- Eagle (INACTIVE) - mailman.amsat.org

AMSAT Goes to the races: Video available Saturday on SPEED Channel
by Tom Clark, K3IO 03 May '08

03 May '08

Just a reminder that the debut of the AMSAT colors flying on the #77 Kodak Doran Dallaria/Ford will be on the cable SPEED channel from 12:00-15:00 EDT (1600-1900 UTC) today (Saturday, May 3rd). 73, Tom

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Re: Project Namaste mailing list invitation - AMSAT ground station
by Michelle 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

Thank you Frank, I will invite John to join the effort and the list and I look forward to talking to him more about his ideas and design! More soon,-Michelle W5NYV ----- Original Message ---- From: Frank Brickle <brickle(a)pobox.com> To: Michelle <w5nyv(a)yahoo.com> Cc: eagle(a)amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 9:17:19 AM Subject: Re: [eagle] Project Namaste mailing list invitation - AMSAT ground station Excellent. In that case I'd like to suggest inviting John Melton, g0orx/n6lyt to join also, since he has already done a very significant amount of work -- basically, it's done, and has been for about a year -- in bringing up the operating environment and basic application on the likely handheld processor. His email is John.Melton(a)sun.com. He'll be at Dayton, staying in the AMSAT hotel block. 73 Frank AB2KT

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Re: Project Namaste mailing list invitation - AMSAT ground station
by Michelle 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

Namaste includes all ground station efforts that serve Eagle and Intelsat ride-along ACP packages. -Michelle W5NYV Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis. ----- Original Message ---- From: Frank Brickle <brickle(a)pobox.com> To: Michelle <w5nyv(a)yahoo.com> Cc: eagle(a)amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 9:05:45 AM Subject: Re: [eagle] Project Namaste mailing list invitation - AMSAT ground station Hi Michelle -- Presumably we're talking here about *both* terrestrial stations, the high-bandwidth fixed station and the low-bandwidth handheld one? 73 Frank AB2KT

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Project Namaste mailing list invitation - AMSAT ground station
by Michelle 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

Greetings Eagle! Please consider yourself invited to join the mailing list for Project Namaste, the AMSAT ground station effort. http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/namaste-dev This list is for communicating about the development effort to design and build a ground station that will serve Eagle and the Intelsat ride-along opportunity. Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated, and I look forward to working with each of you. -Michelle Thompson W5NYV Sit vis vobiscum

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JAXA Free Ride Announced
by JoAnne Maenpaa 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

JAXA is offering a free ride: http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/28/looking-for-a-free-ride-to-venus/ -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Re: [suitsat2] RF update
by Bob McGwier 27 Apr '08

