Tuesday Challenge 9 December 2008
1. In your opinion, what is the most interesting use case for a MEP station?
2. What local oscillator scheme makes the most sense for a 3.4GHz, 5.6-8GHz duplex system?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Weekly Plan 8 December - 12 December 2008
Plans for this week: 8 December – 12 December 2008
1. Complete revision 5 of the Station Discovery Document. (carried over from last week)
2. Release revision 0.3 of the MEP Air Interface.
3. Expect the first transverter boards from the San Bernardino Microwave Society to arrive. Update list with communications with designer.
4. Learn more about the ARCHES project.
5. Check in with uWSDR project and see how GEMMA is doing.
6. Design MEP logo, Team Air Interface badge, and Baseband badge.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development email list! Thanks for joining.
Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the development of the project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents, audio, and video to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the feed reader of your choice.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents, audio, and video to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the feed reader of your choice.
Air Interface Document version 0.2
System model, layering, and protocol discussions.
Version 0.2 published on 8 December 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Weekly Report 1 December - 7 December 2008
MEP Weekly Report for 1 December – 7 December 2008
The beginning of the Air Interface document was published with more to follow.
Work continued on the 5th revision of the Station Discovery Document.
Discussions about MEP as an IP network, MEP as a layer 2 network, and MEP as
built from WiFi components occurred. The diagram in the PDF is an attempt to
summarize the main points.
We learned about the ARCHES project through Glenn Currie KD5MFW.
We discussed DTN and whether and how it might fit in to MEP.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Weekly Plan 1 December - 5 December 2008
Plans for this week: 1 December – 5 December 2008
1. Complete revision 5 of the Station Discovery Document.
2. Release revision 1 of the MEP Air Interface.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development email list! Thanks for joining.
Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the development of the
project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents, audio, and
video to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the
feed reader of your choice.
1. Complete revision 5 of the Station Discovery Document.
2. Release revision 1 of the MEP Air Interface.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development email list! Thanks for joining.
Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the development of the
project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents, audio, and
video to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the
feed reader of your choice.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Exploratory Phase Announcement
An announcement and description of the current phase of the MEP project, which is Exploratory. This version includes the publication history.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Half Power Beamwidth Notes
Notes for the Discovery Document. This shows the half-power (3dB) beamwidth for a half-meter dish antenna across the frequency bands (3.4GHz to 6GHz) of interest to MEP.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Station Discovery Document Draft
Greetings!
Here is the first draft of the station discovery document. The goal is to explore and better define methods for quick and easy station discovery in the field.
Here is the first draft of the station discovery document. The goal is to explore and better define methods for quick and easy station discovery in the field.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Weekly Report 22 October - 24 October 2008
1. Talk about how Microwave Update went for MEP.
2. Revisit Tom Rondeau's cognitive radio ideas and explore applicability to MEP.
3. Report specific progress on the feeds. Kent Britain described his plan to use Schiffman polarization with two orthogonally-oriented vivaldi feeds for a circularly polarized MEP feed. Has anyone ever seen or done something similar to this? I'll read up on this end and report what I can manage to learn about it.
4. Revisit Timothy Salo's ACP paper to see if there is applicability to MEP. Not sure if this paper can be distributed yet, unfortunately. It is going to be presented this weekend at AMSAT Space Symposium. Since MEP is related to ACP, both Timothy and Joanne Maenpaa's work might be of interest to the list.
Let me know what you're doing or what you're interested in doing, and we'll see how we can get from here to there!
-Michelle W5NYV
2. Revisit Tom Rondeau's cognitive radio ideas and explore applicability to MEP.
3. Report specific progress on the feeds. Kent Britain described his plan to use Schiffman polarization with two orthogonally-oriented vivaldi feeds for a circularly polarized MEP feed. Has anyone ever seen or done something similar to this? I'll read up on this end and report what I can manage to learn about it.
4. Revisit Timothy Salo's ACP paper to see if there is applicability to MEP. Not sure if this paper can be distributed yet, unfortunately. It is going to be presented this weekend at AMSAT Space Symposium. Since MEP is related to ACP, both Timothy and Joanne Maenpaa's work might be of interest to the list.
