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Author Topic: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity  (Read 657 times)

W9FIB

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #30 on: December 01, 2020, 01:49:46 AM »


Let's put all of this pettiness, finger pointing, and name calling aside and get back to finding ways to advance amateur radio science.

Robert Bankston, KE4AL
AMSAT President

Scroll back and look at my complaint. I am just an observer who, now in retirement, was thinking about becoming involved. Then I see all this very unprofessional garbage being done here.

As I said, I do not necessarily support any of the arguments, but rather the way the accusations were handled. No threats from me. Just pointed feedback expressed based on what I see portrayed, and the lack of professionalism by the ambassador and now you as president.

When you publicly argue you have already lost. As an officer, you need to have a thick skin and not lower yourself to a lower level.

But if the complaint has merit, then it is time to address the substance, not the person who made the complaint.

At this point, I see this whole argument as a loss, and the community at large is left with a bad impression. As I said, this from someone on the outside looking in.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

W4HIJ

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #31 on: December 01, 2020, 08:48:41 AM »



Let's put all of this pettiness, finger pointing, and name calling aside and get back to finding ways to advance amateur radio science.

Robert Bankston, KE4AL
AMSAT President

Excuse me?
 You of all people has no room to talk about "pettiness"! You banned me from the AMSAT BB for a tongue in cheek comment about FM satellites not being real satellites. How petty and thin skinned is that?
 You routinely censored the smallest criticism of AMSAT as well as praise for the people who dared to try to help bring transparency and get it past ITAR and it's long stagnation.

 Now, you want to come here and try to defend and enable your joke of an ambassador  who harasses people who have a differing view of your organization?
 I don't think that's going to fly here. You're not able to control this narrative as you do on the BB....

Michael, W4HIJ
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W4HIJ

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #32 on: December 02, 2020, 06:41:12 PM »

Yeah, didn't think I'd get any sort of answer anymore than I got an answer from "Mr. Ambassador K6LCS" about his harassing E-mails and unacceptable and unbecoming behavior.
 Mr. Bankston also ignored the numerous E-mails I sent him asking what specific rules the numerous post I sent the BB had violated when he deemed them unacceptable and censored them from appearing. How petty and thin skinned does one have to be to reject post simply because they praised the efforts of a dedicated and intelligent Director who did a considerable amount of hard work in showing AMSAT the legal way around ITAR?
73,
Michael, W4HIJ
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WE4B

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #33 on: December 02, 2020, 07:18:12 PM »

Yeah, didn't think I'd get any sort of answer anymore than I got an answer from "Mr. Ambassador K6LCS" about his harassing E-mails and unacceptable and unbecoming behavior.
 Mr. Bankston also ignored the numerous E-mails I sent him asking what specific rules the numerous post I sent the BB had violated when he deemed them unacceptable and censored them from appearing.

Yeah, he's not going to answer. He banned me from the AMSAT-BB in a violation of AMSAT-NA bylaws because I posted my political campaign info there. He's banned me from the AMSAT-NA Facebook and Twitter accounts. He doesn't respond to emails. See, unless you sell your soul to the legacy, incumbent Board members, you are considered to be worthless. As recent threads here on eHam and other forums prove, it's not just you and I that have had this happen to us. AMSAT-NA, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) has a pattern of discrimination. It's sad but threads here prove that has, and is, occurring.
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W4HIJ

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #34 on: December 03, 2020, 09:42:31 AM »

I'm wondering what happened to the OP in this thread, K6LCS. As soon as his unbecoming behavior of an ambassador was called out, he disappeared faster than the babysitter's boyfriend when the parents car pulls up! :D
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WE4B

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #35 on: December 03, 2020, 11:47:19 AM »

I'm wondering what happened to the OP in this thread, K6LCS. As soon as his unbecoming behavior of an ambassador was called out, he disappeared faster than the babysitter's boyfriend when the parents car pulls up! :D

The same thing that happened to the AMSAT-NA President in this thread. When AMSAT-NA members, past members and potential members post documented facts that aren't in line with the 'mind control' tactics of legacy, incumbent, AMSAT-NA Board members and their puppets, they will disappear and distance themselves from those facts. This is evident right here in this thread. They will attempt to bully people into silence and, sadly, many people will remain silent.

