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Manager - N2MG
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Survey Question

Question

AO40 batteries came from...

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Survey Comments

The assholes that run this crummy Website must be getting a kick back from Walmart, for free promo.
Ham radio sinks to another all time LOW!
Only a matter of time before the hobby goes the route of 8 track tapes and bell bottom pants
Posted by KU4SH on 2004-04-12

Enough Already!!!

Isn't it time to move on to something meaningful instead of tasteless hammering? How about a question that says, "What do eHam survey questions mean?"
a) I have little enough to do that I respond
b) I have no life outside this tripe
c) It gives dissidents a place to rant
d) Nothing but take up bandwidth
e) They are to add to the click count for advertising revenue


Posted by K4KK on 2004-04-12

KU4SH, In case you arn't up on current events, Bell Bottom pants are back in style with a vengance.

Posted by KD5ZJP on 2004-04-12

Funny Ha Ha (not)

You must have a sense of humour but in this case it is a bit below the belt. AO-40 cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of man hours to complete the project. It really is like saying did NASA stick the shuttle tiles on with kiddy glue to save a dime or two. Very funny "not"

Then again UO-14 has been working for over a decade using Sanyo brand cadnica 3/4 c size batteries. These are the same batteries that we are using in our Jaesat project in Australia. ( I had the job of space rating the Sanyo batteries and they would be near the best quality nicads imho)
Posted by VK3KCG on 2004-04-10

AO-40

Cute survey! It made me chuckle a bit. But folks remember, this IS rocket science.
Posted by N8RAT on 2004-04-10

wd4tc thats good

boycott everything then maybe we wont hear your bullshit comments either. And I really dont care what AmSat thinks either. So there. Get a freakin grip... Sounds like you still play in a sandbox.
Posted by KB3JZG on 2004-04-09

Superior Attitudes!!!

If I ever get a Superior, holier then thow attitude like some who have posted here have, would someone please shoot me?

KD5ZJP

Posted by KD5ZJP on 2004-04-09

What a Bullshit survey, AmSat is not too friggen happy with this crappy survey.
eHam goes down the tube once again.
Boycott Bush and eHam.
Posted by WD4TC on 2004-04-08

There we Go Again!!!

Why is it that some hams love to sling mud at other hams and non-hams. What is up with some people. Is that what amateur radio is coming to? This survey was ment as a lighthearted funny topic to lighten us up after the last two surveys. Get a grip.

KD5ZJP
Posted by KD5ZJP on 2004-04-08

Surveys

I can't believe there aren't other surveys in the queue to replace this one. Sometimes a survey comes and goes in one week, and its more interest catching than this one is. Funny or not, lighthearted or not, this has gotten old--the skeleton is turning to dust.
Posted by K1CJS on 2004-04-08

A condescending attitude is not very nice either


I guess I am questioning the act of actually “Advancing state of the art”. The people to whom I refer are those who condescend to others, perching themselves up on the promise of technology. In the light of abject failure award themselves for a job well done. I can promise you, when they fail expect retribution.


You want to trust these same people with a mission to Mars? Hey, the GPS experiment went well.


The good part is most in the hobby/service are not like this. I have seen technological advancement by just great human beings. Tayloe mixers, PSK31, Amtor, MFSK SSTV from the MIR… the list goes on. Mr. Benson bringing the current requirement for his SW-40 down to 16ma is quite an accomplishment. I even have seen some kid build a segmented linear transponder without any fan fair (In my opinion, a much better idea than Leila)


Once again, Let’s call a spade a spade and get on with it.


Posted by KC8FRJ on 2004-04-07

Not Very Nice

This is typical of the way hams treat other hams who try to advance the state of the art of the hobby.

...Including the e-ham staff, ovbiously... I gotta admit, this whole site probably does more to ward off new hams than any other ham radio "resource"...

"Let's build more FM repeaters in space-- I can only tie up one satellite 100% of the time when it passes over North America, with my 27-foot boom 2m yagi and keeelowatt..."

"I'm afraid of microwaves.. they are 'new' and scary... Hey, why is the FCC ignoring my comments about BPL? I'm an expert, I was trained at 60 WPM in WWII"

I'm about to give up on Amsat-NA for exactly the opposite reasons most of you guys list on e-ham. No offense, but 2m FM downlinks BORE me. Hell, 2M SSB downlinks BORE me..


