- Eagle (INACTIVE) - mailman.amsat.org

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 24 Nov '08

24 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 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

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