- Eagle (INACTIVE) - mailman.amsat.org

Eagle theme for Dayton
by Gould Smith 20 Mar '07

20 Mar '07

I am working on a theme about Eagle for Dayton. What I have now is "The Eagle Build Begins". I am looking for other suggestions, so bring them on. This will go on a banner at the center of the booth and in the Eagle area. Let me know by Thursday evening, EDT. Thanks, Gould

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information request
by Jim Sanford 17 Mar '07

17 Mar '07

Team: I have received a response on my info request, thanks! 73, JIm

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IEEE information request
by Jim Sanford 17 Mar '07

17 Mar '07

Team: I think I remember someone on here saying that they had access to the IEEE library. I'm seeking an article, W. C. Williams, "Reliability: Lessons from NASA,": IEEE Spectrum Vol 18 No 10, Oct 1981, pp 79-84. This is referrenced in the Davidoff book. As a member, I'm supposed to be able to get a free 30 day trial, for which I've signed up, but it will be some number of working days. If any of you already have access & could get me this article, I'd appreciate it. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Team Speak conference for Tuesday 13 mar
by Jim Sanford 16 Mar '07

16 Mar '07

Team: I've just posted the agenda for tomorrow night on EaglePedia. This is an important discussion, please try to be there. Feel free to add to my topics! Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Move Completed
by Dick Jansson-rr 15 Mar '07

15 Mar '07

Greetings from Winter Park, FL: We have completed the basics of our move into our apartment and I'm back on line. It will be a little while longer before I get back to the thermal issues of Eagle, however. '73, Dick Jansson, KD1K kd1k(a)amsat.org ---------------------------

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Hello folks
by Robert McGwier 15 Mar '07

15 Mar '07

I had a big mess happen here. My RAID disk recovered the computer but it did so at the expense of 24 hours emails and all files stored in the last since 12:59 AM last night. I have no idea what happened. I am grateful the RAID restored itself but this is a pain as you might imagine. It took the RAID 4.5 hours to rebuild itself. I am back in action again and recovering. Bob -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "Taking fun as simply fun and earnestness in earnest shows how thoroughly thou none of the two discernest." - Piet Hine

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TeamSpeak Conference for March
by Jim Sanford 14 Mar '07

14 Mar '07

Team: Tonight's meeting was one of the most productive I can remember. Thanks for participating, and thanks for all your hard work. Very 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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TeamSpeak
by Jim Sanford 12 Mar '07

12 Mar '07

All: Reminder, TeamSpeak conference Tuesday, 13 March. I'll post the agenda tomorrow nithg. In general, it wil consist of status reports from each team on their pieces. In aprticular, I want o hear from power, IHU, CAN. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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[Fwd: [amsat-bb] Journal Articles]
by Jim Sanford 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Team: Ed's note goes to my agenda for next Tuesday's TeamSpeak conference. I need updates, particularly from CAN/IHU3, power, UHF receiver ATP Peer Reviewers. If you have something now, pls send ASAP. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [amsat-bb] Journal Articles Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 07:20:40 -0500 From: Ed Long <wa4swj(a)hotmail.com> To: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Everyone, It's actually past time to submit articles for the next issue of the Journal. I have a few articles already but, as always, I need more. I'm just back from a fairly long business trip out of the country so I haven't had any time to issue calls for papers. So, if you have anything please forward it right away. I'll be working on the next issue next week. I've received a few nice comments from several readers about the Journal. Thank you!! And also thanks to the great authors we have. Without them the Journal could not exist. 73, Ed Long WA4SWJ Editor, The AMSAT Journal _______________________________________________ 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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Skin Issues
by Emily Clarke 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

During the last upgrade the special EaglePedia skin for non-Eagle team members was no longer needed. However it appeared that at least one team member had that skin in their preferences and this made it impossible for them to log on. There is no way for me to tell if this is affecting other members, but the situation has been partially cleared up. If you did have this skin as a preference the system will now switch you over to the "Classic" skin and you can change your skin preferences there. Here are the steps to do that: 1) Log on to EaglePedia with your user name and password 2) Go into Preferences (link is in the upper right) 3) Select "Skins" 4) Select "Monobook" 5) Save This will make sure you have the same skin (and same user expereince) as is intended. 73, Emily --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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Info for the ANS Bulletins this week?
by JoAnne Maenpaa 22 Feb '07

22 Feb '07

Hi everyone, This seems to be a quiet week for general AMSAT and satellite info for the ANS Bulletins. Perhaps its an opportunity to provide a shot of longer range information about what AMSAT is up to? 1. Anything that can be said about Eagle? 2. Anything that can be said about the New Lab or University projects? 3. Anything that can be said about P3E? 4. Plans for Dayton? 5. Early info for the next Symposium? If you have anything please send the info to me by Saturday afternoon? I'll get it formatted into the final form for the bulletins ... just having the info helps the ANS editors a lot! Thanks! -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service

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URx
by Dick Jansson-rr 20 Feb '07

