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