- Eagle (INACTIVE) - mailman.amsat.org

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
by Kenneth Ernandes 10 Oct '13

10 Oct '13

LinkedIn ------------ Eagle@AMSAT., I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Kenneth Kenneth Ernandes Senior Systems Engineer at Harris Corporation Melbourne, Florida Area Confirm that you know Kenneth Ernandes: https://www.linkedin.com/e/-6wwwek-hmm8h5is-w/isd/17216240073/7W4vddqT/?hs=… -- You are receiving Invitation to Connect emails. Click to unsubscribe: http://www.linkedin.com/e/-6wwwek-hmm8h5is-w/q24T_6_UMIbesEfPE2BSAylmno/goo… (c) 2012 LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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Economist article
by Alan Bloom 16 Dec '10

16 Dec '10

Attached is an interesting article from the latest Economist magazine. Shame they didn't mention the amateur radio involvement in developing the cubesat concept. Al N1AL

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Notes from last summer's Rideshare Conference
by Daniel Schultz 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

As the annual meeting fast approaches I am finally motivated to write up my notes and random thoughts from the Rideshare Conference in Chantilly, Virginia last summer. These are my thoughts only and no one else should be blamed for them. Someone at the meeting said that the Rideshare Conference is the "Small Satellite Conference for adults." Amsat wants to launch high altitude satellites with sophisticated communications payloads which require larger than a Cubesat sized spacecraft. We cannot afford to pay market rates for a launch. We want to launch an ongoing series of Eagle satellites, not just one time only, to build a redundant constellation of satellites. The main thing I got from the conference is that the Department of Defense intends to fly an ESPA (EELV Secondary Payload Adapter) ring on every DOD flight that has excess lift capacity. I was told by a representative of one of the EELV contractors that if the Primary Customer says to do it, they will absorb integration costs for secondary payloads. If the right official orders it, it will happen. The DOD Space Test Program has been limited to payloads of military significance. The ESPA ring can carry six Eagle sized satellites, and there was mention of plans to mount Cubesat P-Pod dispensers inside the ESPA launch ring so that Cubesats can be ejected through the empty clamp bands after the first six secondary satellites are deployed. A single ESPA could deploy six large satellites followed by six 6U Cubesats or twelve 3U Cubesats. If all of this actually happens, there will be dozens of launch opportunities for small satellites on DOD missions. If we can ask them to open up the DOD Space Test Program to non-defense payloads that serve an educational or public service mission we could fly on some of these missions. The NASA Get Away Special program provided shuttle launches at far below market price in order to support access to space for small organizations. We need to persuade DOD to use the ESPA capability to provide the same capability for educational and non profit organizations. In 1961, how did we get Oscar 1 onboard the Discoverer/Corona mission? Are there any old timers from that era who can enlighten us? Some people in Project Oscar worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space, the prime contractor for the Agena/Corona satellite, in their day jobs. No universities were building satellites in 1961 (except for the University of Iowa of course). Somewhere some Air Force general approved the launch of Oscar 1. I wish we had more information about how the Project Oscar guys got him to do that. We need to do something similar today. Perhaps we can market the idea to Congressional staff in Washington if nothing else works. Emergency communications has not been a selling point to get funding. The emergency authorities want to fund a system that is in-house and under their administration. It is nice that the hams are available to help out in a crisis but nobody is going to pay for that ahead of time. They can't tell their superiors that the emergency plan involves dependence on amateur volunteers to come forward in time of need. Everyone in the space business is pushing Education and Public Outreach. Even the super secret NRO has a (rather horrible) student outreach web site. NASA has contributed significant resources to ham radio through the SAREX and ARISS programs, motivated primarily by educational and public outreach. We are excellent at doing public outreach and should market that capability more heavily and to other agencies. Amsat can and should involve universities and students but it must be advertised as an Amsat-led mission and not as a university mission. AO-40 was done in that manner. We must get credit for our work or else we do not exist. Universities have full time public affairs offices to make sure that they get credit for everything they do. Amsat must be equally aggressive in getting credit for its missions. We also have a history of cooperation with Goddard Space Flight Center, most recently with the GPS experiment on AO-40. We need to explore other opportunities for cooperation. Amsat can provide a world wide network of hams for telemetry collection, command uplink stations on three continents, and support their educational and public outreach requirements. We also gave the world Jan King, Martin Sweeting and (add your own choice of names) who went on to contribute greatly to the small satellite universe. We support education from kindergarten through graduate school and also provide outside-the-box hands-on experience for working professionals. The Cubesats are being launched from a P-pod capsule, which contains the entire Cubesat and decouples the satellite from the launch vehicle. Even if a Cubesat vibrates to pieces during launch, the P-pod will contain the fragments and protect the primary satellite. Individual Cubesats do not need the same level of strict qualification testing and they are essentially interchangeable even at the last minute. They follow standard processes, and provide standard services. Someone at the conference called it the "world's most expensive jack-in-the-box". The launch vehicle can manifest Cubesats without knowing exactly which cubesats will fly on that mission. If Amsat can develop a standard 50 kg spacecraft for the ESPA ring, do the launch qualification, and offer it to others as a carrier for small science experiments which need more volume and space than a Cubesat, providing standard processes and standard services, we could end up with a continuous series of satellite launches in the process. We developed and qualified the SBS structure for AO-40 on the Ariane V vehicle which has been reused several times since then. Electric propulsion is a safe and practical way to reach a desirable orbit from whatever initial launch we can get. We can also correct any AO-13 type instabilities and provide for end of life disposal to satisfy FCC and launch authority requirements on orbital debris disposal. Amsat needs to acquire the use of this technology on an ongoing basis. The Rideshare conference was all about government agencies, universities, and large and small corporations. Where does Amsat fit into this world? They expressed a goal of having regular, cost effective rideshares, and to this end they want to form a working group to coordinate integration requirements and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort. Can Amsat be a part of this working group? Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Paper submissions needed for Symposium
by Daniel Schultz 10 Aug '10

10 Aug '10

As of August 2, JoAnne had only seven papers submitted for the symposium. Please help us shake the trees and bushes to ask the usual suspects to get their paper proposals to JoAnne as soon as possible, or else the Symposium will be a very short one this year. We will not be able to hold the print shop deadline open as late as we did last year because of the need to ship the books to Chicago. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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SK: Mario Acuña, LU9HBG
by Tom Clark, K3IO 03 Sep '09

03 Sep '09

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Third call for papers for Amsat Symposium- Time grows short!
by Daniel Schultz 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

These are all of the symposium paper proposals received to date: AO-7’s Solar Array Power After 35 Years In Orbit James A. DeYoung Amateur radio on the ISS Will Marchant Software Radio Technology on SuitSat-2 Anthony Monteiro A Linear U/V Transponder for SuitSat2 Bill Ress Using AO-51 Telemetry to Optimize a Successor Robert Davis AMSAT Eagle Geostationary Platform Educational Opportunities JoAnne Maenpaa Mayan Observations of Venus Martin Davidoff CubeSat Data Analysis Software Sebastian De Angelis University of Hawaii at Manoa We need many more papers to have a full conference and we need them soon. I am asking all active Amsat leadership and technical personnel to please step forward NOW and get me some more paper proposals. If not then we can hold the symposium in about 4 hours on Saturday afternoon and then send everybody home. Since the subject of launch opportunities is driving most of what Amsat can do in the near future, I propose that this be one of the major themes for this year's symposium. Papers on possible cooperative projects with other space organizations would also be relevant. You might also consider doing a tutorial session on some technical subject that you are an expert on for the education of the rest of us. I may be moving to a new job in the fall so please don't count on me being able to edit a large number of papers on the night before the print shop deadline. Please try to get them in sooner than the deadline, sometime in mid-September (exact date TBD but don't push your luck). Dan Schultz N8FGV

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[Fwd: ANSYS 12.0 North America Seminar Series: Smart Engineering Simulation]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 08 May '09

08 May '09

FYI -- AMSAT is a licensee of the ANSOFT software, so you might be interested in these seminars. If you have trouble with Email, check https://www.ansoft.com/news/mailer/090508/index.html -- Tom