I feel that it is in the best interest of the amateur community to have these discussions and when making claims, back it up with credible facts and information. There's no need for anyone to hide in darkness and fear these rogue Board members and their cronies. Their past actions and continuing actions are well documented. More members of AMSAT-NA need to shine even more light on these people.

Until a majority of AMSAT-NA members vote to remove the legacy, incumbent Board members and their appointed cronies, we will all see the same issues with AMSAT-NA. Luckily, there are other organizations that are stepping-up and working openly and honestly to help keep amateur radio in space and to advance the radio art.

I want amateur radio to remain in space. I want AMSAT-NA to survive, but not in its current incarnation. I want it to be an open and honest organization that doesn't discriminate against people just because legacy, incumbent Board members feel uncomfortable when their 'dirty deeds' are exposed. It's going to take open discussions like these to keep the light on AMSAT-NA. It may not happen today and it may not happen tomorrow but eventually either members will wake-up and install honorable leadership and the organization can try to right itself or the organization will fail.

IMHO, right now, the organization seems to be trending towards failing. The past couple of years have opened the eyes of many members. All some of us can do is hope that enough members get fed-up and get the organization back into orbit. Right now the organization is beginning to feel even more orbital drag and may soon enter the atmosphere and burn-up. Maybe that's the best thing that could happen. Maybe we should all just cut our losses at this point. I would welcome open conversation about it but the 'powers that be' within AMSAT-NA will not allow that to happen.
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K6LCS

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #36 on: December 03, 2020, 01:12:32 PM »

>> ... I want amateur radio to remain in space ...

And if you are sincere in that belief, you would be excited about this news from AMSAT ...

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 337.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE December 2, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-337.01

Launch Window for AMSAT's RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E Opens December 19th

Virgin Orbit has announced that the launch window for their
LauncherOne Launch Demo 2 mission opens on December 19th.This launch
will carry AMSAT's RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E to orbit.

RadFxSat-2, like RadFxSat / Fox-1B, now AMSAT-OSCAR 91, is a
partnership opportunity between Vanderbilt University and AMSAT and
will carry a similar radiation effects experiment, studying new FinFET
technology.

RadFxSat-2 is the fifth and final Fox-1 satellite built by AMSAT. The
RadFxSat-2 spacecraft bus is built on the Fox-1 series but features a
linear transponder “upgrade” to replace the standard FM transponder in
Fox-1A through D. In addition, the uplink and downlink bands are
reversed from the previous Fox satellites in a Mode V/u (J)
configuration using a 2 meter uplink and 70 cm downlink. The downlink
features a 1200 bps BPSK telemetry channel to carry the Vanderbilt
science data in addition to a 30 kHz wide transponder for amateur
radio use. Telemetry and experiment data can be decoded using FoxTelem
version 1.09 or later. FoxTelem is available at
https://www.amsat.org/foxtelem-software-for-windows-mac-linux/.

Participation in telemetry collection by as many stations in as many
parts of the world as possible is essential as AMSAT Engineering looks
for successful startup and indications of the general health and
function of the satellite as it begins to acclimate to space. AMSAT
will send a commemorative 3D printed QSL card to the first station
capturing telemetry from RadFxSat-2.

RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E Frequencies:

Telemetry Downlink - 435.750 MHz
Inverting Linear Transponder Uplink - 145.860 MHz - 145.890 MHz
Inverting Linear Transponder Downlink - 435.760 MHz - 435.790 MHz

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

/EX

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. President's Club donations may be made at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub.

Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,

This week's ANS Contributing Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org


/end/
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Clint Bradford, K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador, ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS

WE4B

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #37 on: December 03, 2020, 02:15:45 PM »

Sigh. AMSAT-NA is launching another Fox satellite built from parts that were leftover from the Fox project. On the surface, this seems to be a great thing but... why are we sending up another Fox bird when nobody can answer the question of why the Fox series of satellites have had a high failure rate? I know myself and others have asked for some form of failure analysis but there are no answers forthcoming.

The VP of Engineering of AMSAT-NA did state that he didn't have time to investigate and if others wanted to do so they could. What kind of leadership is that?

Why are we spending more money on something which, to date, seems to have had a fairly high failure rate based on the expenses involved.

There, I responded to the Ambassador's attempt to derail the topic of the thread which was 'AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity'. A few of us have been discussing why we wouldn't want to be an 'Ambassador' along with what is viewed as deficits of AMSAT-NA and we have posted factual examples of the deficits. These are deficits that no amount of Tang consumed by an Ambassador can fix. The information the 'Ambassador' just posted has already been posted by him in another thread.

It's just more smoke and mirrors from AMSAT-NA representatives and another failure to discuss real issues. It's dandy that we are sending-up another bird but if I was king for a day, I would not have spent the money on a launch unless I understood why there have been failures of the same platform that is scheduled to be launched.
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K6LCS

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #38 on: December 03, 2020, 03:44:39 PM »

WE4B>> >> ... I want amateur radio to remain in space ...

AMSAT HAS A LAUNCH WINDOW FOR A NEW TRANSPONDER SATELLITE THIS MONTH!

WE4B>> ... [ ... but it doesn't meet my standards ... ]

It is obvious there is nothing AMSAT can do to please you. Not quite sure why your
energies and intelligence aren't being utilized by an organization that better meets
your requirements.

But that's the beauty of being an American, I guess ...
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Clint Bradford, K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador, ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS

WE4B

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #39 on: December 03, 2020, 03:55:04 PM »

 ::)

Let's see if I can put this thread back on topic without any Ambassadors, once again, attacking members (violation of Ambassador Code of Conduct).

What benefit, if any, is there to being an AMSAT-NA Ambassador? Why does one need that title in order to promote amateur radio satellites? Why do people feel the need to include it in their signature? What is the big deal about being an Ambassador? Seems to me that the title Ambassador and $2-$3 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks but I can get the same coffee without the title for the same amount of money.
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W4HIJ

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #40 on: December 03, 2020, 08:52:26 PM »

Apparently being an AMSAT ambassador means that you can send unsolicited and unwelcome messages to peoples private E-mail addresses questioning them on the sincerity of what they say here and what their motivations are. This one was titled "Yeah, Right" and it's copy/pasted below. The first line is myself, quoted from an earlier  E-ham post on the since locked censorship thread. The rest is "Mr. Ambassador". Judge his  words and behavior for yourself...
Michael, W4HIJ


"I WANT to support AMSAT. I really do! I'd love nothing more than to write them a check or make a credit card payment for dues right this very minute. Can't do it though, not in good conscious … “


Must be unbearable to have to make such decisions in your life …

Your false “moral superiority” is laughable. You and Jeff deserve each other. No organization should accept membership nor payments from such malcontents.

Oh - I have some satellite shows coming up - watch for dates and times!

Clint Bradford K6LCS
« Last Edit: December 03, 2020, 08:55:54 PM by W4HIJ »
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WE4B

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #41 on: December 03, 2020, 10:28:15 PM »

Must be unbearable to have to make such decisions in your life …

Your false “moral superiority” is laughable. You and Jeff deserve each other. No organization should accept membership nor payments from such malcontents.

Oh - I have some satellite shows coming up - watch for dates and times!

Clint Bradford K6LCS

More proof of harassment by AMSAT-NA representatives, yet, the President says that this Ambassador has done no wrong and isn't violating the AMSAT-NA Harassment Policy and the AMSAT-NA Ambassador Code of Conduct. In fact, the President won't even follow the AMSAT-NA policy of investigating complaints. This is fact. He admitted it here in this thread.