Let me know what you're doing or what you're interested in doing, and we'll see how we can get from here to there!
-Michelle W5NYV
MEP at MUD 2008 - future conferences and meetings?
MEP’s first presentation at a major ham radio gathering was a success.
Microwave Update 2008 was held in Bloomington MN, on October 17-18. Nearly 90 people attended the two days of presentations. There was plenty of time for socializing and conversing, which we managed to take full advantage of. James French, W8ISS, was extremely helpful in encouraging our attendance, supporting the table, and in introducing us around.
We ended up with a few answers and a better idea of the questions, with the most progress made in the areas of feeds, use cases, and in learning more about the state of other amateur microwave projects.
Our updated conceptual block diagram, a copy of the TAPR open hardware license, the MEP newsletter, and two posters were at the vendor table, along with some project information cards and at least some of the time, real live people! Thank you to Paul Williamson, KB5MU, for helping to represent and explain the project at the conference.
My impressions as a first-time conference attendee were quite positive, and I would like to target Microwave Update 2009, in Dallas (tentatively scheduled for 24-25 October) as a place where we can report progress and get quality feedback.
The reason I’m suggesting having a formal presentation at Microwave Update as a project goal is that I believe there are big advantages to having a regular deadline where progress is summarized and presented. It helps to spread the word about the project. It’s very enjoyable to share progress and lessons learned with others, especially if it happens to be a supportive and encouraging environment. Microwave Update certainly seemed to be that sort of environment. Most importantly, it provides a wider opportunity for review.
Timothy Salo suggested that we might want to present at the AMSAT Space Symposium, as well. My initial reaction was negative, but after thinking about it some more I think his points are valid. The project, with its intentionally satellite-similar characteristics, isn’t completely outside the field of interest for AMSAT.
The Space Symposium seems to attract a different crowd. While there is some overlap and a few familiar faces, it was not the same crowd, and the constellation of concerns and interests are different enough to where it seems like it would not be an experiment in redundancy to target both.
The Space Symposium and the Microwave Update are usually held during October. The TAPR DCC, which is another conference with presentations and a proceeding, is usually held in September. DCC has been suggested as a good forum for us as well.
That’s a lot of conferences during a short period of time, but the process of preparing papers or presentations for the various proceedings provides plenty of opportunity for a “writing season” on the project, where various authors could take advantage of the schedule to brainstorm up a variety of documents on whatever facets of the project best fit the particular gathering or proceeding. I haven’t been to a Space Symposium or a TAPR DCC. If they are anything like Microwave Update, I will do all I can to support anyone wanting to write a paper relating to or inspired by the project.
A year is a long time to go without a big gathering. Opposite in the year from all of these conferences is the Dayton Hamvention. Having given a high-level overview in the AMSAT forum, and having staffed the technical booth for AMSAT, I have some amount of experience at this event, and it was worthwhile.
How about having a table at Dayton and planning meetings during the convention? How many people on the list are planning to already be at Dayton? With a critical mass, we could make a lot of progress at an event we’re already attending.
What does the list think about having, essentially, an informal MEP “track” at Dayton? If we get a table, it will be a comfortable space to sit and talk about all aspects of the project.
Has anyone else ever been involved in reserving a table at Dayton? The process for Microwave Update was extremely easy and free. I expect it would be a bit more complicated of a process for Dayton, but given the variety and assortment of groups, clubs, and companies represented at Dayton, it can’t be impossibly expensive or difficult to do.
Does anyone know if there an equivalent sort of space available at TAPR DCC or the Space Symposium, where a club or group like us can be represented?
More soon,
Michelle W5NYV
Microwave Update 2008 was held in Bloomington MN, on October 17-18. Nearly 90 people attended the two days of presentations. There was plenty of time for socializing and conversing, which we managed to take full advantage of. James French, W8ISS, was extremely helpful in encouraging our attendance, supporting the table, and in introducing us around.