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[Fwd: HFSS Training, Burlington MA, April 16-17 and May 7-8]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 14 Apr '09

14 Apr '09

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5GHZ 1 Watt Transceiver ~ $100
by JoAnne Maenpaa 06 Apr '09

06 Apr '09

Hello Everyone, I ran across this item via the news shorts on the front page of qrz.com. The Wisconsin Amateur Radio Club is deploying a 5.6 GHz - 5.825 GHz high speed digital network in southeast Wisconsin. They say a 5 GHz 1 watt transceiver will be available for less than $100, enclosed in a waterproof tube that mounts directly to the antenna. http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/projects/wireless/WIARC.pdf -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Copy Editor, AMSAT Journal

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Fw: SPACEX FALCON 9 UPPER STAGE ENGINE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES FULL MISSION DURATION FIRING
by Bill Tynan 11 Mar '09

11 Mar '09

I though you might be interested in this. 73, Bill Tynan, W3XO Charter Life Member 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:39:49 -0400 From: news(a)spacex.com To: francis223(a)hotmail.com Subject: SPACEX FALCON 9 UPPER STAGE ENGINE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES FULL MISSION DURATION FIRING FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Shanklin | Director, Marketing and Communications media(a)SpaceX.com 310.363.6733 SPACEX FALCON 9 UPPER STAGE ENGINE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES FULL MISSION DURATION FIRING -------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Merlin Vacuum engine demonstrates highest efficiency for an American hydrocarbon rocket engine McGregor, TX – (March 09, 2009) – Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) successfully conducted a full mission duration firing of its new Merlin Vacuum engine on March 7, at SpaceX's Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. The engine fired for a full six minutes, consuming 100,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene propellant. The new engine, which powers the upper stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle, demonstrated a vacuum specific impulse of 342 seconds – the highest efficiency ever for an American hydrocarbon rocket engine. Thrust was measured at approximately 92,500 lb of force in vacuum conditions and the engine remained thermally stable over the entire run. "Specific impulse, or Isp, indicates how efficiently a rocket engine converts propellant into thrust," said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX. "With a vacuum Isp of 342 seconds, the new Merlin Vacuum engine has exceeded our requirements, setting a new standard for American hydrocarbon engine performance in space." Based on the Merlin 1C engine that boosted the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket to orbit in 2008, the Merlin Vacuum engine uses a regeneratively cooled combustion chamber. However, the vacuum engine features a larger exhaust section than the Merlin 1C and a much larger radiatively cooled expansion nozzle, in order to maximize performance in the vacuum of space. The Merlin Vacuum engine provides the final push that delivers customer spacecraft into their desired orbits. A redundant ignition system ensures the engine can shut down and restart multiple times. The engine can also operate at a reduced thrust to achieve optimum performance. During recent tests, the engine was successfully throttled down to 75 percent of maximum thrust, and upcoming tests will demonstrate throttling to approximately 60 percent of maximum thrust. "Falcon 9 was designed from the ground up to provide our customers with breakthrough advances in reliability," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. "In successfully adapting our flight tested first stage engine for use on the second stage, this recent test further validates the architecture of Falcon 9, designed to provide customers with high reliability at a fraction of traditional costs." SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft were recently selected by NASA to resupply cargo to the International Space Station after the shuttle retires in 2010. The inaugural flight of Falcon 9 is scheduled for later this year from SpaceX's launch pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. About SpaceX SpaceX is revolutionizing access to space by developing a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft intended to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by internally-developed Merlin engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions. On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1, designed and manufactured from the ground up by SpaceX, became the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth, demonstrating that low cost and reliability can be coupled in commercial spaceflight. As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX is in a position to help fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. Under the existing Agreement, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS. SpaceX is the only COTS contender with the capability to return cargo and crew to Earth. NASA also has an option to demonstrate crew services to the ISS using the Falcon 9 / Dragon system. NASA recently selected the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for the International Space Station Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract award. The contract includes 12 flights between 2010 and 2015, which represents a guaranteed minimum of 20,000 kg to be carried to the International Space Station. Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers more than 620 full time employees, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with additional locations, including SpaceX's Texas Test Facility in McGregor near Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific. A new video tour of SpaceX’s Texas Test Site conducted by Tom Mueller, VP of Propulsion can be viewed here. Photo Caption: The new SpaceX Merlin Vacuum second stage engine undergoing a mission-length test firing at the SpaceX Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. The engine will power the upper stage on the inaugural flight of the new Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled for later this year. Credit: SpaceX. Photo Caption: Illustration of the new SpaceX Merlin Vacuum second stage engine in action. The large expansion nozzle increases the engine's performance in the vacuum of space. Credit: SpaceX. You are subscribed as francis223(a)hotmail.com. To unsubscribe please click here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Windows Live™ Groups: Create an online spot for your favorite groups to meet. Check it out.

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Live Webinar: Building Battery Arrays with Lithium-Ion Cells -- Mar.4
by Tom Clark, K3IO 16 Feb '09

16 Feb '09

This "webinar" on Li-ion battery arrays on March 4th may be of interest to folks interested in battery technology -- Tom

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Satellites in collision; Satellites gone astray; ZS1BI in the news
by Tom Clark, K3IO 12 Feb '09

12 Feb '09

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ISRO Satellite Problem - Just FYI
by JoAnne Maenpaa 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

As we all know, it happens to the Pro's too . http://www.spacemart.com/reports/ISRO_Built_Satellite_Fails_After_Five_Weeks _999.html -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Space-X presentation at NASA Goddard on Monday
by Daniel Schultz 12 Dec '08

12 Dec '08

Monday's Goddard Engineering Colloquium will feature Mr. Steve Davis, Lead Systems Engineer for the Space-X Dragon spacecraft. (Elon Musk apparently had to cancel and sent Steve instead). If any local Amsat people would like to attend, (and maybe beg him for a free satellite launch) please get in touch with me or Pat Kilroy. You will need one of us to escort you through Goddard security. I will not be at my normal work location on Monday, so call me at home before Sunday night at 301-879-8377, or call Pat at work on Monday at 301-286-1984. This offer is regrettably limited to US citizens. Dan Schultz N8FGV ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM Monday, December 15, 2008 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium Steve Davis "Falcons and Dragons: Economical Liftoffs for Science Payloads, Cargo, and People" ABSTRACT -- A new vehicle for small payloads, the Falcon, was successfully launched in September. Designed for cost efficiency and reliability, the Falcon series of spacecraft can provide an affordable option for science and engineering researchers to get their payloads to orbit, either LEO or, with the Falcon 9, geo-synchronous. In addition to describing the Falcon spacecraft, the speaker will describe the Dragon. The Dragon spacecraft is made up of a pressurized capsule and unpressurized trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members. Initiated internally by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill a NASA COTS contract for demonstration of cargo re-supply of the ISS. SPEAKER -- Mr. Davis of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) (http://www.spacex.com) is Lead Systems Engineer for Dragon, a free-flying reusable spacecraft being developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program for the delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS). In this role, Davis is responsible for the technical management of 25 engineers, overall system and mission design, and interfacing with the ISS program to ensure ISS-Dragon compatibility. Prior to his role as Lead Systems Engineer on Dragon, Davis designed, analyzed and tested the guidance system for the SpaceX Falcon 1, the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to achieve Earth orbit.

