[QCWA] Satellite phones vs. HF ham radio

[Curt Phillips W4CP]

Even without the Chinese "satellite killer" spacecraft, satellite comms can still let you down.
   
  Perhaps some of you saw the ARRL statement on this, but for those of us who didn't, it's covered here in a short news-clip from the April issue of Monitoring Times magazine:
   
  _Globalstar Satellite Problems_
   
  The American Radio Relay League recently distributed a warning that "Our served agencies are increasingly relying on satellite phones for back up communications and some think it has lessened the need for HF and the other services provided by amateur radio. You should refer your emergency management contacts to a recent SEC filing made by Globalstar. The performance of the S-band power amplifiers in the company’s satellites is degrading, likely to due radiation exposure. ... there is apparently a significant chance that the new satellites won’t be up in time and that sometime in 2008 substantially all of the Company’s currently in-orbit satellites will cease to be able to support two-way communications services!"