[amsat-bb] Anyone on EO-88?

[Mark D. Johns]

If my remarks came across as “shaming,” I apologize. They were intended as
encouragement. Yes, FM is cheap and easy, but the level of operator skill
necessary to get QSOs on a crowded channel is daunting. The skills
necessary to put together a linear station are more on the technical side.
That’s a challenge, but it can be fun to get there.

On Fri, Jul 19, 2019 at 06:09 Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
wrote:

> What I can't understand is that people continue to shame other hams for not
> operating on the linears.    Having only just recently obtained the
> equipment necessary to work the linears (and then, only at the shack, my
> equipment is not portable in any way), I can say that it was not cheap nor
> easy to do.    Working the FM birds is both far cheaper and easier, for
> sure.
>
> Those that are stuck on the FM birds are likely not doing it by choice.
>  It's all they have.  Please keep that in mind.
>
> --Roy
> K3RLD
>
>
>
>
> > EO-88 is in a low inclination orbit and so stays close to the equator.
> Many
> > of us in the northern part of the continental U.S. and Canada cannot
> access
> > it because it never passes far enough north for us to be in the
> footprint.
> > That said, it can sometimes be lonely on linear satellites on passes that
> > cover much of the continental U.S. I can’t understand why people would
> > prefer to step all over one another on a single channel FM bird rather
> than
> > spread out on a nice passband. Yes, the linears require a bit more
> effort,
> > technical skill, and possibly a
> > bit more of a monetary investment. But by finding some bargains on used
> > gear and learning a bit more about how things work, they are well within
> > reach of the average ham.
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-- 
***Sent from Gmail on iPhone***
Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. K0JM
Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA
Now residing in Minneapolis, Minn.
------------------------------------------------
"Get the facts first. You can distort them later."
---Mark Twain