20 Feb '07

John: Per your suggestion, I have examined your data for the U band Receiver. I shall first examine the power supplies for the receiver. The data that I have elicited from your information is as follows, powers in Watts: Device Dissipation Delivered U16 0.340 0.850 U17 0.411 U18 0.384 1.200 U19 0.108 0.090 U20 0.040 0.224 ------------ ------------ Totals 1.283W 2.364W For a grand total power dissipation of the power system of 3.647W. Of the delivered power you have identified two devices that suck up (U2 = 0.490W and U3 = 0.388W) a total of 0.878W. It is not clear where the remaining 1.486W is dissipated. Your help in identifying where this thermal energy is dumped in the module would be helpful, just to make sure that no stone remains unturned in this matter of handling these dissipations. Hot resistors could be an issue of concern...... You talk (somewhat glibly) of sinking regulator devices to PCB copper pads and such. For at least five devices, U2, U3, U16, U17, & U18 I consider that such mounting is not acceptable as such concentrated dissipations, exacerbated by the vacuum environment, must be treated more specifically in achieving heat sinking to the module housing. The module Base Plate, drawing E05 21, being of somewhat robust 1.6mm thick aluminum should help significantly in dissipating these module powers. More direct thermal coupling methods are going to be needed in this module to get that heat to the Base Plate. PCB thermal conductivities, even enhanced by added copper, are not good at all and cannot really be depended upon in these situations. With this module "pushing" the envelop of module power rating, baring a full heatsink module, it is clear that the coatings of the module will not be bare aluminum. This raises the ante in the picture of keeping command-level modules from getting too cold in the eclipse situation. The original concept for maintaining full control of the spacecraft through a 3 hour eclipse, where the spaceframe can be as low as -130°C or lower, low power, command-sensitive modules would not become dangerously cold, provided that their dissipations are indeed low and the thermal coatings highly reflective. If on the other hand we depend upon higher dissipation modules, such as this URx, then the module temperatures may be a concern in the eclipse situation. This is all subject to detailed analytic examination upon the construction of a full spacecraft analytic model, which we do not have at the moment, we first need a detailed mechanical design before having that analytic model. In any event, this URx presents a significant thermal challenge. Solving this challenge first needs an understanding of the physical bodies of these devices of the forenoted concern. Can you provide me with the physical information on these devices, either directly or by URL? Can you also respond to my earlier question on where the rest of the power dissipation resides? By one means or another we need to engineer a more direct thermal connection between these devices and the E05 21 Base Plate, which may require some inventiveness of our collective crania. '73, Dick Jansson, KD1K (ex: WD4FAB) kd1k(a)amsat.org ---------------------------

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adding stuff to amsat.org
by Phil Karn 18 Feb '07

18 Feb '07

I had pizza with Brian Kantor WB6CYT Saturday night. He said somebody in AMSAT, possibly Rick, had asked for root access for the amsat.org machine so that various new functions could be added. I wasn't sure (and neither was Brian) of the specific new functions to be added, but they seemed to be various forms of engineering support. Brian is concerned, and I agree with him, that these additions might risk the stability and security of a stable machine already relied upon very heavily by everyone in AMSAT for email reflector and web services. Problems might come from the new services themselves, or from the much larger set of administrators with root access that would surely result. For example, counter to the assumptions of some, the amsat.org machine doesn't run Linux; it runs BSD Unix. They're similar in many ways, but there are crucial differences that anyone with root access must be aware of. Computers, even rackmount servers, just aren't so expensive or hard to come by that we have to cram everything on a single box. If there's need for another new server to handle AMSAT engineering-related services, I'm sure we could come up with a new box and host it at either UCSD (where Brian would manage it) or Qualcomm (where I would manage it.) Just let me know what's really needed, and we can make it happen. Phil

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Proposed Eagle Antenna Arrays
by Louis McFadin 15 Feb '07

15 Feb '07

This is a repeat of the earlier e-mail. Here is a proposal for arranging the Eagle antennas that Stan Wood and I worked out today. By moving the 2M dipoles to the corners we have sufficient room for full sized elements over the ground plane. The 2M antennas should get about 8dB. Three L band patches in cavities should give us greater than 12 dB gain. By putting the S1,S2 and C band patches in hex shaped cups we maximize the available space. The cup arrays can be NC machined out of a solid blank and therefore attain precise control of the spacing. It may also serve as heat a radiating device. Each patch will be circular polarized and fed with a single feed from it's matching amplifier. The 70 CM Circular polarized patch should have around 6 dB gain. We will look at getting more gain on 70 cm. Seven S1 patches will be mounted on top the 70CM patch. They should get about 15dB gain. Tom's S2 interferometric patches are included. Omni antennas similar to that used on P3D will be required on the opposite side of the spacecraft. There should also be room for the Sun Sensors on both sides of the spacecraft. Lou McFadin W5DID w5did(a)mac.com _______________________________________________ Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA Eagle(a)amsat.org http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle Lou McFadin W5DID w5did(a)mac.com

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TeamSpeak ports
by John B. Stephensen 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

What ports does TeamSpeak require other than 8767 for UDP and 9274 for TCP? 73, John KD6OZH

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Regrets (buried in Boston)
by Robert McGwier 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