We ended up with a few answers and a better idea of the questions, with the most progress made in the areas of feeds, use cases, and in learning more about the state of other amateur microwave projects.
Our updated conceptual block diagram, a copy of the TAPR open hardware license, the MEP newsletter, and two posters were at the vendor table, along with some project information cards and at least some of the time, real live people! Thank you to Paul Williamson, KB5MU, for helping to represent and explain the project at the conference.
My impressions as a first-time conference attendee were quite positive, and I would like to target Microwave Update 2009, in Dallas (tentatively scheduled for 24-25 October) as a place where we can report progress and get quality feedback.
The reason I’m suggesting having a formal presentation at Microwave Update as a project goal is that I believe there are big advantages to having a regular deadline where progress is summarized and presented. It helps to spread the word about the project. It’s very enjoyable to share progress and lessons learned with others, especially if it happens to be a supportive and encouraging environment. Microwave Update certainly seemed to be that sort of environment. Most importantly, it provides a wider opportunity for review.
Timothy Salo suggested that we might want to present at the AMSAT Space Symposium, as well. My initial reaction was negative, but after thinking about it some more I think his points are valid. The project, with its intentionally satellite-similar characteristics, isn’t completely outside the field of interest for AMSAT.
The Space Symposium seems to attract a different crowd. While there is some overlap and a few familiar faces, it was not the same crowd, and the constellation of concerns and interests are different enough to where it seems like it would not be an experiment in redundancy to target both.
The Space Symposium and the Microwave Update are usually held during October. The TAPR DCC, which is another conference with presentations and a proceeding, is usually held in September. DCC has been suggested as a good forum for us as well.
That’s a lot of conferences during a short period of time, but the process of preparing papers or presentations for the various proceedings provides plenty of opportunity for a “writing season” on the project, where various authors could take advantage of the schedule to brainstorm up a variety of documents on whatever facets of the project best fit the particular gathering or proceeding. I haven’t been to a Space Symposium or a TAPR DCC. If they are anything like Microwave Update, I will do all I can to support anyone wanting to write a paper relating to or inspired by the project.
A year is a long time to go without a big gathering. Opposite in the year from all of these conferences is the Dayton Hamvention. Having given a high-level overview in the AMSAT forum, and having staffed the technical booth for AMSAT, I have some amount of experience at this event, and it was worthwhile.
How about having a table at Dayton and planning meetings during the convention? How many people on the list are planning to already be at Dayton? With a critical mass, we could make a lot of progress at an event we’re already attending.
What does the list think about having, essentially, an informal MEP “track” at Dayton? If we get a table, it will be a comfortable space to sit and talk about all aspects of the project.
Has anyone else ever been involved in reserving a table at Dayton? The process for Microwave Update was extremely easy and free. I expect it would be a bit more complicated of a process for Dayton, but given the variety and assortment of groups, clubs, and companies represented at Dayton, it can’t be impossibly expensive or difficult to do.
Does anyone know if there an equivalent sort of space available at TAPR DCC or the Space Symposium, where a club or group like us can be represented?
More soon,
Michelle W5NYV
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Weekly Plan 18 August - 22 August 2008
Greetings to the list! My apologies for a bit of delay over the past two weeks. The end of
summer has certainly been a busy time around here, with visits, travel, and getting the
kids (and the parents) ready for going back to school.
I have some updates and document releases planned for this week, which include the
following:
1) Transverter research document to be released with Grayg's updates
2) San Diego surface-mount capabilities described so we can move forward on any
boards that may be available from uWSDR
3) H.264 Advanced Video Codec licensing update from MPEG LA
4) Feed order put together for Kent Britain Vivaldis for experimentation
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development email list! Thanks for
joining. Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the
development of the project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents, audio,
and video to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will
appear in the feed reader of your choice.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Weekly Report 28 July - 3 August 2008
This is a weekly report for the Microwave Engineering Project covering July 28 – August 3
1) A transverter tracking document was released. Discussion, comparison, and contrast between transverters and SDRs began (and continues) with several team members collecting articles and gaining familiarity with the current state of the art in amateur radio microwave transverters.
