The bulletin board system AMSAT is using is well suited for information that is useful for only a relatively short time. If there is a trip to a rare grid location that information is of little use after the event takes place. IMHO what is missing is a way to share information that has relevance beyond a few days.
When I became active again on the sats I asked a question on the board. I received an email telling me that "that question has been asked several times before". It was helpful beyond belief. In the last few days someone posted a nice check list of things to do to try and get your SatPC32 station running. A bit later someone posted a correction that added a vital step that was missing in the first posting. Suppose a newbie subscribes to the board today - he has already looked at the articles from 1997-2004 in the new users section on the AMSAT website but needs a little current info. He posts a message on the board asking about getting his SatPC32 station working. Lets hope no one sends him a message telling him that "that question has been asked before". I also hope no one sends him a message suggesting he uses the search funtion. That would be like the 4th grade teacher who responded to my question "How do you spell pneumonia ?" - by telling me to "Look it up in the dictionary" - I spent a lot of time looking for words that started with "N" before asking my folks when I got home. If they did search - what would they look for. What are the chances that they would find the initial post AND the correction post. I realize everything is perfect as it is but perhaps it would be nice to have something similar to the Yahoo Groups where subscribers can post files and pictures of things that would be of interest for more than a day or two. Take a look at the SDR-Radio or Softrock groups on Yahoo. There are files and pictures that have been very helpful to me. There was a recent posting here from someone asking for a current Doppler.SQF file. I sent him mine but it would have been better if there was a place to store it where anyone could access it. Some people have their stations working well but are not all that excited about spending a lot of time documenting it and posting it for a handful of people who might look at it before it disappears into the abyss of the message archive. You may not like what you read but be thankful I fought the urge to include some sort of Jonathan Swift reference. _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