(Repeated from earlier since I did not see a return note) I regret very much not being with you tonight. I am in Boston trying to not get snowed in with Eric Blossom and others taking Cell processor training from Mercury. We left dinner long after the TS started because we left work long after the TS started! The Cell processor is a fascinating thing and has the potential to be a really disruptive technology but it is tedious to program. 73's Bob N4HY -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "Taking fun as simply fun and earnestness in earnest shows how thoroughly thou none of the two discernest." - Piet Hine

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Mail
by Dick Jansson-rr 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

Lately I have not been receiving Eagle email, owing to shifts in addresses that I was assured did not make for problems. For the moment, please add kd1k(a)amsat.org to your submissions to Eagle mail. Thanks. Dick Jansson, KD1K (ex: WD4FAB) kd1k(a)amsat.org ---------------------------

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Re: 70 cm Receiver layout
by John B. Stephensen 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

I've added a paragraph to the U-band receiver page in EaglePedia that describes the PCB layout rules and the board materials. 73, John KD6OZH

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Regrets
by Robert McGwier 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

I regret very much not being with you tonight. I am in Boston trying to not get snowed in with Eric Blossom and others taking Cell processor training from Mercury. We left dinner long after the TS started because we left work long after the TS started! The Cell processor is a fascinating thing and has the potential to be a really disruptive technology but it is tedious to program. 73's Bob N4HY -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "Taking fun as simply fun and earnestness in earnest shows how thoroughly thou none of the two discernest." - Piet Hine

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High Efficiency RF Amplifier Documents on Eaglepedia
by Tom Clark, K3IO 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

All: A few weeks ago I posted a couple of Univ of Colorado PhD theses in the files area on Eaglepedia that you might find of interest. The titles are "SWITCHED-MODE MICROWAVE CIRCUITS FOR HIGH-EFFICIENCY TRANSMITTERS" and "ROBUST DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR CLASS-E AMPLIFIERS FOR MICROWAVE APPLICATIONS". I have a 3rd thesis that also looks of interest (entitled "BROAD BAND ANTENNA ARRAYS AND NOISE COUPLING FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY", but it's 54MB size causes Eaglepedia to barf on upload. Sometime, we need to figure a way to post BIG documents. Regards, Tom

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Eagle Microwave Antenna Concepts
by Tom Clark, K3IO 14 Feb '07

14 Feb '07

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doubling on TeamSpeex
by Phil Karn 13 Feb '07

13 Feb '07

Does anybody have any references on the internals of Team Speak? I'd like to figure out why doubling sounds so bad, and fix it if at all possible. It's pretty obvious from tracing the packets that everybody talks UDP to a central node (ts1.teamspeakhost.com) that repeats whatever it hears. There just aren't very many ways to do this. The central node can reflect the individual bit stream(s) exactly as received, without decoding. The listeners decode them. If more than one person talks at once, everybody sums up the PCM. (This is how Eagle's voice conferencing should work.) The other way has the central node decode the incoming packet stream(s), sum the decoded audio if there's more than one active stream, and re-encode the result into a single forward stream. This has the moderate advantage of not overrunning any slow dialup modems that might be in use. This isn't an FM repeater, so either way there needn't be any significant distortion when two people talk at once. Even with loud talkers and central summing, gain scaling would avoid clipping. The fact that the audio *is* so badly distorted whenever a double occurs, even when one talker isn't saying anything, means that something is broken somewhere. Perhaps the summing is being done incorrectly at the server. Maybe it's trying to sum mu-law PCM, which is nonlinear. The doubling distortion combined with the fairly long round trip delay makes this system a lot more fatiguing and a lot less usable than it could be. --Phil

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Good tutorial on LO phase noise
by Phil Karn 13 Feb '07

13 Feb '07

http://www.am1.us/Papers/U10236%20Phase%20Noise-%20How%20Good-%20Gilmore.pdf Gilmore is a former Qualcommer. --Phil

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Eaglepedia
by Dick Jansson-rr 13 Feb '07

13 Feb '07

Emily: How do I log into Eaglepedia as KD1K? My mail port is accepted, but Eaglepedia does not like the callsign..... Dick Jansson, KD1K (ex: WD4FAB) kd1k(a)amsat.org ---------------------------

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Call Sign
by Dick Jansson-rr 11 Feb '07

11 Feb '07

Greetings: I was greeted this morning with the news of my new callsign, now KD1K, after a lengthy delay while the FCC got its software straightened out (nothing new about that!). Dick Jansson, KD1K (ex: WD4FAB) ---------------------------

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P3D and P3E in Scientific American
by Bill Tynan 08 Feb '07

08 Feb '07

Thought you-all would be interested in this: The March 2007 issue of Scientific American contains an advertising section by the Czech Republic. On page CZ-10 of that section is a photo of P3D sitting on the launch vehicle. The accompanying text tells how Brno University of Technology is participating with "AMSAT". "Specifically, an on-board receiver with phase locked loop synthesizer has recently been developed for communication and commanding of the AMSAT Phase 3E Satellite which is to be launched in 2007. Formally a unique operations center was developed which helped with Phase 3D satellite control." 73, Bill, W3XO PS: BTW, I'm still not getting any Eagle mail, even though I have requested a change in address. I wish someone could do something.