2) Atmospheric and Ionospheric explorations were proposed as a potential feature of the system.
3) Project announcements will run in the Packet Status Register from TAPR, the next issue of DUBUS, the September newsletter for the San Bernardino Microwave Society, and were posted to eHam, the forums at qrz.com, and the Amateur Radio Forums. The next meeting of the San Bernardino Microwave Society is 7 August 2008, where MEP updates will be presented.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Transverter Tracker
Transverters for the bands we're considering (3.4GHz/5.6-8GHz). Looking for more, so please write me with any others that you find out about.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Weekly Plan 28 July - 1 August 2008
Plans for this week: July 28 – August 1
The focus for this week is on transverters, with the goal
being a summary document after the San Bernardino Microwave
Society meeting on August 7th.
Other areas of research for this week are feeds, sources,
and use cases.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development
email list! Thanks for joining. Please forward this email
to anyone you think would be interested in the development
of the project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will
deliver project documents, audio, and video to you so that
you do not have to go check the website for them. They will
appear in the feed reader of your choice.
The focus for this week is on transverters, with the goal
being a summary document after the San Bernardino Microwave
Society meeting on August 7th.
Other areas of research for this week are feeds, sources,
and use cases.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development
email list! Thanks for joining. Please forward this email
to anyone you think would be interested in the development
of the project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a podcast that you can subscribe to. This will
deliver project documents, audio, and video to you so that
you do not have to go check the website for them. They will
appear in the feed reader of your choice.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Weekly Report 21 July - 25 July 2008
This is a weekly report for the Microwave Engineering Project
1) Our project was announced in Bryon Foster N6IFU "ATV Newsletter" (29 July issue). Thank you Bryon!
2) Initial results from the Microwave Engineering Project exploratory phase were collected and published in the project overview document for review, comment, and critique.
If you subscribe to the feed, the document will be delivered to you automatically. The document can be found here:
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave/overview/MicrowaveEngineeringProjectOverview.pdf
3) Greg K6QPV from the San Diego Microwave Group has prepared two beacons for our project. They are 3.4GHz and 5.6GHz and can be installed on
4) Paul and I joined the uWSDR yahoo group, which is the forum for the Microwave SDR project in the
http://uwsdr.berlios.de/
The GeMMA, which is part of the uWSDR project, sounds like something we could use on MEP, and we'll be following the development closely, as well as providing any help we're able to. uWSDR aims to provide new, open-source hardware for use on the bands above 50MHz.
Grant writes that he is working on a full uWSDR Rx/Tx, including crossband 1.3/2.3GHz and maybe a 3.4/5.6GHz unit as well. This is very exciting news.
With GeMMA and the transceiver projects from the
5) A video report from the San Diego Microwave Group range party this past Monday, 21 July 2008 was edited and posted to the feed and on the web. This video shows some of the types of testing (minimum discernable signal and effective radiated power) that we will be doing, and shows the sort of stations that people in the amateur radio microwave community here in
The video report can be found here:
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave/newsletters/San%20Diego%20Microwave%20Group%20range%20party%202008.mp4
It's a large file. It’s about 120Mb and is nearly 20 minutes long.
San Diego Microwave Group Range Party 2008
San Diego Microwave Group Range Party 2008 Video Report. By W5NYV and KB5MU.
First Round Exploratory Phase Results
First round of the results from the exploratory phase of the Microwave Engineering Project.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Weekly Plan 21 July - 25 July 2008
Plans for this week: July 21 – July 25
1. Launch the project.
2. Continue development process for the Vivaldi (WA5VJB) and the dual-horn (W1GHZ) feed
designs. Some amount of progress occurred in both areas over the past week.
3. Continue working on the Antenna and Feed Document.
4. Develop project overview document.
5. Attend San Diego Microwave Group meeting Monday 21 July. This is the annual ranging
party in anticipation of the 10GHz and up contest coming up. I’ll be photographing and
vidographing the event for a videocast for the team.
Welcome to the Microwave Engineering Project development email list! Thanks for joining.
Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the development of the
project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@yahoo.com
Sign up for this list at
http://lists.uppermeadow.com/mailman/listinfo/mep-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.delmarnorth.com/microwave
There is a document RSS feed that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents to
you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the
document feed reader of your choice.
Antenna and Feed Document Update
Update of the Antenna and Feed Experiments document with a discussion of the regulations that affect amateur radio use of DSS dishes.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Antenna and Feed Study Update
This is the first Microwave Engineering Project document update. We started filling in the population of feeds and dishes that we will be experimenting with.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Weekly Report June 23 - July 4
This is a Technical Report for the past two weeks: June 23 – July 4
1. Two possible feed designs were discussed. Paul Wade W1GHZ is working on a dual-feed horn. Kent Britain WA5VJB’s Vivaldi design is a starting point for a higher-power version. 2. Joanne Maenpaa has released for review “AMSAT Communications Interoperability White Paper Version 1”. This paper is up on the site and in the feed. She is developing this paper for the Satellite Symposium in October.
3. Productive and interesting discussion on field and portable mounting strategies and advice on tripods took place.
4. Here are the documentation and site statistics for June. There are 53 members on the namaste-dev mailing list. There are 25 subscribers to the document feed, where in addition to the automated downloads, there were 697 views of 34 items and 24 manual downloads of 8 enclosures (documents). The Namaste website required 760 megabytes of bandwidth in June. We are well within all bandwidth and disk space allocations and will be for the foreseeable future.
1. Two possible feed designs were discussed. Paul Wade W1GHZ is working on a dual-feed horn. Kent Britain WA5VJB’s Vivaldi design is a starting point for a higher-power version. 2. Joanne Maenpaa has released for review “AMSAT Communications Interoperability White Paper Version 1”. This paper is up on the site and in the feed. She is developing this paper for the Satellite Symposium in October.
3. Productive and interesting discussion on field and portable mounting strategies and advice on tripods took place.
4. Here are the documentation and site statistics for June. There are 53 members on the namaste-dev mailing list. There are 25 subscribers to the document feed, where in addition to the automated downloads, there were 697 views of 34 items and 24 manual downloads of 8 enclosures (documents). The Namaste website required 760 megabytes of bandwidth in June. We are well within all bandwidth and disk space allocations and will be for the foreseeable future.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Weekly Plan June 16 - June 20
Welcome to the Namaste development email list! Thanks for joining. Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in the development of the project.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@amsat.org
Sign up for this list at
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/namaste-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.amsat.org/namaste/
There is a document RSS feed that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the document feed reader of your choice.
Plans for this week: June 16 – June 20
1. More foundational and analysis work on the proposed modulation schemes will be released this week.
2. Top-level requirements will be listed and presented for review. The purpose of this is to produce a set of project-level requirements that we can bring to the July meeting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carried over from last week:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. SuperPortable User Interface Design Document work continues.
4. Antenna work continues and feed research continues.
5. Requirements analysis (technical) and Position Paper (policy) work on the optional APCO-25 terrestrial interface module continues. I have one volunteer for this effort, and am looking for more.
6. Plans for the July meeting include at least one open meeting. I encourage anyone in or near the San Diego area, who is available on 18-20 July 2008, who has an interest in being involved in the project, to contact me for an invitation. The invitation allows planning for room size and logistics.
7. Policy development concerning openness, open source, transparency, etc. continues this week. Some of the feedback about the project concerned the definition and explanation of what we mean when we say open source. Based on the discussion last week, a draft policy will be offered for review. This will include the web page, mailing list, and documents management plans and policies.
Send updates and work proposals to w5nyv@amsat.org
Sign up for this list at
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/namaste-dev
Our project webpage is located at
http://www.amsat.org/namaste/
There is a document RSS feed that you can subscribe to. This will deliver project documents to you so that you do not have to go check the website for them. They will appear in the document feed reader of your choice.