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[Fwd: Inspiring Engineering Presentations Available]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 07 Dec '08

07 Dec '08

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Stack Monitor Chips Without Isolation Concerns To Give Your Electric Car Some Zip
by k3io＠verizon.net 25 Nov '08

25 Nov '08

k3io(a)verizon.net sent this article to you from Electronic Design's Web site. ---------- The LTC6802 looks like a very promising way to monitor all the battery cells in a series string. 73, Tom ---------- Stack Monitor Chips Without Isolation Concerns To Give Your Electric Car Some Zip http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/20026/20026.html ---------- For more articles and engineering resources, visit www.elecdesign.com

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AMSAT's World Class Software Toolkits
by Rick Hambly (W2GPS) 22 Nov '08

22 Nov '08

All, AMSAT has been maintaining a world class set of software tools for RF design, antenna design, schematic capture, PCB layout and auto-route, and FPGA/CPLD/etc. design. There are modules for special purpose applications like high speed signal PCB design, simulation and emulation. The capabilities are beyond want most of us could ever afford to touch if it were not for AMSAT. These tools have been updated with the latest revisions over the past week and new instructions have been prepared to help you find them. The purpose of making these tools available is EDUCATION. This is arguably AMSAT's most important mission. These tools are here for YOU to become better educated by learning and using these tools. The only restriction is that you use them only for AMSAT sponsored projects, one of which is YOUR EDUCATION, so go ahead and use them to design your new Ham Shack antenna, circuit board, or whatever. AMSAT sponsored projects include ARISS, TAPR and HPSDR projects and may include others in the future. The most important limitation is that these tools are not to be used for personal commercial gain or on projects that are not sponsored by AMSAT. So do not share the registration information with non-members unless specifically authorized by the AMSAT President or his delegated authority. Attached are the instructions for getting the tools. The licenses are controlled by a central server so you must be connected to the Internet to use these tools. There are limits on the number of simultaneous users permitted by each license, some as low as two at a time, others as high as 20 at a time. I don't expect that to be a problem. These tools are worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars, so what is the hitch? Any one suite of tools (sometimes called a "flow") is a major personal commitment to learn. For that reason I recommend locating the various Webcasts that are available and teaming up with a partner. Why would AMSAT put you through all this pain? Because AMSAT needs people who know how to use these tools to design the next generation satellites. Rick W2GPS

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Elon Musk will visit Goddard on December 15
by Daniel Schultz 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

Elon Musk of SpaceX will visit Goddard and deliver the 3:30 Monday afternoon Engineering Colloquium on December 15. The title is "Falcons and Dragons: Economical Liftoffs for Science Payloads, Cargo, and People". There may be an informal opportunity to talk to him after the colloquium, but if you want a more formal meeting we can talk to the colloquium committee to see if something can be set up ahead of time. Dan Schultz

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Visualizing Geosynchronous Coverage
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Nov '08

15 Nov '08

Good morning everyone, This is probably old news for those who have studied the topic. The web page below gives you a chance to visualize your coverage from various geostationary orbital slots: http://www.satsig.net/maps/satellite-maps.htm. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Copy Editor, AMSAT Journal

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AMSAT's History
by Tom Clark, K3IO 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

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National Interoperability Field Operations Guide
by JoAnne Maenpaa 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

Hello everyone, Here is a bit of reference material for study and storage in our archive for future access. We've discussed off and on about radio interoperability opportunities that AMSAT may present for amateur radio emergency communications. Below is a link to the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide v1.2 published by US DHS, Office of Emergency Communications. This covers national terrestrial radio planning. http://www.npstc.org/documents/NIFOG%20v1.2%204-14-2008.pdf -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Copy Editor, AMSAT Journal

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healing cosmic ray damage to FPGA
by Bob McGwier 17 Oct '08

17 Oct '08

http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/m/pub/1005h/1005%20(Thompson,%20S).pdf

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[Fwd: Attend The Can't-Miss Power Design Conference: No Travel Required]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 02 Oct '08

02 Oct '08

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Falcon 1 successful
by Bob McGwier 30 Sep '08

30 Sep '08

Falcon 1 successfully made it to orbit today. http://www.spacex.com/ Falcon 9 Heavy will be a 12000 Kg to GTO launcher and will almost certainly have test flights. http://www.spacex.com/falcon9_heavy.php and it pays to have friends: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Jeff_Ward_To_Head_Up_Avionics_Guidance_A nd_Control_At_SpaceX_999.html Bob N4HY ARRL SDR Working Group Chair Member: ARRL, AMSAT, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. "Trample the slow .... Hurdle the dead"

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Re: ITAR BS
by Daniel Schultz 17 Sep '08

17 Sep '08

NASA is NOT exempt from ITAR. Most of the documents I handle for work are now marked "US export controlled". Why do you think I haven't given any Hubble talks at recent Amsat meetings? NASA has to jump through the same legal hoops as everyone else, but they have lawyers on the payroll already so it is not a big burden. NASA's budget for photocopy paper is many times larger than Amsat's total budget. Amsat is not the only outfit affected by ITAR, a lot of small businesses are being shut down by an inability to export their products. It is their complaints that have attracted the attention of the Obama campaign, whose space policy states that: "Revising Regulations for Aerospace Export Control: Some sections of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) have unduly hampered the competitiveness of domestic aerospace industry. Outdated restrictions have cost billions of dollars to American satellite and space hardware manufacturers as customers have decided to purchase equipment from European suppliers. While protecting our national security interests, Barack Obama will direct a review of the ITAR to reevaluate restrictions imposed on American companies, with a special focus on space hardware that is currently restricted from commercial export. He will also direct revisions to the licensing process to ensure that American suppliers are competitive in the international aerospace markets, without jeopardizing American national security." McCain has not made any such statements in his space policy, but those who support his campaign should get in touch with him and try to get it added on. We should be making complaints to elected representatives about how our organization is being affected by ITAR. Our organization is sufficiently different from commercial for-profit companies that our specific needs should be considered along with those of small business, in particular our desire to conduct the project in "open-source" mode. If I understand correctly, if the IHU3 was an engine control computer for a car, it would be OK to work with the Germans, but since it is designed to go into a satellite, it is forbidden to share it with foreigners. Very Strange. While we are sorting this out, keep in mind that this subject WILL come up at the Symposium/Annual Meeting next month. We better have a good presentation for the membership at that time. If you want to print anything in the published proceedings, I will need your material by the end of September. Dan Schultz N8FGV ------ Original Message ------ Received: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:37:28 PM EDT From: Louis McFadin <w5did(a)amsat.org> To: Chuck Green <greencl(a)mindspring.com>Cc: "'EAGLE'" <eagle(a)amsat.org> Subject: [eagle] Re: ITAR BS > Chuck, > I would like to point out that any work on ARISS is exempt since it is > a government activity NASA. > You are free to help ARISS all you want. >

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ITAR BS
by Matt Ettus 10 Sep '08

10 Sep '08

Saying that the reason there is no progress on Eagle is because of ITAR is like saying that the reason my dog hasn't read "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" is because he can't reach it on the top bookshelf. The real reasons why there is no progress: Nobody knows what "Eagle" is anymore Everyone who was actually doing any work was summarily "fired". Multiple times in some cases. Matt

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2008 Symposium deadline
by Daniel Schultz 08 Sep '08

08 Sep '08

We still have a serious lack of presentations on the Eagle and Intelsat programs. Tom Clark has promised some sort of paper but I have not received proposals from anyone else involved in these flagship projects. The symposium at this point will be all about student built satellites and how to work AO-51 with your HT. Eagle team members, please let me know very soon if you have any plans to contribute a paper to this year's symposium. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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The ITAR Nail on the Head
by Bill Tynan 07 Sep '08