It's mind boggling to me that, even with all the proof of harassment from AMSAT-NA representatives, with proof, that the President will not follow AMSAT-NA Policy. Why is he allowing this Ambassador to continue to harass people under the banner of AMSAT-NA. This is absolutely ludicrous and ridiculous.

As a paid member of AMSAT-NA, I am disgusted of what has happened to this organization. We are actually watching it play out, in real time, here in this thread. Why is this disgusting behavior allowed? Is this the best marketing that AMSAT-NA can come-up with, an Ambassador that harasses both members and non-members?

It's all here in black and white. I have filed a formal complaint. I am hopeful that W4HIJ does as well, but his harassment is noted in my formal complaint. Why won't AMSAT-NA stop their representatives from harassing people? Members and non-members want and deserve answers. This is how the amateur radio community views AMSAT-NA; as a clubhouse with a bunch of grown men that act like prepubescent children. If this weren't true, the organization would be operated professionally with honor and integrity. Unfortunately, it's operated in a manner that's worse than any local PTA or book club.

WD9EWK coined the term, and I hope he doesn't mind me using it, but AMSAT-NA members deserve better. If the best members can get is non-responsive leadership that won't follow the rules (and admits so in this thread) and an Ambassador that harasses people (documented in this thread), would we be better off to go ahead and declare AMSAT-NA a dead organization and shut it down? It certainly seems that way to me and many others.

This behavior and lack of action from AMSAT-NA leadership is not justifiable in and shape, form or fashion.
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VE3WGO

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #42 on: December 04, 2020, 11:49:58 AM »

As a first step, it would be good if organizations like Amsat-NA that are trying to attract new members, would be more open and transparent in their annual spending budgets. 

I see that Amsat-NA has a fundraising target of $125k for GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1, and I prefer to know a little more about what that money and membership dues are actually going to be spent on, before deciding to donate to it and/or become a member.  ... or in my case, renew my membership, to be exact. Especially so, since Amsat-NA has revealed in their financial reports that only something like 1/3 of their total revenues actually get spent on satellite development and operations.

Perhaps the Amsat Executives and Ambassadors can be more helpful in revealing this information in their public presentations.

73, Ed
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W4HIJ

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #43 on: December 06, 2020, 08:32:58 AM »

As a first step, it would be good if organizations like Amsat-NA that are trying to attract new members, would be more open and transparent in their annual spending budgets. 

I see that Amsat-NA has a fundraising target of $125k for GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1, and I prefer to know a little more about what that money and membership dues are actually going to be spent on, before deciding to donate to it and/or become a member.  ... or in my case, renew my membership, to be exact. Especially so, since Amsat-NA has revealed in their financial reports that only something like 1/3 of their total revenues actually get spent on satellite development and operations.

Perhaps the Amsat Executives and Ambassadors can be more helpful in revealing this information in their public presentations.

73, Ed

And...crickets. Why am I not surprised. Two directors have taken a stand and demanded transparency which is what brought to light the legacy boards misuse of funds. AMSAT want's 125K for "GOLF" and took a PPP loan on the taxpayers dime yet refused the offer of sharing in a grant. How ridiculous is that? You can't make this stuff up!
73,
Michael, W4HIJ
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AC2EU

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Re: AMSAT Ambassador Opportunity
« Reply #44 on: December 06, 2020, 08:58:59 AM »

I'm not into satellites at the moment, but I was concerned about the alleged "fiscal abuses" at AMSAT.
I asked at one point "why don't the members revolt?" One of you answered That the membership doesnt care as long as there is a bird to play with or something to that effect.
Your observation was very astute, since just a few of the same AMSAT members are participating in this discussion. There is no collective outrage, even though it looks as if there should be.

If this is the situation at AMSAT, why do you bother? You are beating a dead horse! Stop paying dues and move on.
Without grassroots support from the members, your crusade is going nowhere.

PT Barnum said there was a sucker born every day.  Dues paying AMSAT members resemble that remark.
It is what it is. Time to walk away.



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