Plans for this week: June 16 – June 20
1. More foundational and analysis work on the proposed modulation schemes will be released this week.
2. Top-level requirements will be listed and presented for review. The purpose of this is to produce a set of project-level requirements that we can bring to the July meeting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carried over from last week:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. SuperPortable User Interface Design Document work continues.
4. Antenna work continues and feed research continues.
5. Requirements analysis (technical) and Position Paper (policy) work on the optional APCO-25 terrestrial interface module continues. I have one volunteer for this effort, and am looking for more.
6. Plans for the July meeting include at least one open meeting. I encourage anyone in or near the San Diego area, who is available on 18-20 July 2008, who has an interest in being involved in the project, to contact me for an invitation. The invitation allows planning for room size and logistics.
7. Policy development concerning openness, open source, transparency, etc. continues this week. Some of the feedback about the project concerned the definition and explanation of what we mean when we say open source. Based on the discussion last week, a draft policy will be offered for review. This will include the web page, mailing list, and documents management plans and policies.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Weekly Report June 9 - June 13
Greetings!
Report for this week: June 9 – June 13
0. I have no idea why carriage returns and line feeds from some of my email mysteriously disappear. I'm trying to figure out why, but in the meantime I'm blaming Frank Brickle and I apologize for the difficult-to-read results.
1. Physical layer feedback gathered and posted.
2. SuperPortable User Interface Design Document work was virgulated, while Frank Brickle phrontistated events of metaphysically fainéantious importance and value to the team.
3. Antenna work began (five San Diego area dishes gathered here) and feed research continued. Who's game for participating in this area? We need more people to investigate, build, and test.
4. Requirements analysis (technical) and Position Paper (policy) work on the optional APCO-25 terrestrial interface module continued. I have one volunteer for this effort, and am looking for more.
5. Plans for the July meeting moved forward slightly. I gave Barry Baines a list of hotels that might work for us. If you would like to attend the July meeting(s) then please let me know so I can invite you. They will be held on the weekend of 18-20 July.
6. Policy development concerning openness, open source, transparency, etc. continued.
more soon!
-Michelle W5NYV
Sit Vis Vobiscum
Report for this week: June 9 – June 13
0. I have no idea why carriage returns and line feeds from some of my email mysteriously disappear. I'm trying to figure out why, but in the meantime I'm blaming Frank Brickle and I apologize for the difficult-to-read results.
1. Physical layer feedback gathered and posted.
2. SuperPortable User Interface Design Document work was virgulated, while Frank Brickle phrontistated events of metaphysically fainéantious importance and value to the team.
3. Antenna work began (five San Diego area dishes gathered here) and feed research continued. Who's game for participating in this area? We need more people to investigate, build, and test.
4. Requirements analysis (technical) and Position Paper (policy) work on the optional APCO-25 terrestrial interface module continued. I have one volunteer for this effort, and am looking for more.
5. Plans for the July meeting moved forward slightly. I gave Barry Baines a list of hotels that might work for us. If you would like to attend the July meeting(s) then please let me know so I can invite you. They will be held on the weekend of 18-20 July.
6. Policy development concerning openness, open source, transparency, etc. continued.
more soon!
-Michelle W5NYV
Sit Vis Vobiscum
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Namaste 3.4 GHz Interference Study Update
Update #2 from Kerry Banke N6IZW, on the interference study for 3.4GHz.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday Challenge for 27 May 2008
Tuesday Challenge for 27 May 2008.
Reply to the list, or to Michelle.
Reply to the list, or to Michelle.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
APCO 25 Interoperability
Emergency communications interoperability through an APCO-25 terrestrial interface has been proposed.
This would increase emergency communications usability and increase opportunities for funding.
Here is a short introductory article on APCO-25.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_25
Here is an industry article about APCO-25.
Here is the project home page.
http://www.apco911.org/frequency/project25/index.html
There is an information page of interest at the same site as the home page.
http://www.apco911.org/frequency/project25/information.html
People "in the know" refer to the standard as P25.1, meaning APCO project 25 phase 1, which is the current phase. Phase 2 and up are in development.
What I'd like to do is explore the idea of using a cognitive radio module to handle the interoperability. This would rely upon Tom Rondeau's work, as explained in his dissertation.