07 Sep '08

All: I would conclude that Bill Ress has HIT THE ITAR NAIL ON THE HEAD! The { }ed words or phases from the ITAR document are those I chose to emphasize. The [ ]ed comments are mine. 120 (5) This definition does {not} include information concerning general scientific,mathematical or engineering principles commonly taught in schools, colleges and universities or information in the {public domain} as defined in § 120.11. It also does not include basic marketing information on function or purpose or general system descriptions of defense articles. [I cannot believe that anything we are doing is THAT new and innovative that its basic tenets are not being taught in college. Yes, it may very well be based on using that information in innovative ways.] § 120.11 Public domain. (a) Public domain means information which is {published} and which is generally accessible or available to the public: (1) Through sales at newsstands and bookstores; (2) Through {subscriptions} which are available without restriction to any individual who desires to obtain or purchase the published information; [Our Journal is available to ANYONE who wishes to join AMSAT (subscribe).] (3) Through second class mailing privileges granted by the U.S. Government; (4) At libraries open to the public or from which the public can obtain documents; (5) Through patents available at any patent office; (6) Through {unlimited distribution at a conference, meeting, seminar, trade show or exhibition, generally accessible to the public, in the United States;} [ANYONE can attend our Symposia. There is not even a need for membership.] (7) Through public release (i.e., unlimited distribution) in any form (e.g., not necessarily in published form) after approval by the cognizant U.S. government department or agency (see also § 125.4(b)(13) of this subchapter); [I'm not sure about this one, but I believe it refers to work done under Government auspices/contract.] (8) Through fundamental research in science and engineering at accredited institutions of higher learning in the U.S. where the resulting information is ordinarily published and shared broadly in the scientific community. Fundamental research is defined to mean basic and applied research in science and engineering where the resulting information is ordinarily published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from research the results of which are restricted for proprietary reasons or specific U.S. Government access and dissemination controls. University research will not be considered fundamental research if: [This should clear the way for schools with foreign students working on Cubsts etc.] (i) The University or its researchers accept other restrictions on publication of scientific and technical information resulting from the project or activity, or (ii) The research is funded by the U.S. Government and specific access and dissemination controls protecting information resulting from the research are applicable. 121.1 CATEGORY XV-SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT * (a) Spacecraft, including communications satellites, remote sensing satellites, scientific satellites, research satellites, navigation satellites, experimental and multi-mission satellites. {*NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (a): Commercial communications satellites, scientific satellites, research satellites and experimental satellites are designated as SME only when the equipment is intended for use by the armed forces of any foreign country.} [I don't know when, or how this provision got in there; but it seems like it's exactly what we have be wanting all along. Our satellites are NEVER intended for use by ANY armed forces, foreign or domestic. it seems to me to let us off the hook as it were. Let's go!] 73, Bill Tynan, W3XO LM-10 Past President and Board Chairman, now Senior Advisor (GEEZER) VerDate

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Re: 2008 Symposium deadline
by Daniel Schultz 07 Sep '08

07 Sep '08

Failure to present papers or other evidence of progress at the symposium will send a pretty clear message to the membership that these projects are well and truly dead. Is that what we want to do? Dan Schultz N8FGV ------ Original Message ------ Received: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:02:08 PM EDT From: "Frank Brickle" <brickle(a)pobox.com> To: "Daniel Schultz" <n8fgv(a)usa.net>Cc: eagle(a)amsat.org Subject: [eagle] Re: 2008 Symposium deadline > Dan -- > > Understand that I mean nothing controversial by saying this, but it's very > unclear what the status of the Eagle and/or Intelsat projects *is*. There's > potentially a lot to say, but hard to know whether any of it is pertinent at > this point. > > I was prepared to deliver a paper on AMSAT-specific aspects of the same > topic (Delay Tolerant Networking) that I wrote up for DCC. The gist of the > paper was an outline of the specific implementation of a comprehensive > text-messaging service for Eagle. Given the current level of uncertainty > even about *who* the teams are, and the ambient level of acrimony in the > membership, it's questionable whether the time is worth spending. > > 73 > Frank > AB2KT >

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Re: 2008 Symposium deadline
by Daniel Schultz 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

One could hope that the new administration coming in January might fix ITAR. At least one candidate has mentioned it in his space policy. ( http://www.fladems.com/page/-/Obama_Space.pdf page 6). The other candidate may also be willing to listen to reason. I suppose you could project blank slides just to make a point, sort of like what the student newspaper in college did when facing censorship issues. Or maybe Amsat could schedule a "US only" session with proof of citizenship required for admittance to also drive the point home. We have to present some evidence of progress on these projects. If that means speaking in bland generalities, or shooing non-citizens from the room, we have to do something. Explaining how ITAR has hurt Amsat projects would itself be a valid topic for a presentation. Since screwdrivers and wrenches can be used to assemble satellites, I wonder if my local hardware store has the proper export controls in place to ensure national security? Dan ------ Original Message ------ Received: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:48:51 PM EDT From: Lyle Johnson <kk7p(a)wavecable.com> To: Frank Brickle <brickle(a)pobox.com>Cc: Daniel Schultz <n8fgv(a)usa.net>, eagle(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [eagle] Re: 2008 Symposium deadline > Hello Frank! > > I don't mind being controversial :-) > > My take on all things AMSAT for the past couple of years is: > > 1) ITAR prevents us from any meaningful exchange of ideas, projects or > design with any non-U.S. citizen. While there are ways to do this, they > assume very deep pockets and a large full-time staff devoted to > satisfying unreasonable, unrealistic and arbitrary government demands. > > Feedback from meetings with people who ought to know strongly suggest > that while Amateur satellites are not the intent of the ITAR rules > (duh!), absolutely no one in a position to help us is willing to go on > record with that interpretation. > > The practical result is that ITAR has killed the IHU3 since it was > dependent on cooperation from a non-NA group. P3E and whatever Eagle > was to have been were dependent on the IHU3. The impact is pretty easy > to extrapolate. > > 2) For the same reasons, ITAR prevents us from making a presentation at > any AMSAT Symposium with any technical content except perhaps the most > general. If there is technical content, we have to be ready to cite > chapter and verse of the publicly available source of anything we utter > that might be construed as potentially revealing of any level of > technology that might possibly be applied to any spacecraft in orbit or > supporting such a spacecraft on the ground. > > Unless of course we clear the building of all non-U.S. citizens. > > Sigh. > > 73, > > Lyle KK7P (who now does terrestrial stuff) > > >

2 1

Space Symposium Second Call for Papers
by Daniel Schultz 31 Aug '08

31 Aug '08

We only have about one month remaining before the publication deadline, I am counting on you guys and gals to fill up the Symposium with interesting papers. Dan N8FGV --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2008 AMSAT North America Space Symposium 24-26 October 2008, Atlanta, Georgia - Call for Papers This is the second call for papers for the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 24-26, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite program. An emphasis for this year is an educational outreach to middle and high school students. Another topic if interest is using amateur satellite tracking systems to monitor deep space network objects. In particular, papers on the following topics are solicited: • Students & Education • ARISS • AO-51 • P3E • Eagle • Deep Space Network monitoring • Any additional satellite-related topics. We request a one-page abstract as soon as possible. Camera ready copy on paper or in electronic form will be due by September 1, 2008 for inclusion in the printed symposium proceedings. Papers received after this date may not be included in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to n8fgv(a)amsat.org

2 1

ANSOFT Inspiring Engineering Boston Presentations
by Tom Clark, K3IO 28 Aug '08

28 Aug '08

1 0

[Fwd: Inspiring Engineering, Boston, Sept. 25, Technical Program]
by Tom Clark, K3IO 06 Aug '08

06 Aug '08

1 0

Re: what is going on?
by Michelle 16 Jul '08

16 Jul '08

Bob fired Matt Ettus on 23 June 2008. He fired me, for lack of a better term, on 26 June 2008. It was unnecessarily harsh and inaccurate. It was impersonal, and inappropriate. According to several AMSAT executives, Bob McGwier is mentally ill. I am told he suffers from bipolar disorder. Despite knowing this (if this is true), AMSAT has chosen to appoint him to Vice President of Engineering. They intend, as far as I can tell, to keep him in this position, regardless of the result. While mental illness cannot and should not suffer stigma, it also is a factor in assigning responsibility. I think Bob needs help and support. I also think he needs to resign, and get help, and then return to contribute as a valued and irreplaceable technical volunteer. -Michelle W5NYV ----- Original Message ---- From: Bdale Garbee <bdale(a)gag.com> To: AMSAT BoD <bod(a)amsat.org> Cc: namaste-dev(a)amsat.org; AMSAT Eagle <eagle(a)amsat.org>; Bob McGwier N4HY <rwmcgwier(a)comcast.net> Sent: Monday, July 7, 2008 5:38:59 PM Subject: [eagle] what is going on? I just returned from nearly a month of travel/vacation with my family, including 4925 miles of cross-country road-trip. Two of the personal highlights were my daughter Elizabeth KC0OTR passing her Extra exam in Grand Junction, CO, and my first visit to the NRAO facility at Green Bank, WV. In trying to catch up on the email backlog in preparation for re-engaging in less vacation-oriented activities, I find myself somethere between utterly confused and completely dismayed regarding AMSAT activities I care about. It seems like it has been months since I heard about any activity on Eagle or the associated ride-share opportunity other than what is being discussed on the namaste-dev list. ??? I see references in Michelle's weekly summaries about a meeting in San Diego on the weekend of 18 July, but can't find any information about who is meeting and for what purpose. Is this something I should show up for? I've tried emailing a couple folks directly that I thought might be able to give me details, but have had no replies. I happen to have that weekend open at the moment. An email from Bob McGwier to the eagle list on June 5th indicated that he has resigned as VP Engineering and does not intend to run for another term on the Board. While I'm pleased to see that he remains active on the namaste-dev list, I haven't read anything yet indicating who is expected to replace him? Who's supposedly running our Eagle and related engineering projects now that Jim and Bob have both stepped down? Matt Ettus reports that he has been "fired" and is thus no longer working on the ACP. Why? I find it nearly inconceivable that AMSAT would intentionally push away someone of his talent, vision, and demonstrated persistence of contribution. I sincerely hope this is a misunderstanding of some kind? Would someone *please* tell me what is going on? 73 - Bdale, KB0G _______________________________________________ Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA Eagle(a)amsat.org http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle

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Re: [Namaste-dev] Re: what is going on?
by Michelle 11 Jul '08

11 Jul '08

This particular part of your message, that follows, is bordering on preposterous. "When I return from a two month deployment overseas last month, and I was given a day to make a big decision at work, I made the decision knowing that my days as an AMSAT executive and director were over. I needed to make big time changes in my position and there were legal issues requiring me to make a very hasty decision. I handled it poorly. I freely admit I was upset at the outcome. I was fighting but I was given an ultimatum and I acquiesced. I was signing an agreement that said I would not have such involvements as AMSAT directorship and officer. I did not sign up to run for the board (Michelle celebrates along with Fred Parker). Two weeks after this, things changed, and the right thing happened. I informed the board that I would stay until they chose to replace me." That I would celebrate along with Fred Parker (a person I am not acquainted with, have not discussed anything with, and would not know if they walked in front of me) about any aspect of your management coming to a complete and utter failure, is wrong. This is not a cause for celebration whatsoever. The rest of the paragraph is news to me, and is after the fact of the personnel and policy changes that you made (which were entirely destructive to ACP leadership). "From this incident forward, I have been completely unable to get Michelle to carry on a conversation with me about Namaste or Eagle matters." This is falsehood. When you state that you are the sole arbiter of engineering decisions of every aspect of ACP, and you alone are the decision maker, and dissent is not tolerated, then conversations cease. I'm not sure what else you would expect, and I don't believe that anyone in the audience is fooled by your attempts to finesse the subject of control. Perhaps you simply can't tolerate empowering others. Regardless of how you feel or what you believe, the sort of management that you're incapable of is a necessity for collaborative projects. I made this clear in February. It's obvious that you don't agree or that it did not stick. If your autocratic management style is what AMSAT wants, then the only real solution, like WOPR discovered in Wargames, is "Not To Play". This is speaking for myself, of course, Certainly, others may feel differently, and you should recruit them. Your email on the 23rd of June came out of the blue, and presented no real opportunity for dialog. I have no problem with AMSAT, and, honestly (like Matt), I wish you success on the project. Instead of addressing Old News, like me and Matt Ettus, why don't you turn your attention to the work at hand? -mdt

4 4

Re: EU Tests Disaster Management Satellite
by Andrew Glasbrenner 10 Jul '08

10 Jul '08

1 0

Re: EU Tests Disaster Management Satellite
by Andrew Glasbrenner 10 Jul '08

10 Jul '08

1 0

EU Tests Disaster Management Satellite
by JoAnne Maenpaa 10 Jul '08

10 Jul '08

Good morning, Disaster management experts of the European Union tested a satellite based system for monitoring disaster areas: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Exercise_For_Rapid_Disaster_Relief_Using_S pace_Based_Technologies_999.html Perhaps this will someday present another rideshare opportunity for offering an amateur radio emergency communications package? Or, hopefully not, "No thanks, we already have our own ." -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Re: [Namaste-dev] Re: what is going on?
by Michelle 08 Jul '08

