The ARISSat-1 project can chalk up many successes, here is my list so far:

AMSAT has:

Built and launched a spacecraft which has sent signals back to earth Grown up significantly in our project management capabilities, now bearing fruit as AMSAT-Fox is developed Developed a telemetry scheme that gives us several dB advantage over anything else previously flown on an amateur or small university spacecraft Gown in our understanding of and implementation of ITAR compliance Learned a fair amount about extracting the most power out of solar panels and putting it to work or storage

And on a personal level, I have:

Learned a lot about project management - Learned a lot about BPSK demodulation and channel codecs Been privileged to work with a lot of smart people

-Joe KM1P