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[Fwd: Re: 3GHz]
by Jim Sanford 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

Team: This is the response I got to an email I sent after seeing the latest CQ-VHF. The successors to the HSMM effort are proposing a digital band plan, and have included us. They gave us 3400 to 3410, as an initial proposal. SO, digital guys, is this enough? In the discussions I've been part of, we spoke of 10 MHz as a minimum, and we spoke of it as nominal. How much do we REALLY need? What's been published is a proposal, the beginning of a conversation. I know we're a long way from saying, "this is what it will be," but can we articulate a needed bandwidth based on what we know now? I'd like to think that we can, but will defer to you who are smarter than me on these things. You who are more familiar with the international regulatory scene, is this a good freq range, or should we ask them to move? These guys like what we're doing and want to support us. Good things are happening! Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: 3GHz Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 19:07:47 -0500 From: Paul Toth-NA4AR <ptoth1(a)tampabay.rr.com> Reply-To: Paul Toth-NA4AR <na4ar(a)ni4ce.org> To: Jim Sanford <wb4gcs(a)amsat.org> References: <45C51EDF.1060407(a)amsat.org> Jim... I passed it on to Drew Glasbrenner-KO4MA. Drew coordinates the Florida AMSAT Net on the NI4CE Repeater System (and other repeaters that link into NI4CE via Echolink). Drew indicated to me he would pass the bandplan up the line. I haven't seen what CQ published as yet. The bandplan reserves a window between 3.400 GHz-3.410 GHz for EAGLE and other satellite operations. /*If that is not suffficient, please let me know. The proposed bandplan is really more a suggestion for broadband network operations rather than something set in concrete.*/ ARBA, Inc. (Amateur Radio Broadband Alliance) came up with this to provide some guidance to those who want to build broadband wireless networks. We recognize that existing local activity on the band will need to be accommodated. I applaud the work you and AMSAT are doing. One of the missing links in Amateur Radio disaster communications has been digital satellite capability over an extended period (more than give or ten minutes at a time). EAGLE will help fill that need. Very 73 de Paul-NA4AR ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Sanford" <wb4gcs(a)amsat.org> To: <na4ar(a)ni4ce.org> Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 6:46 PM Subject: 3GHz > Paul: > I just read your article in CQ-VHF regarding HSMM work. In one of the > figures, you mention passing on a proposed band plan to AMSAT for > coordination with Eagle. > > Question: to whom did you pass that on? I'm the Eagle project manager > and have not seen it, other than the chart in the article. > > GOod article, congratulations. > > Thanks & 73, > Jim > wb4gcs(a)amsat.org >

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Fw: Fw: 3.3 GHz ARBA Band Plan
by Andrew Glasbrenner 05 Feb '07

05 Feb '07

Here is a forward of the original message as I received it back from the eagle list, so I -know- it went to the list. There was some discussion afterwards which I have archived. 73, Drew KO4MA ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Glasbrenner To: eagle list Cc: Dave Anderson ; Paul Toth-NA4AR Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 6:21 PM Subject: [eagle] Fw: 3.3 GHz ARBA Band Plan Hi Guys, I am forwarding this email to the Eagle amsat list, which consists of just about everyone involved with our new satellite effort. Hopefully the right person will respond so we can work together on this issue. 73, Drew KO4MA Amsat-NA VP Operations LM 2332 ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Toth-NA4AR To: ko4ma(a)amsat.org Cc: Dave Anderson Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 5:53 PM Subject: 3.3 GHz ARBA Band Plan Drew... A new group call ARBA, the Amateur Radio Broadband Alliance, has formed in the ashes of ARRL's HSMM Working Group. Both Dave Anderson and I are part of ARBA. One of the things we are working on is the development of a band plan for the 3.3 GHz to 3.5 GHz allocation. I know that AMSAT is planning something for Eagle that makes use of the 3.3GHz band. Would you please review the chart below and provide some input to allow this band plan to peacefully co-exut with whatever AMSAT is planning? Please feel free to share with others in the AMSAT leadership. 73 de Paul-NA4AR ARBA BAND PLAN 3.3 GHZ - 3.5 GHz 3300-3310 3310-3330 3330-3340 3340-3350 3350-3370 3370-3380 3380-3390 3390-3410 3410-3420 3420-3430 3430-3450 3450-3460 3460-3470 3470-3490 3490-3500 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Via the Eagle mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA Eagle(a)amsat.org http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/eagle

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testing
by Jim Sanford 31 Jan '07

31 Jan '07

Howard, pls ack receipt. 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org 2224 30 Jan EST

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TeamSpeak conference for Tuesday 16 Jan
by Jim Sanford 16 Jan '07