27 Apr '08

Ivan: When Meghan was young, she suffered from this. It was almost to the point where we were going to give up emotionally and then AdVair was introduced. Meghan went from suffering to a soccer team star, on the Olympic development team, member of the fifth ranked high school team in the nation, fourth ranked private club in the nation, and second twice in club finals in New Jersey behind the number 1 ranked team in the nation (poor us) twice. When at the end of her Junior season at her private school, playing a "no one" game, she destroyed her ankle, it was the end of soccer for her. She knew by Christmas it was over. In the spring semester, she added AP courses, and took AP all senior passing five courses with 4 and two with 5's. She is now the second ranked student in Neuroscience at NYU. Her SAT's stank (well, 90% percentile) and she confessed that she had trouble with reading speed. I had her tested and she has dyxlexia. These SAT's scores prevented her from getting early admission the school of her choice, late admission to several Ivy's but NYU gave her admission the day after the arrival of her transcript and some scholarship money. She said "I am going where I am wanted and living in NYC would be great" and that was the end of me whining about any of this. She met and fell in love with the son of a senior manager at Merck pharmaceuticals who now is the fastest being promoted new analyst at Black Rock. http://n4hy.smugmug.com/gallery/2308316_ExrWn#120662459_Vf8ec-A-LB NEVER give up on them. Never let them feel sorry for themselves and you don't either. With love and patience, children are just amazingly resilient. You have my best wishes and I am hoping for all the best for you and your daughter. Now ;-) I need my RF. I cannot tell you how happy I am that you and Tom Clark are working together. I am 54. Tom has been my mentor, friend, almost father figure since I was in my early 20's. Every single thing the man ever told me to do, turned into a life. I have led several of them successfully because of his advice. ;-). I have had more than my fair share maybe but I try to use them to the fullest possible extent for good. When I did not seriously consider his advice, it was a disaster. Consider yourself forewarned. I am going to be incommunicado starting Monday, 4/29 until June 5. I will be worthless until June 10. Tom Clark, Barry Baines, and Rick Hambly have agreed to act in my stead on engineering matters. They have my complete confidence. When I return, we will decide if I can continue my duties as the VPE and should it be necessary, we will conduct an orderly transision. I serve at the pleasure of the board, and I will continue to do so until we agree I should go. For the rest of you, I insist that we have meetings to accomplish several tasks: 1) Complete a total plan for build of the ACP and ground terminal prototypes and follow through on the planning of the San Diego experiments. Jan King wishes to support this meeting in person and will fly from Europe if we give him sufficient notice. I suggest an early meeting on ACP while I am gone and the "with Jan and a full team" when I return. 2) Suitsat engineering needs a meeting. That is in the works. It needs to happen ASAP. Tom Clark has been asked by me to represent AMSAT technical to what appears to be an important meeting of the Technology Task Force at Dayton. Please cooperate with him in the preparation for this which is entirely separate from the AMSAT talks. When I return, I want to move out and build out these ACP experiments. They are absolutely key to our success in getting on Intelsat in my opinion. I cannot even get out executive to schedule further meetings with Intelsat. I would have taken a battering ram to the door but such is the lack of confidence in us. We must overcome this to succeed. Those are the stakes. Barry will be given a more detailed list of people, plans, etc. today in writing. My best wishes to all of you while I am gone. Bob N4HY Barr Ivan Galysh wrote: > Hello, > > I am still working on the RF. My 2 year old is finally recovering. We > spent the week going to doctors almost every day to track her progress > and adjust various medications. We had to change the maintenance > medicine and now are backing off of the other medications. > > I finally got the crystals in. I tried putting one into my version of > a collpitts oscillator and get some strange behavior. I was not able > to make John's butler oscillator work but that may be due to how it > was dead bugged. I laid out John's design on a PCB and ordered one to > be delivered by Wednesday. I'll build it up and try to get it working. > > In the mean time, I have the first IF done and going through the 45 > MHz SAW filter. The output is at -30 dBm going into the second mixer. > That is where I am stuck with no second sig gen or working oscillator. > What I plan to do today is build up the final amplifier chain and > temporarily insert a 145,9375 MHz carrier to test up to the final. > > The receiver is ready except for the LO. I can attach a coax with an > SMA to allow for an external LO from a sig gen. If you want, I can > mail it with instruction to whoever wants to at start testing the > receiver side. > > > Ivan > > > > _______________________________________________ > suitsat2 mailing list > suitsat2(a)lists.tapr.org > https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/suitsat2 >

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AMSAT Goes to the Races -- April 27
by Tom Clark, K3IO 21 Apr '08

21 Apr '08

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WARNING!!! DMHO -- A threat to you and the environment
by Tom Clark, K3IO 01 Apr '08

01 Apr '08

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Required reading
by Bob McGwier 01 Apr '08

01 Apr '08

Phil Karn and I used this series when we were doing some calculation and now Chris Bartram (Mutek front end fame and uwSDR founder) pointed this series out. There appears to have a new section added: SDR in deep space. This is a very very important link for RF communications engineers dealing with space matters. http://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/Monograph/mono.cfm Bob

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Possible S2 Power Amplifier
by k3io＠verizon.net 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

This Wireless Design Online (http://www.wirelessdesignonline.com) story has been sent to you by Tom Clark, K3IO. ---------------------------------------------------- I thought this was interesting -- Tom ---------------------------------------------------- 45W GaN-on-Si RF Power Transistor For High Peak-To-Average Power Applications Developed To read the entire news article, visit http://www.wirelessdesignonline.com/read/sp20080325/679707

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AB2KT and the opera
by Bob McGwier 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

On Saturday evening, Frank Brickle (AB2KT), will have his opera performed by the Cygnus ensemble in the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC. For those nearby, there are tickets available, but they are going fast. http://cygnusensemble.com/cms/2007-2008-season/index.php 73's Bob N4HY -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan

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[Fwd: Web Seminar: Rapid and Accurate Simulation of Multi-Gigabit Serial Channels, March 20]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 10 Mar '08

