Greetings!
The 2009 AMSAT-DC Workshop was held this
past Saturday as planned. It was held in
place of the annual spring "AMSAT-DC Meeting
and Space Seminar" of previous years, as
voted by acclamation at last year's
meeting. Something "new and different"
was the vision. And, ...
What a great day ... for education, for
AMSAT and for NASA!
The workshop was not without its scrapes,
cuts and bruises. After all, it was an
experiment unto itself, in part to see how
well such an event might "take" in the
mid-Atlantic USA region before attempting
to emerge beyond. In the all-day event, a
total of five individuals participated and
three flight modules were built. We had
humble beginnings, indeed.
A follow up session is in the planning
stage. (We didn't have enough time to
complete some troubleshooting and to start
the calibration procedure on each module.)
We will meet at NASA GSFC again in the next
month or two -- this time, instead of in a
huge cushy conference room serving as our
"fab lab", it will be inside a real space
flight hardware laboratory -- to calibrate
the PICetSat II flight sensors.
Would you like to participate in a
calibration session? Even if you missed
the workshop, you are welcome to "finish
the job" with us! The session(s) are free,
but slots are VERY limited. Current AMSAT
membership is required, and an advanced
RSVP is required for security purposes.
Contact me by e-mail if you are interested
in participating.
After our next AMSAT-DC planning telecon
(to be held within the next two weeks) I
will release our calibration date(s) and
time.
Please share the excitement. Please pass
the word. What a great day for education
and outreach. And fun!
Respectfully submitted,
Pat Kilroy, N8PK, co-host
Bruce Semple, WA3SWJ, co-host
AMSAT-DC guys
------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 14:11:04 -0600
From: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov>
Subject: [amsat-dc] AMSAT-DC Workshop Saturday,
April 25, in Greenbelt, Md
To: <amsat-dc(a)amsat.org>
AN AMSAT-DC WORKSHOP will be held on
Saturday, April 25, at the NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
A small "simulated satellite" kit will
be built, tested and operated by
individuals attending. The completed
kit, soon to be widely known as a
PICetSat II module, is a simple remote
sensing unit that serves as an expendable
high-altitude small balloon payload.
It transmits downlink telemetry on the
70 cm Amateur Radio band.
Other attendees will provide and
configure radios, computers and software
needed to receive, decode and analyze
the PICetSat II telemetry.
The workshop is an experiment unto itself
for the sponsoring AMSAT-DC group. This
workshop may prove to be a fine training
opportunity for one to learn the basics
of the design, construction, testing,
calibrating and operating an earth-
orbiting satellite. All in one long
Saturday of fun!
HELP IS NEEDED
The workshop planning team meets weekly
on Thursday evenings via a telephone
conference. If you wish to help organize
and/or execute the workshop then there may
still be time to hop aboard if you are
quick. Contact me by e-mail for the
details of connecting with the group on
the telecom at pat.kilroy(a)nasa.gov. We
need another experienced soldering and
construction helper or two, a photographer,
a videographer, and several "Go-fers" to
name a few.
INFORMATION COMING
Because of the workshop's experimental
nature, the size is designed to be small
in attendance this inaugural year. It
will be an exclusive opportunity to
AMSAT members, new and old alike.
On Sunday, March 16, we expect to
release details on the attendance
application process and donation. Watch
for information about the workshop via
the AMSAT News Service (ANS) bulletins,
the AMSAT-DC e-mail list, and the local
AMSAT-DC web page.
IMPORTANT LINKS
http://www.amsat.org/http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/
More info to follow later. Thank you
for your patience on this subject.
Cheers,
Pat Kilroy
N8PK
AMSAT Area Coordinator
Please go to the local AMSAT web page at
http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ and read
about the AMSAT-DC event on Saturday,
April 25.
Then read Bruce's message below.
And then please respond to Bruce and
me at our contact numbers below.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Pat
N8PK
http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Semple [mailto:brucesemple@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 08:52 PM
Subject: What Would It Take ?
What would it take to get you to attend our event on April 25?
Or what would it take to get you to attend on a different date
later this Spring or Summer?
For our April 25th event, we need to get turn in names to the
NASA security desk early next week.
As of this writing, we have three people signed up ...
Is it a cost issue?
Is it a scheduling conflict?
Is it the program format?
What is the single thing that would bring you out
to our next meeting?
We want to hear from you!
Many thanks,
Pat Kilroy, N8PK (Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov) 301-286-1984 weekdays
Bruce Semple, WA3SWJ (bruce.semple(a)verizon.net) 301-803-6175 weekdays
Thanks & 73,
Bruce
WA3SWJ
http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/