16 Jan '07

Team: I'm sending this out by email because I'm having some difficulties with the TS page on EaglePedia. Things I'd like to discuss: 70cm RX status How many prototypes to build Goals for 2007 My partial goals are: Prototype 70cm RX and 2m TX Demonstrate above, with some form of SDX prototype Demonstrate prototype IHU-3 and CAN widgets Structure design and model Refine microwave phased array plans Peer review, test, demonstrate text messaging Begin development of integration plan and composite test plan Develop Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) leading to a preliminary development/construction schedule The last item is clearly mine; Gould has been helping me on the WBS. Obviously, once I've laid it out, I'll need your comments and then some schedule estimates. I think that we are now at the point where it's time to define a schedule of what is reasonably achievable so that we can begin to make construction/integration/launch plans. Please add to the goals; this is just my first cut. Please also add to topics. I've asked for help on my issue with EP; will advise as soon as the agenda is posted there. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Journal update
by Jim Sanford 16 Jan '07

16 Jan '07

Team: My submission for the Journal goes out tomorrow night. If you have any additions or subgestions, please send now. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Proceedings
by Dick Jansson-rr 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Is there any interest in a copy of the "Proceedings of the 1st Annual USU Conference on Small Satellites"? It is among the papers in my office that will soon see the circular file unless someone wants to rescue the document. Dick Jansson, WD4FAB wd4fab(a)amsat.org wd4fab(a)arrl.net ---------------------------

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FINALLY back on the air
by Robert McGwier 13 Jan '07

13 Jan '07

We finally solved the major cause of the 35 year old electrical problems here at home and I am back on the air here after a 3 day absence ( 7 AM Thursday to 2:30 PM Saturday). The problems we found are direct contributers to everything from computer problems, to light bulbs burning out way too fast, to pool pumps causing the house to brown, and on and on that we have been experiencing. As I kept upgrading appliances and adding new toys, the situation deteriorated until I was forced to solve it. Anyway, I am back to where I can answer email at last. Bob -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. " - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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AMSAT Journal update
by Jim Sanford 09 Jan '07

09 Jan '07

Team: I'm working on the next update. If you have recent progress or events to report, please share with me in the next couple of days. Photos welcome. I've already covered IHU-3/CAN developments, the new lab, and 70cm receiver final design and ATP. Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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SDX, MRAM and Radiation
by Lyle Johnson 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

Hello! I have heard anecdotal assertions that MRAM (see < URL:http://www.freescale.com/mram >) is inherently SEU immune from radiation, or at least very tolerant. Does anyone have any knowledge of this? I ask because the Freescale part is pretty tempting, even if its standby current drain is a little high. Thinking in terms of SDX here... 73, Lyle KK7P

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A wild thought
by Jim Sanford 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

Team: I've been thinking about this for a while. Recent publicity for Eagle in multiple publications has resurrected the thought, so I seek your comments. I'm considering seeking, for each discrete peer review, an additional review team member from AMSAT membership at large. Heretofore we've collected peer review teams from a subset of Eagle team members with possibly a few known additions. I'm considering seeking a single at-large reivewer from within AMSAT MEMBERSHIP. In my vision, I'd go out to amsat-bb and ANS and solicit qualified volunteers. Such volunteers would have to be verifiable members of AMSAT-NA or another AMSAT organization, and would be asked to send me a resume or c.v. I would use these to select the MOST qualified volunteer for a single at-large position on the peer review team. (I say that I would make the selection, mostly to keep the additional admin burden off you; if any of you want to help me choose, thanks!) I would be responsible for forwarding that individual all necessary materials to do the peer review. I would be responsible for coordinating with Bob and Eric that that at-large member would have access to the AMSAT Engineering channel on TeamSpeak for that particularl peer review (the password changes for each discrete topic.) The advantages I see in this: -- furthers our "openness" with deeds not words -- gives motivated new talent an opportunity to share their expertise with us -- gives us a chance to evaluate, select, and motivate new talent -- advances general membership "buy-in" -- gives us a better ultimate product --may lead us to new Eale team members! I see no down-side to this. If you do, please advise ASAP. If you think this is a good idea, please let me know also. If you have any ideas on how to make the peer review process better, I'd like to hear that as well. I'd like your responses by Friday 5 January. If we decide to proceed, I'd lke to include this in my next Journal article, which will be written this weekend. Finally, I hope to convene a peer review of the UHF receiver ATP soon. For obvious reasons, I intend to use the same team which did the UHF receiver design peer review, plus a couple of additions (w2gps and n4hy) plus the at-large member, unless you convince me the latter is a bad idea. Thank you all, and very 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Peer Review
by Matt Ettus 02 Jan '07

02 Jan '07

I think the peer review proposal is a great idea. However, I'd suggest making the request for volunteers in the journal and not on AMSAT-BB. One could argue that the statements "is qualified to conduct technical peer review" and "reads AMSAT-BB on a regular basis" are negatively correlated... Matt

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Florida lab close out
by Robert McGwier 31 Dec '06

