I'll just say this Kevin. I was a "newbie" to all this a few short years
ago too but you know what I did, I figured it out. I had no "Elmer" to
guide me and I didn't need anyone like Clint holding and HT in one
hand and an antenna in the other doing a demo to show me how " easy" it
was. In fact, had I seen such a thing at the time, it probably would
have turned me off to it more than anything. I enjoyed doing the
research on antennas and rotator tracking systems and then building many
of the items I needed. I then enjoyed the challenge of learning how to
work the birds. The demos to show how "easy" it all is certainly have
their place but I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think we
sometimes do ourselves a disservice by the de- emphasis of the tech side
of things and how one can build a much more complex and entertaining
ground station if one so chooses. Sure you can scare people off by
getting overly involved with technical stuff but I bet you can scare
just as many away by showing them how "easy" it is too. Don't even get
me started on the "instant gratification" business. That's a major part
of what's wrong with society today. Anything worth doing is worth
working for, but nobody seems to want to do that anymore.
73,
Michael, W4HIJ
On 2/14/2014 6:55 PM, Kevin Elliott wrote:
Perhaps that was a legitimate question hiding in there, but I read most of that
as cheap shots at Clint. Will you please let it rest? You don’t have to like
him, but I’d appreciate some positivity.
Like you, I want to do satellite tracking hardware and not just point HTs at
the birds and do manual doppler correction. But, there’s a very, very useful
place for the newbie stuff that seems useless to you. Everyone benefits when
the hobby grows, and overwhelming new people to the hobby with excessively
technical projects can serve to scare them off. When more people join the
hobby, more products are made, more competition between hardware manufacturers
occurs, and the costs go down for all of us! That alone should be incentive for
everyone to bring the newbies in.
So, I’m not suggesting that anyone needs to lighten the technical offerings, or
make anything more simple. But, I do think that anyone offering marketable
material that attracts newbies, regardless of how simple it may be, should be
welcome.
We have to remember that there are people of all skill levels in this world,
and not all of them are able to grasp things immediately. Sometimes, adding a
lot of complexity isn’t fun for people looking for a little instant
gratification. And it’s that fun that powers the interest in the hobby and
creates a lifelong connection to it. So let’s avoid bashing anyone who likes
“easysats” or anyone who wants to help others with them, OK?
Kevin
On Feb 14, 2014, at 1:57 PM, Michael <mat...@charter.net> wrote:
OK then, I have a legitimate satellite question. Is Fox 2 going to be a linear bird? See, I have some confusion on this. I could swear I
read somewhere that it was yet another flying repeater just like Fox 1 is but then someone here told me I was mistaken. Since you're here
Tony, I thought I'd ask you since I'm pretty sure you can give me a definitive answer. I mean after all, since we are talking about "
Tech" as in technology, I'd be interested to know if there is going to be any technical challenge to working Fox 2 or if it will just
be yet another ones of Clint's Easysats. Unlike some folks such as Clint, I don't delight in how "easy" it is to work a
satellite and actually enjoy a challenge like I had when I first got into this part of the hobby and put my station together using the
homebrew SAEBRTrack tracking system I built along with the OR-360 rotators that you told me where to find back then. Thank you btw.... I
mean if people enjoy working "easysats" with an HT and a handheld antenna, that's all well and good. To each their own. It's
just that I'd like a bit more of a challenge than that. Unfortunately I missed out on A0-40 which I understand took a fair amount of
"tech" savvy to conquer. AO-7 and FO-29 were fun mixed with a bit of challenge though and even AO-51 was pretty cool trying to
conquer the S band mode. I'd very much like to start putting my old homebrew antennas and rotators back in the air if I feel like it will
result in some challenge and a sense of accomplishment and knowing that I did something that "not just anyone can do" instead of
"heck it's just so easy" as Clint likes to point out..... If Fox 2 is a linear bird, I'll even put my money where my mouth is and
renew my long dormant membership in AMSAT because I will feel that they are moving in a direction that I and many others have interest in.
If it's just another flying repeater though well..... YAWN....I'm getting sleepy now.
73,
Michael, W4HIJ
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