Posted by W0FMS on 2004-04-06

Unreal indeed

I have worked allot of the analog Satellites and contributed financially to AMSAT. Putting a functional bird in orbit is not an elementary task. That being said, there is an attitude problem over on the AMSAT side of the house in my opinion. How can you issue kudos’ and awards for AO-40? ESA failures delayed it. The bird had failures right after deployment, and continued to have more failures with even catastrophic events through its short life. It can be viewed as a learning experience, but calling AO-40 a success should be followed by embarrassment.




Here in the US, our previous Federal Goverment administration reclassified Satellites as munitions making it more difficult to loft a bird. My frustration with AMSAT can be illustrated by the following. Contacts within Boeing told me of an opportunity that I relayed to AMSAT-NA before AO-40 even left the pad. I was dismissed with a “we already have contacts within the Space community” line. The result was Boeing lofting a 2000 pound piece of concrete for the test.




With the FCC erroneously backing the deployment of BPL, the Amateur Radio community is going to need more birds to provide World wide communications coverage. For that, AMSAT need more members and funding.

Let’s call a spade a spade and get on with it.
Posted by KC8FRJ on 2004-04-05

oh brother

Gheeeeeeeze! You know the batteries came from WalMart because they quit working just after the warranty ran out and before they had to pay the manufacturer for them! I Hate WalMart.
Posted by WA4BWO on 2004-04-05

oh brother

Gheeeeeeeze! You know the batteries came from WalMart because they quit working just after the warranty ran out and before they had to pay the manufacturer for them! I Hate WalMart.
Posted by WA4BWO on 2004-04-05

Unreal


I wonder how many of you bashers have actually operated a satellite? I wonder how many of you bashers have ever done *anything* to *contribute* to this hobby? This survey is of VERY poor taste and it just shows how ignorant the average ham population has become. I am a eHam financial supporter, but I won't be if we continue to see this embarrassing content.

-Steve
N1JFU




Posted by N1JFU on 2004-04-04

Lighten up!
Posted by WB0MMV on 2004-04-04


AO-40's whole problem is it was not made in St. Louis. You see St. Louis is the manufacturing capitol of the world. All products were once made there but in the spirit of St. Louis, it was decided by St. Louis, the craddle of civiliations, the beginnings of all life, and fellow Louisans to let inferiors have their hand in making things. Well it just ain't working by the way. As you see inferior products are working their way into this county, St. Louis. You know what folks? I'm such a modest person eh?

Kraus
Posted by KC4ZGP on 2004-04-02

Let's the Asians or Germans to build the next wonderous bird...

Here's an idea. Let's get the Americans to fund, PM and QC the next great bird. Then, get some young and energetic Asians or Germans to build the thing.

Has this been tried before?
Posted by NL7W on 2004-04-01

batteries

New survey please! This question has run its course. How about changing the survey each week to keep things interesting? Is there really a shortage of interesting questions?
Posted by KK7WN on 2004-04-01

mississippi's finest junk MFJ
Posted by AC7KZ on 2004-03-30

Poor taste thread

The title says it all.
eHam sure is going to new LOWS.
Paul N8LGL ex KC8LGL
Posted by KC8LGL on 2004-03-30

Some of you guys take yourselves way too seriously. Too bad your egos outweigh your intelligence. Saying "I'll never come here again" just because somebody wanted to have a little fun with a survey just shows your intolerance to others and your self-important attitude. Lighten up.
Posted by KI8JQ on 2004-03-30

Oh, puhleez!

Having a laugh at AO-40's expense is far from the criminal act you people make it out to be. If anything, to those of us who contributed monetarily it's like getting some of our money back! Bottom line I bought into the "P3D hype" and I got let down because somebody didn't do a pre-flight pressure test on a valve that halfway blew that turkey to smithereens, probably because of "Go-fever" towards launch time. It seemed like they got tunnel vision to make a launch date. I donated at the Orlando hamfest. I gave them money that I would have used at the fest for something useful for myself. Turns out I should have kept the money to buy additional equipment to use AO-40 because the transponders for popular bands I already owned radios for had conveniently blown up. They won't be getting any more of my money that's for sure. BTW, I'll bet all those MMDS downconverter guys on ebay are mad too now that nobody is buying the downconverters for $100 anymore, now they can only get the $15 they're worth. Just my $.02
Posted by N9XK on 2004-03-29

Huh?

There is absolutely no point to this question.I am all for humor,but this isnt really what I expect out of the Eham staff.

Posted by KB9JCW on 2004-03-25

Take a valium

Geez! Seems like a lot of people must have missed their naptime or something. What's wrong poking a little fun at things from time to time. At least this isn't a question or story about the evils of CW (yet).