31 Dec '06

Bob Davis, Drew Glassbrenner with help from Lou McFadin, Bob McGwier, Lee McLamb, and Stan Wood have mostly emptied the storage facility, reclaimed our clean room from Florida Space Institute, the equipment that was in individual homes and not being used for current AMSAT projects and begun the move to the Pocomoke City Hawk facility. The storage facility will be emptied and closed by the end of its lease on January 21. I have a picture that will finally demonstrate the scope of our new facility. It is the 24 foot Budget rental truck with 1/3 of the clean room inside it that I drove from Orlando to Pocomoke City. It is all the way inside and dwarfed by the new building. Drew and Bob Davis will follow with the rest of the trucks next Wednesday. This was a 3 truck, 3 driver move. Thursday and Friday will be "fork lift unload day" with Rick Hambly and friends coming over to help unload. Saturday will be inventory and sort day. Also in my pictures are the new walls going up where the clean room will be housed. The office space walls will be up this week and most of the lab walls will be by the weekend. Enough space is being left for now to get the air handlers and support structure in through the wall. There is very little doubt this will be the nicest lab and integration facility we have ever had in AMSAT-NA. It is larger and nicer than the fish bowl by quite a bit. The ZEL would rival it but nothing else. Let's' build a few spacecraft! Happy New Year, Bob N4HY -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. " - Dietrich Bonhoffer

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[Fwd: Fwd: New subscription request to list Eagle from k9jkm@comcast.net]
by Jim Sanford 22 Dec '06

22 Dec '06

Team: This is a surprise to me, I don't recognize the call. Anybody have any info?? Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Fwd: New subscription request to list Eagle from k9jkm(a)comcast.net Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:02:24 -0800 From: Paul Williamson <kb5mu(a)amsat.org> To: wb4gcs(a)amsat.org >Subject: New subscription request to list Eagle from k9jkm(a)comcast.net >From: eagle-owner(a)amsat.org >To: eagle-owner(a)amsat.org >Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:58:51 -0800 >X-BeenThere: eagle(a)amsat.org >List-Id: Eagle Project Mailing List <eagle.amsat.org> >Sender: mailman-bounces(a)amsat.org > >Your authorization is required for a mailing list subscription request >approval: > > For: k9jkm(a)comcast.net > List: eagle(a)amsat.org > >At your convenience, visit: > > http://amsat.org/mailman/admindb/eagle > >to process the request.

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Ansoft University Program
by Rick Hambly (W2GPS) 19 Dec '06

19 Dec '06

All, Martha has just placed an order for 5 copies of Ansoft's HF software. The full commercial versions of the following software are included in the annual $1,000 use license cost: HFSS Q3D Designer EPhysics Optimetrics Multiprocessor Full Wave Spice CAD Translator For information, see http://www.ansoft.com/rf_microwave.cfm. These will be available on a rotating basis from a central license server, just as our Cadence (OrCAD) and Mentor Graphics software is now. That allows any number of users up to five at a time. Remember, use of this software is for AMSAT authorized activities only, in accordance with our "university" license. The learning curve will be steep but the rewards are great for the RF designer. Who wants access to the software? Rick W2GPS AMSAT President

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Ansoft
by Robert McGwier 19 Dec '06

19 Dec '06

Ansoft has given us quite the lovely present for this time of year. A month ago I asked Ulrich Rohde for help in getting Ansoft to make us a university for the purposes of pricing their software. Ulrich was chairman of the board and I believe is still on the board of Ansoft. He put me in touch with the CEO! They chose to make us a university but their licensing terms were a little bothersome. Rick was able to negotiate these waters successfully. These programs are horrendously expensive and we got them very inexpensively. Designer will be helpful in the design and simulation of amplifiers and HFSS will be very helpful in our antenna work. My first attempt did not include information about our recent alliances. I was met with silence. My second attempt was entirely too long but it contained details of our affiliations and our project and why we would need HFSS, Designer, and why we are a suitable organization to be called a university. It is my opinion that this is our first serious success in using our new university affiliations. Thanks to Rick for his work with their education/university program director to seal the deal ( WA2LOO by the way). Season's greetings to all! Bob -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. " - Dietrich Bonhoffer

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[Fwd: VRS 2006 Hour spent on behalf of AMSAT]
by Jim Sanford 18 Dec '06

18 Dec '06

Team: Reminder, if you have not updated your VRS time, please do so. This is important to our fundraising efforts, when potential donors ask, "What have YOU contributed out of your own pocket?" Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org -------- Original Message -------- Subject: VRS 2006 Hour spent on behalf of AMSAT Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 09:32:08 -0500 From: Gunther Meisse <gmouse(a)neo.rr.com> To: <ans-editor(a)amsat.org>, <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>, <officers(a)amsat.org>, <bod(a)amsat.org>, "'Jim Sanford'" <wb4gcs(a)amsat.org> Attention AMSAT Volunteers: It is that time of the year again. We need to be sure as many volunteer hours as possible have been reported to the VRS (Volunteer Reporting System) on the AMSAT web site. Over the last few years thousands of dollars of volunteer time have been reported and we are sure this year will be our largest given all the work that has done on Eagle. If you are already registered on the VRS site please take a few minutes and report these 2006 hours. If you have not reported before, please visit amsat.org, register, and help us keep track of this important aspect of the AMSAT mission. We'll keep the year open until the middle of January but hope you will take the time within the next couple weeks to update your report. You may combine your efforts for the entire year into one filing if that would make the process more convenient. Looking forward to your reports. Have a great holiday season. Regards, Gunther Meisse W8GSM AMSAT Treasurer

