I'm in the process of finishing some of the missing software components.  I was waiting for confirmation on budget but with that unlikely I decided to proceed anyway.  I'm going to see if I can document things much better as I suspect this could end up sitting on a shelf.  Alan is also implementing the pi-pacsat for the cubesatsim, so I will continue to help with that as well.

73
Chris 

On Tue, Mar 11, 2025, 17:36 Bob Stricklin via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev@amsat.org> wrote:
This is a nice summary of the status of the PASAT project. Bill has done a great job shepherding it along and the efforts can be enjoyed by future AMSAT missions.

Bob

> On Mar 11, 2025, at 2:40 PM, Bill Reed via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev@amsat.org> wrote:
>
> March 11, 2025
>
> Dear pacsat team,
>
> I want to tell you where I think pacsat stands today.  We still have no funding, but I have had
> a discussion with Gerry Buxton about the project and I will try to convey to you what I have
> heard him say.  ( Gerry, please correct me if I am wrong.)
>
> 2024 ended with a successful pacsat prototype.  Our blinky board works but it needs a
> few tweaks before it could fly.  Our software works.  It may have a few minor defects and
> missing a few enhancements, but it is basically ready for flight. The ground station
> software is ready.
>
> I anticipated that 2025 would be a milestone year.  I believed we could build flight ready
> modules.  Consequently, in November 2024 I submitted our 2025 pacsat budget.  I believe
> that budgets establish a projects direction.  I proposed a budget that would, in my mind,
> establish that direction.
>
> I proposed the following:
>
>     Monies to resolve the few existing hardware issues with the blinky board.
>     It cost us $2000 to build each blinky board and I felt we would need to
>     prototype a few fixes.  Instead of $2000 for each tweak,  I proposed that
>     we enhance our launchpad design at a cost of $150 for each tweak and
>     then consolidate our final design layout on a cubesat size board.
>     This budget item has not been funded yet.  I am hopeful it will be.
>
>     I recognized that the current design that used the AX5043 was limited.
>     The AX5043 is out of production.  We purchased some supply of parts
>     from questionable suppliers, hoping that those parts were acceptable.
>     Also, the AX5043 was limited to FM packets at 1200 bps AFSK and 9600
>     bsp GFSK.  We would need a new design if we expected to use higher
>     data rates and new protocols.  I proposed that we start a software
>     designed radio (SDR) effort for that new design.  Gerry indicated to me
>     that an SDR design effort would not be funded.
>
>     The University of North Dakota satellite group contacted me indicating
>     they would like to fly a pacsat board on an upcoming mission. They
>     indicated that previous attempts to contact AMSAT had failed. They
>     had no design interface at that time, but I agreed to work with them
>     as their flight mission progressed.  I proposed some monies in the
>     2025 budget to build them some prototype boards.  Gerry indicated
>     to me that effort would not be funded.
>
>     ARISS engineering approached me about a pacsat system on the
>     International Space Station.  Again we had no design requirements
>     but I proposed some monies to support any hardware we might build
>     for them.  Gerry indicated to me that effort would not be funded.
>
>     Gerry did suggest that we build several "generic" pacsat boards
>     and place those boards in inventory.  I think we have a challenge
>     in defining what a "generic flight board" consists of.  It could be
>     as simple as our blinky prototype board cleaned up for flight.
>     There are a few interface issues that need to be resolved.
>
>     Gerry indicated that the Fox-Plus-B flight still planned
>     to fly a pacsat board on that mission.  There has been
>     much discussion about the project but no interface
>     description has been provided.  I don't know what
>     Gerry plans for us to do but I am sure that he will
>     provide direction in the future.  I requested funding
>     for this mission but the status of that funding is unknown.
>
> I believe that the pacsat team's efforts over the last two years have
> been exceptional.  I want to thank all of you for your efforts.
>
> From a personal standpoint, my funding efforts have been very
> frustrating.  I submitted my budget proposal last November and
> I expected that to be approved by January 1, 2025.  In my mind
> that's the way that budgets work.  Now, without any budget at all,
> we are not knowing which projects we should be working on and
> how we might progress.
>
> I have decided to step back from my role as pacsat team lead.
> I still intend to be a member of the pacsat team, but at this point
> I would like to participate in the SDR design task.  If it continues
> to be unfunded then I will need to determine how we might proceed.
>
> Please don't give up on our pacsat efforts.  We have a great design
> and we can make it successful.
>
> Bill Reed, NX5R
>
>
>
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