AO40 worked for a couple of years, and made alot of people happy with DXing. Hopefully AMSAT has learned from its problems and will make the next satellite even better. You can either cry, whine, and moan because AO40 quit working, or you can have a little fun with it. After all AO7 is back from the dead so AMSAT does know something about building long lasting satellites.
Posted by NE0P on 2004-03-25

Ebay batteries

See what you get when you buy something off Ebay.

73s John NE0P
Posted by NE0P on 2004-03-24

What's the date?

Did I fall asleep? Is it April 1st?

Mike N2MG
Posted by N2MG on 2004-03-24

BAN ANONYMOUS POSTS survey?

<<
WHY is there no survey here for the topic of the day? BAN ANONYMOUS POSTS on Eham
>>

More like "topic of the decade"... and so "over" discussed. ;-)

Mike N2MG
webmaster
Posted by N2MG on 2004-03-24

What's an AO-40????????

And when are we going to get beyond juvenile in both the questions and replies in this website? sigh...."most people would rather die than think; and they do!" Bertrand Russell.
Posted by N0VLJ on 2004-03-24

One location missed...

Don't forget your local Radio "Shaft" and their great batteries!
Posted by WV8HAM on 2004-03-22

AO-40 is an expensive space junk

Since the launch, nothing but problems with this one. The amateur community will be much better off with a simple FM repeater satellite as the dead now UO-14 (RIP) then this non-functional junk. Sorry but i think we deserve some fun on AO-40's expense.

Posted by KB1FZA on 2004-03-22

Free Speech ...

I don't mind the topic of the survey. Some surveys are better than others. It certainly doesn't make e-ham any less than one of the very best amateur radio sites available. These surveys are just a small percentage of what the site is all about. Pros and cons considered, this site still mertits financial and verbal support.

Have a DX day!

H
Posted by VE7AZC on 2004-03-22

AO40 Lamentable

The Phase 3 birds have all been so much more complex than the LEOs we've launched that it's almost amazing that two of them were really successful. AO-40 did provide some limited service for a while - too bad it did not live up to expectations due to another nasty accident. Hopefully, this won't prevent future Phase 3 birds from being launched. If BPL manages to foul up HF enough, we'll need AMSAT more than ever.

AMSAT shouldn't be offended by the survey question. I'll bet the managers of AO-40 had their own 'gallows humor' after the problems that beset this bird.
Posted by K0RGR on 2004-03-22

And your point is....

Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Unlike Bill Gates who charges us for his blunders.
Posted by N0FQN on 2004-03-22

AMSAT?

First, let's not bash Wal-Mart - their 8-pack of Eveready NiMH batteries rated at 2300 mAH measured 2370 mAH with a 500 ma discharge rate. Second, feel free to bash AMSAT. When the Russians were sending up satellites we could all use, AMSAT was moving higher in frequency away from popular bands. I won't contribute to an organization that puts up satellites I won't use! At least this one didn't get dunked in the Atlantic on a failed beta test rocket...
Posted by N3EG on 2004-03-22

What Garbage!

This is the worst "survey" I have ever seen
here.
WHY is there no survey here for the topic of the day? BAN ANONYMOUS POSTS on Eham......

I usually "vote" on these in the spirit of fun. But NOT on this one!


Posted by K9KJM on 2004-03-21

Pathetic

Okay, eHam has sunk to a new low ... bookmark deleted, no chance for a "donation" from me.
Posted by KE9V on 2004-03-21

Wal-Mart, yes, but...

Yes the batteries more likely than not came from Wal-Mart. They WERE fully charged and absolutley NEW.
Unfortunatly, they used the batteries first to help fire the rocket. The amperage needed exceeded the battery specs, so there was none left for the sat itself.
Someone thought this would be an acceptable cost-saver...instead of getting more batteries from Wal-Mart.

****All in good fun, fellas!***
Posted by KF4LVC on 2004-03-21

Next Survey

Why are hams so uptight,geez calm down.
Posted by KC9CEW on 2004-03-21

the batteries

WHO CARES

Hopefully the bird will be back up soon. Its a ball to work the world on a barbaque grill
Posted by N6AJR on 2004-03-21

Junk

AO-40 must have been built by MFJ(mighty-fine-junk).
Posted by ANONIMOUS on 2004-03-21

on a serious note

It seems that amateur satellite failures are not unusual. There are almost a dozen dead ham birds flying right now.