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How to post EaglePedia Content
by Dave hartzell 18 Dec '06

18 Dec '06

Hello all, Jim Sanford asked me to send a quick informational note on how to post to EaglePedia. EaglePedia is fairly easy to handle, and hopefully this brief introduction will help you get started. There is plenty of online help for the WikiMedia software, which Emily N1DID uses as the backbone of EaglePedia. The Wiki Help is available on the top of most pages or on the left side-bar. And you can always email me if you have questions, or need help... EaglePedia is available from the AMSAT homepage, or via this link: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/Main_Page NOTE: I use multiple browser tabs while editing, so I can flip back-and-forth to see my EaglePedia editing work and other web pages. I suggest you use Firefox's multiple tabs (shameless anti-Microsoft plug). This way you can pull up an EaglePedia Help page or Index page... A) Creating a NEW page Creating an EaglePedia page is straightforward. Simply use the "Create New Page" box at the top of the main EaglePedia page (see above link). 1. After enter the TITLE of your page in the dialog box, press create. Note that this actually creates an article, similar to an encyclopedia article. SPACES are allowed in page/title/article names and will be later referenced with the underscore (_) character in URLs. 2. Next you should see a large web-form. Type in this box! Put your info here. Note that this box accepts standard ASCII text, and also supports WikiMedia tags, for text formatting, linking, and tagging (e.g. classifying an article into a category, or marking it "Eagle Team Only"). You don't have to use fancy formatting, but bold, italics, etc., tables, and file links are possible. You can use the icon bar in the edit-box to implement fancy typesettings. For those of you using Word, a macro by Emily exists that will convert your word document to WikiMedia format, preserving the formatting. You can then simply copy and paste your text into the EaglePedia form. The macro is available here: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/Document_Converte… 3. Categorize your page. At the bottom of your text, create a category tag, using one of the pre-existing categories or sub-categories as listed on the main EaglePedia page (see link above). The syntax for creating a tag is as follows: [[Category:xxxxxxx]] where xxxxxx is the name of the category or sub-category. Be sure to double-bracket and accurately enter the name of the category as it exists on the main EaglePedia page, or the index page (see left side-bar). See the bottom of the "Eagle Project Index" for more information on creating categories and/or sub-categories (left side-bar). Please attempt to use existing categories first! 4. After entering your text, input a "Summary" statement regarding something like "created new page". ALWAYS CLICK PREVIEW PAGE and this will show you what others will see, and provide you with an edit box at the bottom for revision(s). 5. If you like what you see in the Preview, click save and you're done! Make sure you categorize correctly. Thats pretty much all there is to creating a new page. Often, we want to upload a file for others to access. This is easily done by embedding a Media tag into a page (see above if you don't have an article yet for your file). Simply uploading a file won't do, especially if you want others to see and access the file easily. EaglePedia doesn't use a file hierarchy, such as folders. EaglePedia (and WikiMedia) use a flat file format, and rely on the uploader to link the file to an article. It is also important to categorize your file. Here is a quick intro on EaglePedia that you should read. http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/Help:Uploading_an… Below is a step-by-step process for uploading and linking to a file: B) Using Media Link tags. 1. Upload your file, by clicking on the "Upload New File" link on the left sidebar. Please fill out all the relevant information. Enter a category tag (or two) in the summary field: [[Category:Mechanical]] [[Category:Nutation Dampeners]] 2. Create a new page, or edit an existing one. 3. In the edit box, create a link to the newly uploaded file in the article where appropriate, like this: [[ Media:My_File.zip|Visible name as I want it to appear]] This link can appear by itself on a newline or in a paragraph of text. See the "Help Uploading and Linking Files" link above for information on uploading and displaying images in articles, and for a picture of Jim Sanford. ;-) Let me know if you have any questions, or find a bug in the above processes. 73, Dave NøTGD

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FW: Heat Sink Parts
by Dick Jansson-rr 15 Dec '06

15 Dec '06

-----Original Message----- From: Albert D. Helfrick [mailto:Albert.Helfrick@erau.edu] Sent: Friday, 15 December, 2006 1037 To: rjansson(a)cfl.rr.com Subject: Re: Heat Sink Parts Goood Morning Dick, Just let us know what else we can do to help; both electrically and mechanically. Al -----Original Message----- From: "Dick Jansson-rr" <rjansson(a)cfl.rr.com> To: "AMSAT Eagle " <eagle(a)amsat.org> Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:35:31 -0000 Subject: Heat Sink Parts Greetings: AMSAT's Eagle Project has just today received a sample collection (4+) of E05 01 Heat Sinks fastidiously machined by our friends at Embry Riddle Aeronautic University, Daytona Beach, Florida. This is the culmination of discussions started over a year ago. These heat sinks are designed to be riveted into Eagle's high-power electronic modules so as to enable the dissipation from the power devices in those modules. Such a heat sink will help couple the dissipated power to the spacecraft for its ultimate rejection to the space heat sink (temperature: 4K). We are very much indebted to ERAU and Dr. Al Helfirck, K2BLA, a very long-time operator, for their participation in the Eagle Project. What makes these heat sinks very special is that they are machined from a high thermal conductivity, 99% pure, aluminum. This alloy is 33% higher conductivity than alloy aluminum, and as such it is quite soft and difficult to machine. In addition, the surface finish of these parts is also demanding and ERAU has presented us with a superb product. The need for this kind of finish is, again, a thermal issue. When experimenters are presented with these heat sink modules to work with their surfaces will be protected by a plastic film, of which we have a quantity. Such a protective film will be used on most all thermal conductive and radiative surfaces of importance, as they all are of delicate and soft alloys. A tip of the hat to Al and his gang. Dick Jansson --------------------------- <mailto:rjansson@cfl.rr.com> rjansson(a)cfl.rr.com ---------------------------