10 Mar '08

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Happy Birthday, Bob
by Tom Clark, K3IO 08 Mar '08

08 Mar '08

FYI -- today is N4HY's birthday (#54 by my calendar). Don't send him any greetings -- it will go to his head and he's already lost so much hair that it would constitute a neuron overload :-P

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Report released on harmful ITAR effects to US space industry
by Daniel Schultz 23 Feb '08

23 Feb '08

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has released a report titled "Health of the U.S. Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls", available at: http://diig-csis.org/calendar/detail.asp?EVENT_ID=261&MONTH_CHOICE=2&DAY_CH… The Aerospace Industries Association states that the report "provides quantifiable evidence that the U.S. space industrial base has been weakened by U.S. export control policy for commercial satellites and their components. Based on a government survey of more than 200 U.S. companies, the report concludes that second- and third-tier suppliers, the source of much innovation, have been hit especially hard since export sales are vital to help offset their significant investments in research and development. The report identifies practical recommendations to improve controls on commercial satellites and components while still ensuring these technologies are protected appropriately." Some particularly relevant passages: Finding 9: Some elements of the export controls laws are in conflict with US National Space Policy. Finding 6: The current export control policy has not prevented the rise of foreign space capabilities and in some cases has encouraged it. Finding 11: The US is the only country that classifies commercial communications satellites as "munitions". Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Identify yourself
by Robert McGwier 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

Please identify yourself directly to me if you have space based experience developing and flying FPGA's. Bob

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[Fwd: HFSS Training, Burlington MA, March 6-7]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

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Juan Rivera
by Bob McGwier 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

I regret to inform the Eagle group that at Juan's request, he is no longer in the Eagle project and is not available to work on AMSAT projects and has even gone so far as to resign, not renew, or not get an AMSAT membership. I really do regret this. I tried, almost at the expense of another friendship, to make this work. But in the end Juan had an agenda that was inconsistent with AMSAT's, and he was VERY critical of AMSAT without being proactive in helping with corrective actions. His agenda moved to taking on the entire development of the Intelsat payload by professionals in the Bay area and with a seven figure number as the cost. It moved steadily from volunteers to employment. When I asked for the CV of the people he wanted to involve, it lead to a an explosion and quitting as the request of CV's from people he wanted me to pay millions was an insult. I was supposed to take his word to come to a meeting where they would tell me what we should do. I just could not go down the path he wanted. I want to remind everyone here of an explosion that Juan mounted last year. I suggested that we might need to begin outsourcing some work. He exploded and said that it was inconsistent with AMSAT work. Now, he leaves because he wanted to do exactly that and views all my attempts to get information as some kind of insult or invasion of territory. I hope you all know that we never like to lose volunteers for any reason if it can be helped and if any of you remember my awards at Pittsburgh, you know I singled Juan out for "MVP" for 2007. This was done in conjunction with Jim Sanford. Juan did us a lot of good in 2007 and I wish this could have worked out. My apologies to the group for this disruption and I accept blame and responsibility for this loss but I just could not go forward. I will directly work with John to work out arrangements for finishing the rework of the 70 cm receiver. As a result of our very successful relationship with Juan, I have many questions that Jan King, Karl Meinzer, and many others in this list completely missed in the review. It would be easy to see looking at the group that did the review how one might get complacent. I have a plan to move the RX forward. I will be asking the individual I wish to involve this week. Bob

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2 meter digital downlink for geostationary satellite
by John B. Stephensen 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

I've been thinking about how the use of mode UV might change with a geostationary satellite. It could allow for the use of very simple antennas for mobile operation as was done with AO-16. Since the satellite is stabilized and fairly large, it may be possible for AMSAT to procure space for a broadside array with at least 2 elements on 2 meters with vertical polarization. This would give 8 or 9 dBi of gain and be compatible with 1/4-wavelength whip antennas mounted on automobiles in mid-latitude locations. It would also allow the speed of the currently planned digital uplinks and downlink to be increased. This digital downlink could allow multi-user digital voice operation with fairly low power given that 2400 and 1200 bps MELP vocoders are now available. 50 kHz could allocated for SSB and 50 kHz for a TDM digital downlink. A 24 kBaud QPSK downlink could handle 10-20 users using a rate 1/2 error correcting code. If we assume that the man-made noise level is 6 dB above the thermal noise level, a 1 dB NF LNA, 6 dB SNR and a 32 kHz bandwidth for the downlink signal, -116 dBm is required at the receiver. Path loss is 168 dB, so at least 52 dBm EIRP is required from the satellite which means 20-25 W of transmitter output. This seems feasible for the HELAPS transmiter or there could be a separate transmitter and a high-level power combiner. Both 70-cm analog and digital uplinks could be handled by a common receiver using a short (1 m) yagi antenna or a broadside array. 73, John KD6OZH