What I need are people that are interested in taking on the responsibility of supporting this terrestrial module for Namaste. This means learning the standards well enough to assist in writing and reviewing requirements, establishing the feasibility of using cognitive radio technology to bridge between our IP layer and external APCO-25 waveforms, and then supporting the design effort. After that comes build, test, and verification.
In the short term, soaking up knowledge about phase 1 is what I'm after, in order to write quality requirements.
Who is interested in this area of the project and wants to get started?
-Michelle W5NYV
Downlink Data Rate Discussion
The goal of this document is to give a summary of the expected performance. I'd like to capture discussion of the effects that different proposed modulation schemes have in terms of capacity, system complexity, and bandwidth utilization.
Namaste SuperPortable User Interface Design Document
Namaste SuperPortable User Interface Design Document
By KB5MU, W5NYV, AB2KT
22 May 2008
Overview
The Namaste SuperPortable is a portable amateur radio satellite communications device designed for text communications, low-bandwidth data, and position location information. Applications include portable amateur radio use as well as emergency communications. This document concerns the development of requirements for the Namaste SuperPortable User Interface.
Functions
1. Text communications
2. Low bandwidth data connection through Ethernet port
3. GPS/APRS
4. Antenna Pointing Assistance
Interfaces
1. 0-9+ keypad
2. Small display
3. NMEA-compatible GPS
4. Ethernet for external data device
5. Bluetooth for external keyboard
6. Antenna
7. Radio
8. Processor
9. Power
10. Enclosure
See appendix A for the Interface n-Square Diagram
Functional Requirements
Text Communications Requirements
The operator must be able to display, edit, send, sort, print, and search received and stored text.
The operator must be able to address text messages from either direct entry or an address book.
The operator must be able to edit, sort, and search the address book.
The operator must be able to send a message to multiple addresses.
There must be an indication of pending messages.
The delivery of messages must be reliable.
There must be an indication of message delivery failure.
There must be a read-only audit trail of all incoming and outgoing messages with timestamp.
The operator must be able to monitor text messages.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to accomplish text communications.
Low Bandwidth Data Requirements
The operator must be able to send and receive low bandwidth data through the Ethernet port.
The delivery of data must be reliable.
There must be an indication of data delivery failure.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to accomplish low-bandwidth data communications.
GPS/APRS Requirements
Position location information from the GPS system must be available when enabled.
The optional GPS feature requires connection of an NMEA-compatible GPS receiver.
The functions of APRS must be supported.
Settings for APRS will include at a minimum ham call, path, beacon enable, beacon interval, and status message.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to use GPS and APRS functions.
Antenna Pointing Assistance
The antenna pointing function must provide azimuth and elevation data for all satellites usable by the ground station.
The antenna pointing function must provide signal strength indication.
The operator shall be able to use Templates to obtain satellite pointing information.
Interface Requirements
The display must be large enough to allow the operator to read and edit text.
The 0-9+ keypad must be large enough to allow the operator to type in text using a standard mobile keypad layout.
Antenna must provide enough gain to close the link.
Uplink digital mode bandwidth must be accomplished within 20kHz.
Downlink digital mode bandwidth must be accomplished within 100kHz.
Power connections must provide sufficient voltage and current.
Power scheme must be selected for portable and mobile applications.
Ethernet port must provide an Ethernet connection.
Bluetooth connection must support an optional external keyboard.
Templates
Templates are text files specifically designed to enhance ease of use for the ground station. They are similar to forms. Templates can be preloaded or they can be created and edited by the operator in the field using the keypad or the optional external keyboard. There are several types of templates.
1. GPS/APRS Templates
2. Address Book Templates
3. Message Templates
4. Antenna Pointing Templates
These templates provide a way to configure and operate the station. In general, a template is a text file with fields that are tagged in a way that makes it easy to select and edit them. For example, the operator selects a template, and can “tab” between the parts of the text that are flagged as fields.
The rest of the text file can be edited, but is intended to be preloaded.