As far as I can tell:

-ao40 was a failure, from the start, from all perspectives (other than going in to orbit and being 'usable' at all)! It never lived up the pre launch "phase 3-d" hype regarding ease of use, modes, etc.

Everyone knows we were all thrilled it was alive at all, when it was alive.

Our hobby is doomed due to the lazy people that are drawn in - and I'm not talking about code.

Who homebrews? Soilders? Elmers others? Fixes what's broken? Works on digital modes or NTSC television? Do you talk up amateur radio? Do you correct people when they are misinformed - the "it's like CB, right?" Do you campaign for your spectrum? Do you use it? How many bands? How many modes? Last time you rag chewed 6m? Got a TNC? Know how to use it? Send e-mail over the radio? Is the computer tuning the rig yet? Are you a one band man, ruining it for everyone else with your FM fun?

Yea, and we're gonna find the people that can BUILD the gear, nevermind just use it, within our ranks to make satellites that can compete with a commercial bird? COME ON!

Yes, many amateur satellites have lived for years - the older ones especially - built by real engineers before my time. I belive there are few reasons for engineers to be attracted to our hobby, and even fewer reasons for people to pursue design in the US.

All we do is infight about the most idiotic stuff, use our freqs. in a way that would cause "channel surfers" to run the other way, and in general prove that we really do have no good reason to have what we have.

We are anti-social, by nature - just listen to any 2m repeater or a pileup on any freq. if you doubt me.

Unless each of us decides to use the system in a way that works for everyone, and works to help out in our areas of expertise, and make sure EVERYONE has a lot of gear and uses it, we are as doomed as T-rex and morse.

It's all in the planning. We should have a reliable, worldwide digital network that uses ALL of our frequencies to carry traffic where it is currently designed to do so - voice, analog, digital, morse, NTSC TV, telephony, internet (http,pop,usenet), intranet, iSCSI, etc.

Our birds should be relays for these systems (we're not laying fibre).

Network Features should include Built in path redundancy if traffic is coded for such (important - mail, etc);

I would immediate connect my Linux Asterisk IP telephony system and talk around the world to hams - by picking up my phone and dialing!

I would also connect all of my 24 computers, every major *NIX OS, for the enjoyment and benefit of all.

I propose we all immediately begin planning on SolNet - one system, one policy, universal service (well, for hams).

All your gear works like before, but if you choose to use SolNet, it's there.

Let's GO!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by N2NHU on 2004-03-21

From The Back Of A Truck...

The Battery came from the back of a truck, at a hamfest. Hey, it was only used for Fieldday... For the last 30 years...
Posted by K0ABE on 2004-03-20

From The Back Of A Truck...

The Battery came from the back of a truck, at a hamfest. Hey, it was only used for Fieldday... For the last 30 years...
Posted by K0ABE on 2004-03-20

Total BS Survey Question

We should be THANKFUL that Amateur Radio Operators, worldwide, put up their hard earned money for this technical marvel. We should be grateful for the chances that we get to operate satellites with out cost to us.

Hold the phone! Now I get it, the one's griping about AO-40 are the same ones that don't support eHam.net or any other site. So, that gives them the right to bellyache.
Posted by KG4RUL on 2004-03-20

Embarrassed

I'm embarassed that I just sent money in to support this site after finding this AMSAT bashing. Mistakes were made with AO-40, and have been learned from. How many of you guys get 1400 discharge cycles on a set of nicads over 4 years?
Posted by KO4MA on 2004-03-20

FLOP

AMSAT WILL NEVER GET ANY MORE MONEY FROM ME I AM NOT PART OF THE GROUP BUT I DID SEND MONEY FOR THE PROJECT. NEVER AGAIN!!! BY THE WAY SHOULD HAVE USED RAYOVAC THEY SAY MORE POWER FOR YOUR MONEY.
Posted by N5TIF on 2004-03-20

Let's see YOU do better!

I agree with Drew. If ANY of you morons think you could have built and managed the satellite better, then either step up to the plate and help, or STFU.
Posted by KQ6EA on 2004-03-20

Really Pathetic

There have been some real dumb "surveys" done here but this one is pathetic.

Bill, do you really endorse this kind of crap?

Almost sorry I subscribed.
Posted by N3ZKP on 2004-03-20

No idea

I have no idea where the AO40 batteries came from.

I'm sorry for the problems with this satellite and hope for much better luck with the next one.
Posted by K9JDK on 2004-03-20

Shame on you

In the Articles column, there are two articles about the need for the site to be supported by the subscribers, then a survey like this is posted???