08 Jul '08

This version of events is not true. I wish the best for the project, but I can't be involved in such an incredible fiction. AMSAT as an organization has to realize that when literally dozens of highly motivated volunteers are chased away by one particular person, that perhaps that one particular person is at fault, for reasons not necessarily visible or easily resolved. All involved have my sympathy and support. I have not refused to communicate with any AMSAT member or volunteer, and I let the work on Namaste speak for itself. -Michelle W5NYV Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis. ----- Original Message ---- From: Bob McGwier <rwmcgwier(a)gmail.com> To: Michelle <w5nyv(a)yahoo.com>; Bdale Garbee <bdale(a)gag.com> Cc: namaste-dev <namaste-dev(a)amsat.org>; eagle(a)amsat.org; bod(a)amsat.org Sent: Monday, July 7, 2008 8:06:55 PM Subject: RE: [Namaste-dev] Re: [eagle] what is going on? Thank you for your positive contribution. I do not suffer from bipolar disorder as the armchair psychiatrists suggest. I have not ever had a mental illness. Once every two years I undergo a major, multi-day psychological evaluation as part of my employment. I have always and continue to pass whatever that means and my personal records show no disorder is present to the satisfaction of my employer and our sponsor. I have been in a stable marriage to the same woman since the early 1970’s and all my children tell me they love me for whatever that is worth. Do I get angry, yes. Everyone knows this, but I am not violent, nor bipolar. I think the last time I got into a fist fight I was in middle school. The last time I had a mood disorder was last year when my brother, sister-in-law, and niece were almost killed. When my favorite aunt died of cancer. When her husband, my uncle, was almost trampled to death by horses that she owned when he was trying to put them into a trailer to sell them. When my mother almost died of medical incompetence, etc. I sought help to get through what seemed a never ending crisis, took antidepressants for six months and then quit them, all under a doctor’s supervision. I should have quit this job then because I did AMSAT no good whatsoever for months but the thing about this kind of crisis reaction is you cannot see out of the fog. The fog is gone now. My aunt is stil dead, but while not whole, the rest of my relatives are recovering their lives. Matt was indeed removed as leader of the ACP. He is a brilliant engineer and I believe he and I will work together for years to come. Unlike Michelle, Matt was big enough to talk to me, I gave my reasons, we disagreed and we have had technical discussions via email since. While I hope Matt continues to contribute to the technical effort that he has been visionary on, we need a manager to bring the pieces together. It will not be Matt. He is busy and very preoccupied with multiple pieces of work, almost all professional and very demanding of time. He was aggravated and clearly upset with all sorts of things in dealing with ACP, AMSAT, etc. and I made a decision that I thought was in the best interests of AMSAT. I demanded that Michelle give me some oversight so I could try to right the ship and to talk to me. None of this has been forthcoming. As a member of the senior officers and a member of the board of directors, when you have a major failure in a project, you report it to the officers and board. I did this. I provided a courtesy copy to Michelle. She sent the privileged communication to Matt. Both of them took exception to its contents and addressed their exception to the same audience I did. This was not a public message. It was addressed those people responsible for running this organization. We are attempting to come up with a plan by August and I saw all of this as a crisis and they needed the information. They made many corrections to my statement, I have not defended against their statements of disagreement, hoping we could work this out. Michelle was asked repeatedly to talk to me on many occasions before the real outbreak of hostilities.. I told her that if she did not talk to me about how to proceed in the current situation, that she was effectively resigning since this cannot work. That said, Michelle is doing a very good job of building a collaboration. It is my OPINION that she has a real problem with any hierarchy. I don’t care, just so she talks to me and allows me to help her. I believe in her ability to do this organization but it will not be without guidance from the senior engineering executive in an engineering organization and that is me until I am replaced. I realize that the people in the Eagle group are getting blind sided by all of this. My apologies. Dick Jansson made this completely clear in a note he sent to the board. When I return from a two month deployment overseas last month, and I was given a day to make a big decision at work, I made the decision knowing that my days as an AMSAT executive and director were over. I needed to make big time changes in my position and there were legal issues requiring me to make a very hasty decision. I handled it poorly. I freely admit I was upset at the outcome. I was fighting but I was given an ultimatum and I acquiesced. I was signing an agreement that said I would not have such involvements as AMSAT directorship and officer. I did not sign up to run for the board (Michelle celebrates along with Fred Parker). Two weeks after this, things changed, and the right thing happened. I informed the board that I would stay until they chose to replace me. From this incident forward, I have been completely unable to get Michelle to carry on a conversation with me about Namaste or Eagle matters. I asked Barry to help me get a meeting together. When I could not get answers to several questions (some I subsequently learned were available online but not the major questions) at 1 PM of the day I needed to okay a meeting so the contract could be signed to hold the meeting by 6 PM that day, I cancelled the meeting. As the senior engineering executive of this organization with a busy life just like many of you have, I could not see spending AMSAT money or my and other executives time on a feel good session. Maybe there was more to it, I know that I could not find out and my designated go to guy did not have answers. If Michelle will talk to me, I will beg her forgiveness for any real or perceived injustice she feels she has been subjected to and attempt to work out a working relationship while I complete my tenure, whether that is 3 months or 30 years, we need to make progress before August on making real on what steps to take next. I believe the Namaste group is ready to take steps. I hate sending it fall into disarray just when it arrives at a turning point from position papers to action. What you have done here is beyond the pale of what anyone should be subjected to. However, the important thing is AMSAT and its best interests. I forgive it completely. I am uninterested in how you perceive me or what you think of me so long as you will attempt to work out a working relationship with me, I will do it. I believe you are good person and that you have been subjected to all sorts of wrong headed talking and thinking at my expense and the organization’s. I am damn easy to work with technically. I have the exact same technical partners I have had in some cases for 3 decades and more for two decades. My phone number is 609-731-5289. I AM the VPE and I will talk to you and attempt to help you do a good job for this organization or you will have removed yourself from the job. This is your choice. I am more than willing to work it out. There is no other way. We cannot have completely autonomous groups without oversight. If you can call an emergency board meeting and get me fired, you can win the day. If you like, I will call it for you. I do not fear the outcome, up, down, or sideways. AMSAT needs me, I love AMSAT, and I will be here for as long as I am able to be. If the board wants me out, I will say aye aye and we will move on. 73’s Bob N4HY ARRL SDR Working Group Chair, AMSAT VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. “Trample the slow .... Hurdle the dead" From:namaste-dev-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:namaste-dev-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 10:10 PM To: Bdale Garbee Cc: namaste-dev; eagle(a)amsat.org Subject: [Namaste-dev] Re: [eagle] what is going on? Bob fired Matt Ettus on 23 June 2008. He fired me, for lack of a better term, on 26 June 2008. It was unnecessarily harsh and inaccurate. It was impersonal, and inappropriate. According to several AMSAT executives, Bob McGwier is mentally ill. I am told he suffers from bipolar disorder. Despite knowing this (if this is true), AMSAT has chosen to appoint him to Vice President of Engineering. They intend, as far as I can tell, to keep him in this position, regardless of the result. While mental illness cannot and should not suffer stigma, it also is a factor in assigning responsibility. I think Bob needs help and support. I also think he needs to resign, and get help, and then return to contribute as a valued and irreplaceable technical volunteer. -Michelle W5NYV ----- Original Message ---- From: Bdale Garbee <bdale(a)gag.com> To: AMSAT BoD <bod(a)amsat.org> Cc: namaste-dev(a)amsat.org; AMSAT Eagle <eagle(a)amsat.org>; Bob McGwier N4HY <rwmcgwier(a)comcast.net> Sent: Monday, July 7, 2008 5:38:59 PM Subject: [eagle] what is going on? I just returned from nearly a month of travel/vacation with my family, including 4925 miles of cross-country road-trip. Two of the personal highlights were my daughter Elizabeth KC0OTR passing her Extra exam in Grand Junction, CO, and my first visit to the NRAO facility at Green Bank, WV. In trying to catch up on the email backlog in preparation for re-engaging in less vacation-oriented activities, I find myself somethere between utterly confused and completely dismayed regarding AMSAT activities I care about. It seems like it has been months since I heard about any activity on Eagle or the associated ride-share opportunity other than what is being discussed on the namaste-dev list. ??? I see references in Michelle's weekly summaries about a meeting in San Diego on the weekend of 18 July, but can't find any information about who is meeting and for what purpose. Is this something I should show up for? I've tried emailing a couple folks directly that I thought might be able to give me details, but have had no replies. I happen to have that weekend open at the moment. An email from Bob McGwier to the eagle list on June 5th indicated that he has resigned as VP Engineering and does not intend to run for another term on the Board. While I'm pleased to see that he remains active on the namaste-dev list, I haven't read anything yet indicating who is expected to replace him? Who's supposedly running our Eagle and related engineering projects now that Jim and Bob have both stepped down? Matt Ettus reports that he has been "fired" and is thus no longer working on the ACP. Why? I find it nearly inconceivable that AMSAT would intentionally push away someone of his talent, vision, and demonstrated persistence of contribution. I sincerely hope this is a misunderstanding of some kind? Would someone *please* tell me what is going on? 73 - Bdale, KB0G _______________________________________________ Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA Eagle(a)amsat.org http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle

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what is going on?
by Bdale Garbee 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

I just returned from nearly a month of travel/vacation with my family, including 4925 miles of cross-country road-trip. Two of the personal highlights were my daughter Elizabeth KC0OTR passing her Extra exam in Grand Junction, CO, and my first visit to the NRAO facility at Green Bank, WV. In trying to catch up on the email backlog in preparation for re-engaging in less vacation-oriented activities, I find myself somethere between utterly confused and completely dismayed regarding AMSAT activities I care about. It seems like it has been months since I heard about any activity on Eagle or the associated ride-share opportunity other than what is being discussed on the namaste-dev list. ??? I see references in Michelle's weekly summaries about a meeting in San Diego on the weekend of 18 July, but can't find any information about who is meeting and for what purpose. Is this something I should show up for? I've tried emailing a couple folks directly that I thought might be able to give me details, but have had no replies. I happen to have that weekend open at the moment. An email from Bob McGwier to the eagle list on June 5th indicated that he has resigned as VP Engineering and does not intend to run for another term on the Board. While I'm pleased to see that he remains active on the namaste-dev list, I haven't read anything yet indicating who is expected to replace him? Who's supposedly running our Eagle and related engineering projects now that Jim and Bob have both stepped down? Matt Ettus reports that he has been "fired" and is thus no longer working on the ACP. Why? I find it nearly inconceivable that AMSAT would intentionally push away someone of his talent, vision, and demonstrated persistence of contribution. I sincerely hope this is a misunderstanding of some kind? Would someone *please* tell me what is going on? 73 - Bdale, KB0G

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Re: KC0OTR/AE
by rjansson＠cfl.rr.com 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Bdale: What a great Fathers Day present that is, and what a masterful accomplishment for Elizabeth. Dick Jansson, KD1K ---- Bdale Garbee <bdale(a)gag.com> wrote: > Pardon this brief intrusion, but the list has been fairly quiet lately, > and I suspect a number of you who know her will be tickled to hear that > my 16-year-old daughter Elizabeth passed her Extra exam! > > :-) > > 73 - Bdale, KB0G > > _______________________________________________ > Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA > Eagle(a)amsat.org > http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle

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KC0OTR/AE
by Bdale Garbee 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Pardon this brief intrusion, but the list has been fairly quiet lately, and I suspect a number of you who know her will be tickled to hear that my 16-year-old daughter Elizabeth passed her Extra exam! :-) 73 - Bdale, KB0G

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Re: ACP questions on Eham forum
by Michelle 05 Jun '08