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Programming help needed
by Bob McGwier 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

AMSAT Engineering needs experienced help programming MPS-430. This processor will be in a Cubesat. It would be my preference for us to use FreeRTOS on it but this is not a decision I will mandate if adequate reasons for not following this path can be provided. Email me directly. Bob

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For Chuck
by Robert McGwier 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

Apologies for the private email sent publicly: Chuck I have tried to send you several emails. Please respond to me directly with your new email address. Thanks for the bandwidth. 73's Bob

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[Fwd: Ansoft Training: HFSS Advanced Antenna, Ansoft Designer]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 08 Feb '08

08 Feb '08

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Orlando Trip, Airport transportation
by Rick Hambly (W2GPS) 07 Feb '08

07 Feb '08

All, I arrive at Orlando airport after 4pm today. The hotel is 22 miles away. I rented a 7 passenger van to help with transportation over the weekend. Anyone who wants transportation this afternoon from the airport should call me on my cell phone (see below). So I know to wait for you. I will be waiting for Tom Clark who arrives an hour later so you can call any time before 5pm. Rick W2GPS AMSAT LM2232 Richard M. Hambly, CNS Systems, Inc. 363 Hawick Court, Severna Park, MD 21146 410-987-7835 phone, 410-987-7836 Fax, 410-299-2147 cell <mailto:rick@cnssys.com> rick(a)cnssys.com, <http://www.cnssys.com> www.cnssys.com, <http://www.gpstime.com> www.gpstime.com _____ From: Rick Hambly (W2GPS) [mailto:w2gps@cnssys.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 5:56 PM To: 'John.Klingelhoeffer(a)verizon.net' Cc: Robert McGwier (rwmcgwier(a)gmail.com); 'Tom Clark, K3IO'; 'Martha'; 'Barry A. Baines'; Elaine Hambly (elaine(a)cnssys.com) Subject: Orlando Trip, Flight Itinerary All, Here is my flight itinerary for the Orlando trip. AirTran Airways. February 07, 2008, Flight 472 [Non-Stop] Seat: 22F Departing Baltimore/Washington, MD (BWI) at 02:04 PM Arriving Orlando, FL (MCO) at 04:14 PM February 11, 2008, Flight 470 [Non-Stop] Seat: 22F Departing Orlando, FL (MCO) at 04:51 PM Arriving Baltimore/Washington, MD (BWI) at 06:57 PM Payment Information: Ticket Total 266.00 Rick W2GPS AMSAT LM2232

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TWT needed
by Bob McGwier 03 Feb '08

03 Feb '08

I have a need for a 10 kW TWT for 10.5 GHz for use on a radio telescope. If anyone can help or point me in the right direction, let me know. Bob

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[Fwd: [amsat-bb] Services offered]
by Jim Sanford 02 Feb '08

02 Feb '08

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [amsat-bb] Services offered Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 20:41:22 -0600 From: truckwiz <truckwiz(a)bwig.net> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> I don't know if this is the right place to post this. I own a fully equipped machine shop and will donate my time to any satellite projects. Brian _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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ARRL Director's Meeting endorses Geostationary plans
by Tom Clark, K3IO 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

The ARRL Board of Directors held its first 2008 meeting in Houston, Texas on January 18-19. The following paragraph appears in the meeting summary in this week's ARRL eMail Newsletter that was issued this afternoon (Feb.1): > The Board adopted a resolution of support for AMSAT's initiative seeking > access to an Intelsat platform in geostationary orbit. AMSAT is in > consultation with Intelsat regarding an application of an Intelsat > platform carrying amateur satellites into geostationary orbit, with > potential benefits for emergency communications. AMSAT has been the > principal initiator of projects in the Amateur Satellite Service and > continues to play a key role in significantly advancing the state of the > art in space science, space education and space technology. 73, Tom

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