[amsat-bb] "Walking and chewing gun at the same time"

[Zach Metzinger]

On 07/22/20 09:51, Diane Bruce via AMSAT-BB wrote:
>> here that want something more than that. We enjoy the challenge. It's what
>> drew us to this side of the hobby in the first place.  Why can't we do
> Yes! It's what got me on the sats in the first place.

I'll echo this sentiment.

In my case, building equipment is my primary focus and adds to my 
operating enjoyment. My most recent homebrew equipment includes a 3D 
printed 70cm-band passive Lindenblad antenna, previously mentioned on 
this list, and a complementary LNA built from scratch using a MAX2640 
device. The latter has taken 11 years to realize, based on the date I 
put on the PCB silkscreen. :-)

The 3D printed antenna spreader is being written up now and will be 
submitted to the Journal, with the STL and OpenSCAD source files 
available for anyone to use/enhance under a BSD-like license.

I completely understand that some amateurs will focus on the operational 
aspects of the hobby and have little to no interest in 
designing/building hardware. We need this segment of our demographic, 
just as much as we need the builders.

It is my hope that more operators discover the enjoyment of building, 
and that we have more VHF/UHF/microwave homebrew hardware operating on 
the ground with satellites. It isn't necessary to have the latest 
multi-kilo-buck touch-screen one-box-does-everything rig to work the 
satellites.

It's also my hope that I find some time to work a few of you, now that I 
have a workable antenna setup. ;-)

--- Zach
N0ZGO