
for the comments I've made on the BB and the different social media
platforms. With very few notable exceptions, the people I've called out
have been hams longer than I have been alive, let alone operating on
satellites. I've only had my ticket for 3 1/2 years, so by most accounts
I'm just as 'noob' as the folks that think they're under perceived attack
when the other 'class' of operators make comments about bad operating
etiquette.

So, let me just say this - as plainly as I can for everyone to see:  New
operators are not the problem. A clear majority of the rovers are 'newer'
operators, both in AMSAT and in Ham in general. I was given my 488th CONUS
grid by a guy who is FM only, had been operating a few months, and was
working me from a rare grid *on an anniversary trip* with his wife. That is
the kind of dedication ONLY a die hard new guy will have. The new operators
are the ones that flock to social media for the latest gear reviews and
camaraderie with other ops. They're the ones asking about whether an arrow
or an elk is best, and what kind of radios to buy. They're the ones pushing
the vendors to build new stuff, and keeping the used market alive for
Satellite rigs. And they're the ones that are *really* active on the birds.
I would dare say the majority of the ops that I work on a regular basis
have been doing sats for less time than me, and that's great. I love it -
so much new blood is constantly changing things every day and that keeps it
exciting. New operators rock. I sincerely mean that.

On the flip side, you have a class of operator that "has been doing this
since sputnik" and thinks the current fleet of LEO's needs an AO-13 class
array to be successful. This class of op might also run 100W into an Omni,
cause that's the only way they can 'hear' their owns beeps coming down off
of AO-7, which they might have watched get launched, and will tell you
about when you send them an email asking why they're running so much
power.  This class of op might also be amazed that they can actually hear
the newly launched AO-91 using their radio shack rg174 coax fed eggbeater,
and is excited to talk to the same neighbor day after day, because it's the
first bird since AO-51 they can brute force their way into with the power
that they're obligated to run since they've been a ham for 20 years. I have
yet to run into a new ham that has caused AO-7 to reset with an arrow and a
pair of Baofengs, yet I can name 5 old hams right off the top of my head
that do it pretty much consistently, in every year since I've been
operating. This kind of op is the problem. And I will not hesitate to
(continue) to call these kinds of bad apples out for their deliberate
interference with this hobby.

-Dave, KG5CCI