05 Jun '08

Hi Dave! I am looking forward to OpenKM to provide archive (revision record and control) and document fetching. The plan from here is to use it as back-end support for the website, and not require participants to get a login/password for OpenKM. Blog, wiki, whatever - if it's useful it will get used and should be at least tried. I think they're great ideas. The blog for Namaste is our document feed source, but it gets very few comments because it's more of a utility than a place to post comments. If you want to see what it looks like it's here: http://namasteforamsat.blogspot.com/ We're more likely on Namaste to use wikipedia than something like eaglepedia. The construction of a useful wiki takes a lot of time and a critical mass of people willing to edit and contribute. It's worth trying since it can be a great resource. Whatever we can learn from eaglepedia, though, we need to apply going forward. I expect we will continue to use the Amsat News Service and the Journal to post articles, and whatever people gravitate towards (twitter has been really useful for us) to post status and smaller items. -Michelle W5NYV ----- Original Message ---- From: Matt Ettus <matt(a)ettus.com> To: Dave hartzell <hartzell(a)gmail.com> Cc: Michelle <w5nyv(a)yahoo.com>; eagle list <eagle(a)amsat.org> Sent: Thursday, June 5, 2008 11:08:32 AM Subject: Re: [eagle] Re: ACP questions on Eham forum Dave hartzell wrote: > On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 10:12 AM, Matt Ettus <matt(a)ettus.com> wrote: > > >> So developments have been proceeding informally and in [unfortunately] >> private email and phone conversations. There is no desire to keep >> anything secret, closed, or difficult to find. >> > > One of the disadvantages of going away from the wiki was the closure > of some activities to the public. > > It will be possible to open up OpenKM to the public, but do we really > want to expose the document management system to the public? Trac/SVN > architecture is inherently more "open" to the world. > I think the best solution would be to put all our larger documents in OpenKM. In the Wiki, we could have a link which fetches the latest version from OpenKM. That way we don't need everyone going into OpenKM to find docs. > Would team leaders (or team members) be interested in a public Blog, > to post items and status for public consumption? > That's an idea. We could also informally do this through the wiki. Matt

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Re: ACP questions on Eham forum
by Michelle 05 Jun '08

05 Jun '08

Here's my thoughts on documentation and the challenges you are facing. I strongly prefer simple and completely configurable work areas. This usually means doing something on a server I know I'm going to have access to for the foreseeable future. For example, I do recording projects for another organization. After three server moves due to people quitting, deciding they wanted to use the space for other projects, or getting evicted because someone accidentally didn't pay the bill and no one could decide what to do about it, I moved everything to my own server and that worked until we combined sites and things were run well enough to where I could move the project to the organization's servers. Now they complain about disk space, so it's not perfect, but the lesson learned was if you need something to be reliably available, you may have to do it yourself. Depending on another person's server is like depending on borrowing a car for getting to work. Sooner or later, it won't be available, for often very legitimate reasons, like getting to the hospital. Sometimes not, like the car is still parked at the bar they went out last night to. Anyway, you get the point. Simple in this case means that not all functions are going to be available. However, simple means it's easy to set up and maintain. OpenKM seems good for specific and/or closed teams. It's accounts-based, no? The good side of this is that it puts up a barrier to entry and prevents someone from checking out all your documents and doing whacky things with them for fun. The bad side of this is that it also provides a barrier to entry for interested persons or casual contributors, which are absolutely definitely desired and needed if the project is to be finished before the year 2025. Those casual drop-by, non-amsat people are high grade ore - especially the ones that are looking for just this exact hobby. It's not as useful as a public presence place for documents. Putting them there won't help the collaboration unless everyone has an account. The fact that the Eagle list was secret is one of the two reasons why namaste-dev was started. The other is that Eagle is about a satellite thingie, and I didn't want to piss off a bunch of people by hijacking the list for my own nefarious groundling purposes. I hate flying in airplanes. I don't like satellites. I don't like spaceships, have never wanted to be an astronaut, don't like the shuttle, and the ISS can suck it. I love ground stations. The goal with the website is to make all engineering documents available to anyone that wants to read them and then hopefully participate, and then archive all documents to amsat servers as soon as possible so that they're there, for the foreseeable future. The website continues to be the public front-end for the project, which allows anyone to interface with the developers, etc. and I'll maintain it as long as there is interest in the project. Setting up something like the ground station website for the payload project should be an easy thing to accomplish on the amsat server, if you don't have another one available. The amsat server already has stuff like subversion and trac on it. I'm happy to help solve the challenges in any way I can. Is there anything that you can think of that I can do to help? Making the Eagle list public should be easy enough, and would greatly help solve that issue. Your goal seems to be to publish the work that you are doing, and that's great news. -Michelle W5NYV ----- Original Message ---- From: Matt Ettus <matt(a)ettus.com> To: Michelle <w5nyv(a)yahoo.com> Cc: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com>; eagle list <eagle(a)amsat.org> Sent: Thursday, June 5, 2008 10:12:38 AM Subject: Re: [eagle] Re: ACP questions on Eham forum > > I have the powerpoint presentations from Matt, and I have a paper for the physical link that is based on the content of the presentations, but I don't have any other engineering work for ACP to show people or that can help us with ground station design. We need to see the results of payload engineering work in order to continue to make progress on the ground station. > We have been running into a number of problems here -- - I have asked repeatedly for a Trac and subversion setup for a wiki and to post less formal documentation, actual code, sims, and other work. I still don't know the status of it, but I am assured it either has materialized or will soon, along with a password for me to use it. I presented an alternative outsourced service, and even offered to pay the bill, but that was vetoed. - OpenKM is great, but it doesn't let you post python or matlab code, and isn't really the right vehicle for that anyway. I have posted some documents there. - Most of my team members are not on the Eagle list, and can't get on there because it is invite only, and the inviter has been hard to get a hold of. - I have asked for an ACP mailing list as an alternative, but that hasn't happened either. So developments have been proceeding informally and in [unfortunately] private email and phone conversations. There is no desire to keep anything secret, closed, or difficult to find. Matt

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Re: ACP questions on Eham forum
by Michelle 05 Jun '08

05 Jun '08

Greetings Eagle! Siddhartha did indeed get what he was looking for, and some other radio astronomy stuff he was looking for as well. He posted to the namaste-dev list the other day. This brings us to Drew's question, to which I have an offer of a solution, or at least a partial solution. I'm happy to provide a web presence for documents concerning the ground station projects (Project Namaste) as well as the engineering documents for the payload that are relevant to the ground station, such as expected user interface, loading, congestion plans, call flow diagrams, quality of service, air interface, and anything relating to expectations of how the ground station is expected to behave from a satellite perspective. I have the powerpoint presentations from Matt, and I have a paper for the physical link that is based on the content of the presentations, but I don't have any other engineering work for ACP to show people or that can help us with ground station design. We need to see the results of payload engineering work in order to continue to make progress on the ground station. Since this mailing list is where I would expect to find people working on ACP, I'd like to invite anyone that is interested in working on any payload that wants ground station support (i.e. the 2m/70cm SuperPortable and the 5.8GHz/3.4GHz Portable/Fixed stations) to send any and all engineering documents, thoughts, requirements, goals, and lists to me or namaste-dev(a)amsat.org, and I'll be more than happy to present these work products on the website as well as include them in our document feed for delivery to readers and technical reviewers. Please see www.amsat.org/namaste to see the current presentation and organization. This is where your documents would be presented. This would provide an offsite storage. I don't currently provide any revision control other than hosting the current document. In other words, a document on the site is the current document. If any of you are interested in participating in the development of payload documents that affect ground station engineering, please let me know, and I will help you present them to the ground station team and the rest of the world to the best of my ability. I consider public relations and evangelization concerning the ground station to be primary responsibilities of leading the ground station team. Having a publicly accessible and open process goes a very long way towards spreading the word and increasing the chances of the project's success. Anything towards that end I'm ready to assist with. This leaves the question of what I mean by partial solution, above. Any engineering for the payload that doesn't have relevance for the ground station (like mechanical issues or other aspects that don't affect any part of ground station design) probably need to be made available elsewhere. -Michelle W5NYV Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis. ----- Original Message ---- From: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> To: eagle list <eagle(a)amsat.org> Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 8:17:00 PM Subject: [eagle] ACP questions on Eham forum Word is getting out, but I really don't know where to point him other than the Symposium Proceedings? 73, Drew http://www.eham.net/forums/Satellites/1725 Hi, I attended a presentation by Matt Ettus, N2MJI, at the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association's monthly meeting about the Advanced Communications Package. The project sounded very interesting and as I remember, Matt said that the ACP project's goal was to send up these amateur stations on commercial satellites in the geostationary orbit so that it eventually, someday, gives a trans-global reach for amateurs with portable/handheld radios. This was supposed to be an alternative to the Eagle project. I got talking to a friend and fellow operator who used to be very interested in amateur satellite work and he was very interested in knowing more about ACP. Is there a whitepaper, wiki or some kind of documentation briefly describing the project? I looked at the AMSAT site and could not find much. Any pointers will be appreciated. 73, - Siddhartha WV6U _______________________________________________ Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA Eagle(a)amsat.org http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle

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This fall
by Bob McGwier 05 Jun '08

05 Jun '08

I have informed the board and the officers of AMSAT that I am not a candidate for board of directors and cannot retain my VP position. I will continue to work as a technical volunteer and will serve gladly whomever the board chooses to replace me with should they wish my help. My workload has increased tremendously. When Rick asked me to be VPE, I was essentially retired and starting to doing SDR for fun. I was supported at work to do it because that is the nature of my employment. It has turned into a full time job and will require more and more of my time. This is good for SDR in my estimation, less so for AMSAT except insofar as it needs this SDR work. I thank all who have worked with me and I look forward to our continued collaboration. 73's Bob N4HY

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ACP questions on Eham forum
by Andrew Glasbrenner 05 Jun '08

05 Jun '08

Word is getting out, but I really don't know where to point him other than the Symposium Proceedings? 73, Drew http://www.eham.net/forums/Satellites/1725 Hi, I attended a presentation by Matt Ettus, N2MJI, at the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association's monthly meeting about the Advanced Communications Package. The project sounded very interesting and as I remember, Matt said that the ACP project's goal was to send up these amateur stations on commercial satellites in the geostationary orbit so that it eventually, someday, gives a trans-global reach for amateurs with portable/handheld radios. This was supposed to be an alternative to the Eagle project. I got talking to a friend and fellow operator who used to be very interested in amateur satellite work and he was very interested in knowing more about ACP. Is there a whitepaper, wiki or some kind of documentation briefly describing the project? I looked at the AMSAT site and could not find much. Any pointers will be appreciated. 73, - Siddhartha WV6U

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AD6IW Dubus article
by Matt Ettus 04 Jun '08

04 Jun '08

I just wanted to send congratulations to ACP team member Goran Popovic, AD6IW, on his cover article in the latest Dubus Technik magazine. The article is about his beautifully designed 350 W solid state amplifier for 1296 MHz. Appropriately enough, Goran will be designing the 3.4 GHz downlink power amplifier for the ACP. It will mostly likely be a Class E amplifier based on silicon carbide transistors. Matt

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revision control, wiki, web, etc.
by Matt Ettus 29 May '08

29 May '08

I have been talking with Dave Hartzell and Johnathan Corgan about the web resources necessary to back the development of ACP, Namaste and other AMSAT projects. We talked about setting up Subversion and Trac, which we have used very productively for a few years on the GNU Radio project. Trac provides a wiki, bug tracking, milestones, history, and source code browsing. We could set it up on the server in Rick's office, but that would involve a lot of volunteer time to set it up, manage it, and back it up. It also would involve putting more access into a box which will apparently have people's credit card info on it, which is clearly a bad idea. These roll-your-own solutions, like Eaglepedia are hard to sustain. Johnathan has been using, and suggested that we use, devguard.com which provides exactly the kind of Trac and SVN hosting we need. For $7.95 a month they'll host it, back it up, and support an unlimited number of users. As the total data size and number of projects grows, you simply move up to larger plans which top out at 5 GB and $60/month. Free volunteers don't come cheap. Neither does bandwidth. Proper security and backup systems are hard. Why not leave these things to professionals who do it all day long for a reasonable price? Please check out their services at: http://devguard.com I would appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts on this. I feel strongly that this is the right way to go. This is a multi-million dollar project, so 20 bucks or so a month is in the noise. Matt

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Ronald A. Parise, WA4SIR, SK
by Tom Clark, K3IO 10 May '08

10 May '08

Forwarded from Frank Bauer: -----Original Message----- From: Frank H. Bauer [mailto:ka3hdo@comcast.net] Sent: Friday, May 9, 2008 08:48 PM Subject: Ronald A. Parise, SK It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of a great friend, colleague and fellow ham radio operator. Dr. Ronald A. Parise, WA4SIR, left this Earth today, Friday May 9, 2008 after a very long and courageous battle with cancer. Ron Parise was--and continues to be--an inspiration to countless students, ham radio operators, and friends the world over. His accomplishments were many, including: space explorer, pioneer, astrophysicist, pilot, ham radio operator, avionics and software expert, inspirational speaker and motivator, student satellite mentor, husband, father, and friend. While he certainly did some truly extraordinary things in his lifetime, Ron Parise is best known and cherished for keeping family and friends first?and for this, we will miss him most. Ron flew as a payload specialist on two Space Shuttle missions: STS-35 on the Space Shuttle Columbia in December 1990 and STS-67 on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in March 1995. These two missions, called ASTRO-1 & 2 respectively, carried out Ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy observations. He logged over 614 hours and 10.6 million miles in space. Ron and his crew members on ASTRO-1 became the first astronomers to operate a telescope from space, making hundreds of observations during the mission. His personal contributions to these two missions have provided scientists with an unprecedented view of our universe, expanding our understanding of the birth, life and death of stars and galaxies. Ron was also the ultimate ham radio operator?in space and on the ground. First licensed when he was 11, Ron kept the amateur radio hobby at the forefront of everything he did?including his operations from space. During his two Space Shuttle flights, he talked to hundreds of hams on the ground, giving new meaning to the phrase the ?ultimate DX-pedition?. He was instrumental in guiding the development of a simple ham radio system that could be used in multiple configurations on the Space Shuttle. As a result, his first flight on STS-35 ushered in the ?frequent flyer? era of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) payload. He was the first ham in space to operate packet radio. And his flight pioneered the telebridge ground station concept to enable more schools to talk to Shuttle crew members despite time and orbit constraints. In his two shuttle flights, he inspired countless students to seek technical careers and he created memories at the schools and communities that will never be forgotten. Ron?s love for the amateur radio hobby and his love of inspiring students continued well beyond his two Shuttle flights. During the formation of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, Ron was a tremendous resource to the newly forming international team. I know of many instances where Ron?s wisdom and sage advice was instrumental in helping our international team resolve issues when we reached critical technical or political roadblocks. And he was a key volunteer in the development of the ham radio hardware systems that are now on-board ISS. The ARISS team is deeply indebted to WA4SIR for his leadership, technical advice and tremendous vision. Ron worked hand-in-hand with the students at the Naval Academy and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on the development of their student satellites. He helped develop Radio Jove?a student educational project to listen to the radio signals emanating from Jupiter. And he spoke at numerous schools over the years, inspiring them to pursue careers in science, math and technology. I feel blessed to have had Ron as a friend, colleague, ham buddy and mentor. He gave so much, cheerfully, to our collective hobby and was always there with the right answer no matter the topic. I will miss him dearly. In an effort to continue Ron?s tireless work to inspire the next generation, the Parise family has set up a scholarship fund in Ron?s honor. The scholarship is for students pursuing technical degrees at Youngtown State University, where Ron received his Bachelors of Science degree. In lieu of flowers, those interested are welcome to send donations to the Dr. Ronald A. Parise Scholarship Fund, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555. On behalf of AMSAT and the ARISS International team, I would like to extend our collective condolences to the Parise family and to all Ron?s friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. And to Ron Parise, WA4SIR SK: Our sincerest 73's and 88's?may your exploration spirit live on in us all!! Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs Chairman, ARISS International

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