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Heat Sink Parts
by Dick Jansson-rr 14 Dec '06

14 Dec '06

Greetings: AMSAT's Eagle Project has just today received a sample collection (4+) of E05 01 Heat Sinks fastidiously machined by our friends at Embry Riddle Aeronautic University, Daytona Beach, Florida. This is the culmination of discussions started over a year ago. These heat sinks are designed to be riveted into Eagle's high-power electronic modules so as to enable the dissipation from the power devices in those modules. Such a heat sink will help couple the dissipated power to the spacecraft for its ultimate rejection to the space heat sink (temperature: 4K). We are very much indebted to ERAU and Dr. Al Helfirck, K2BLA, a very long-time operator, for their participation in the Eagle Project. What makes these heat sinks very special is that they are machined from a high thermal conductivity, 99% pure, aluminum. This alloy is 33% higher conductivity than alloy aluminum, and as such it is quite soft and difficult to machine. In addition, the surface finish of these parts is also demanding and ERAU has presented us with a superb product. The need for this kind of finish is, again, a thermal issue. When experimenters are presented with these heat sink modules to work with their surfaces will be protected by a plastic film, of which we have a quantity. Such a protective film will be used on most all thermal conductive and radiative surfaces of importance, as they all are of delicate and soft alloys. A tip of the hat to Al and his gang. Dick Jansson --------------------------- <mailto:rjansson@cfl.rr.com> rjansson(a)cfl.rr.com ---------------------------

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TeamSpeak conference for 12 December
by Jim Sanford 12 Dec '06

12 Dec '06

Team: Tomorrow is the 2nd Tuesday. I only have two topics: U-band receiver phase noise requirements (Bob McGwier, et al) Expense reporting Feel free to add. I have not published this on eaglePedia because I'm having difficulty editing the TS conference pages. Look for resolution later tonight or early tomorrow. Instructions on installing and configuring the TeamSpeak clientare on EaglePedia in the TeamSpeak conferences page. Thanks 7 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Eagle Project Charter
by Jim Sanford 08 Dec '06

08 Dec '06

Team: After the Pittsburgh Design Review, I drafted a /Project Charter/ which lays out objectives, constraints, and various other issues. It is on EaglePedia, but private, because I never considered it ready for prime time. In the ensuing 14 months many things have changed. As I read it tonight with that perspective, I see a few needed changes, but not many. What I wrote continues to guide how I do business. In the context of W9AE's question at /Symposium/, "It's nice you're building this neat satellite, but what are you clowns doing to make sure the thing, */just works?/*" I feel the need to open this up to the public. I heeby request your review and modification. Thee are obviously some things that need to be filled in. Each of you has edit permissions on that page. Please edit away, and tell me what you've changed. Please send me your comments. If you want to chat about it, let me know, and I'll get on skype or TeamSpeak with you. I'd like to open this up for public viewing before Christmas, it's way overdue, and I'm trying to atone for past sins. The current draft (in need of revision!) is at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/The_Eagle_Charter Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Congratulations
by Jim Sanford 06 Dec '06

06 Dec '06

Matt: I just saw in the December issue of /Spectrum/ a letter regarding your work on open-source PCB design work. Talk about value-added! Congratulations & thanks! 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org

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Update on WYSIWYM editor
by Emily Clarke 30 Nov '06

30 Nov '06

You may have noticed that the WYSIWYM editor is not working properly. There is a dependency for the HTML to Wiki converter that hasn't yet been met. The problem appears that the converter will not build under FreeBSD, the OS on the AMSAT server. So although it works on my staging server (running Fedora Core) it will take some additional work to get it working in EaglePedia. 73, Emily --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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Improving your ability to search in EaglePedia
by Emily Clarke 28 Nov '06

28 Nov '06

When you search inside EaglePedia you will generally find articles you are looking for. However, if you are looking for information about an EaglePedia user or a help topic you probably aren't getting the results you need. This is because by default EaglePedia searches for articles in the Main namespace. What is the Main namespace, you ask? The core structure of EaglePedia is organized into "super-categories" called Namespaces. You can find a list of these by clicking on "my preferences" in the TOP RIGHT links on every EaglePedia page, and then clicking on the "Search" tab. By default these will generally only have "(Main)" checked. I would recommend at a minimum you check the following Namespaces: Talk User Help Image Category 73, Emily --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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