OK, ha ha. Next.......
Posted by K1CJS on 2004-03-20

AO-40 Batteries

Great to list an opinion once in a while for a laugh, as well as preparation for April 1st.
Posted by WA6BOB on 2004-03-20

Back of a truck

So that is what happened to that dead battery that I was carrying back to Walmart for core credit a few years ago.
Posted by KF4MKJ on 2004-03-20

Back of a truck

So that is what happened to that dead battery that I was carrying back to Walmart for core credit a few years ago.
Posted by KF4MKJ on 2004-03-20

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.

After all the hard work and money it takes to get these birds flying, we get a knucle-headed survey like this? Just days after ponying up a little cash to help out this site, we get this crap to help set us back. And as for the "a flop" comment, I don't remember hearing that OM on AO-40 ever, or any other birds. Many operators have gone from 0 to DXCC-OSCAR on AO-40 alone. Others have seriously increased their DX and QSO totals. AO-40 was such a success, that almost all the major DXpeditions had or were planning to operate AO-40 as a major part of their operation. More and more rare DX was coming on the bird all the time.Smaller and more portable equipment were being built all the time. Rigs and accessories were marketed as AO-40 ready. That's not because it was a piece of flea market rubbish. An incident not related to the batteries is a possible source of damage to them . I wonder if those non-SAT operators that see the humor in this latest event will be laughing their asses off when BPL comes to their town. (Which, BTW, will have very little effect on satellite bands!)

Shawn, N1HOQ - AMSAT #33948, ECHO funder.
Posted by N1HOQ on 2004-03-20

AO40 Batteries

Geesh!!! I WASN'T BASHING ANYONE! I thought this post was in good fun and I joined in. Things go wrong. It's usually NOBODY'S fault. WHAT A BUNCH OF DEADPANS. Guess you can't express good-natured humor on these sites. Isn't the internet wonderful? Go back to cussing at your wives and yelling at the dog.

Tom KB5DPE
Posted by KB5DPE on 2004-03-20

Batteries

Another option to the list should have been "The Low Bidder"......

Steve W4CNG
Posted by W4CNG on 2004-03-19

Low bidder, for sure...

Too bad we can't make something that is more durable and that lasts longer...

Posted by AB7RG on 2004-03-19

AO40 batteries came from...

What batteries? I thought there was a hampster on a wheel powering that thing.
Posted by AG4RQ on 2004-03-19

Dead batterys

They used up all the batterys talking about how great it would be for years before they even launched it.
Posted by N4ZOU on 2004-03-19

AO-$$

For all the money raised, AO-40 proved to be a flop. Of course if they used Nuclear Power like the Soviets, maybe we would have the fabled HF to Microwave uplinks and Downlinks, instead of 437 MHz up, 2.4 GHz Down.
Posted by N1RWC on 2004-03-19

AO-$$

For all the money raised, AO-40 proved to be a flop. Of course if they used Nuclear Power like the Soviets, maybe we would have the fabled HF to Microwave uplinks and Downlinks, instead of 437 MHz up, 2.4 GHz Down.
Posted by N1RWC on 2004-03-19

AO40 batteries

<>

If they had the extended warranty, would Wal Mart have to fix it in the field?
Posted by KB5DPE on 2004-03-19

AO40 batteries

You forgot to add "Circuit City"
Posted by KB5DPE on 2004-03-19

First


Posted by KG6ZZZ on 2004-03-19

None of the above...

None of the above.

They came from Sears.

Posted by AD7DB on 2004-03-19

Should have went to Radio Shack!

They could have also got a back-up satellite dish for it and a cell phone to call mission control for new batteries.
Posted by KG4YJR on 2004-03-19

batteries...

They should have got the maintainence free battery. Also, that extended warranty would have come in handy about now.

Posted by AD7DB on 2004-03-19

On site mechanic

LEILA's right there, have HER fix it.

Posted by AD7DB on 2004-03-19

Batteries

They should have gotten a "Die Hard" battery !!!
Posted by KC6SOR on 2004-03-19

Told ya so!!

See what happens when you don't check the electrolyte level???
Posted by KE4MOB on 2004-03-19

HT Batteries

I knew they did domething with those dead BT paks from the Icoms HTs in the 80s!!
Posted by KJ7XJ on 2004-03-19

AO40 Batterys?

Due to the fact I have clue what they are, I figured they came out of a Star Trek Communicator or somthing ;)
Posted by KD5OWO on 2004-03-19