It shall be possible to send a specially tagged text message that then can become a new template. For example, a damage assessment form sent to the station for the operator to fill out and return, instead of relying upon a back-and-forth question-and-answer session. Another example would be an address book for the particular place or event, sent out to all stations located at a particular place or participating in a particular event, in order to provide complete contact information for all participants. Templates can also be used for the body of outgoing messages, so that commonly used phrases or sections of a message or report do not have to be typed in. Antenna Pointing Templates, along with position location information, would include the information needed to locate satellites.
Open Questions
Gateways to commonly used services need to be identified and possibly supported.
Specifications concerning durability need to be made.
Support for an external display needs to be discussed.
Revision History
Version 1.0 released 22 May 2008
Appendix A - Interface n-Square Diagram
See original document for this table. It will not format correctly in text.
By KB5MU, W5NYV, AB2KT
22 May 2008
Overview
The Namaste SuperPortable is a portable amateur radio satellite communications device designed for text communications, low-bandwidth data, and position location information. Applications include portable amateur radio use as well as emergency communications. This document concerns the development of requirements for the Namaste SuperPortable User Interface.
Functions
1. Text communications
2. Low bandwidth data connection through Ethernet port
3. GPS/APRS
4. Antenna Pointing Assistance
Interfaces
1. 0-9+ keypad
2. Small display
3. NMEA-compatible GPS
4. Ethernet for external data device
5. Bluetooth for external keyboard
6. Antenna
7. Radio
8. Processor
9. Power
10. Enclosure
See appendix A for the Interface n-Square Diagram
Functional Requirements
Text Communications Requirements
The operator must be able to display, edit, send, sort, print, and search received and stored text.
The operator must be able to address text messages from either direct entry or an address book.
The operator must be able to edit, sort, and search the address book.
The operator must be able to send a message to multiple addresses.
There must be an indication of pending messages.
The delivery of messages must be reliable.
There must be an indication of message delivery failure.
There must be a read-only audit trail of all incoming and outgoing messages with timestamp.
The operator must be able to monitor text messages.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to accomplish text communications.
Low Bandwidth Data Requirements
The operator must be able to send and receive low bandwidth data through the Ethernet port.
The delivery of data must be reliable.
There must be an indication of data delivery failure.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to accomplish low-bandwidth data communications.
GPS/APRS Requirements
Position location information from the GPS system must be available when enabled.
The optional GPS feature requires connection of an NMEA-compatible GPS receiver.
The functions of APRS must be supported.
Settings for APRS will include at a minimum ham call, path, beacon enable, beacon interval, and status message.
The operator shall be able to use Templates in order to use GPS and APRS functions.
Antenna Pointing Assistance
The antenna pointing function must provide azimuth and elevation data for all satellites usable by the ground station.
The antenna pointing function must provide signal strength indication.
The operator shall be able to use Templates to obtain satellite pointing information.
Interface Requirements
The display must be large enough to allow the operator to read and edit text.
The 0-9+ keypad must be large enough to allow the operator to type in text using a standard mobile keypad layout.
Antenna must provide enough gain to close the link.
Uplink digital mode bandwidth must be accomplished within 20kHz.
Downlink digital mode bandwidth must be accomplished within 100kHz.
Power connections must provide sufficient voltage and current.
Power scheme must be selected for portable and mobile applications.
Ethernet port must provide an Ethernet connection.
Bluetooth connection must support an optional external keyboard.
Templates
Templates are text files specifically designed to enhance ease of use for the ground station. They are similar to forms. Templates can be preloaded or they can be created and edited by the operator in the field using the keypad or the optional external keyboard. There are several types of templates.
1. GPS/APRS Templates
2. Address Book Templates
3. Message Templates
4. Antenna Pointing Templates
These templates provide a way to configure and operate the station. In general, a template is a text file with fields that are tagged in a way that makes it easy to select and edit them. For example, the operator selects a template, and can “tab” between the parts of the text that are flagged as fields.
The rest of the text file can be edited, but is intended to be preloaded.
It shall be possible to send a specially tagged text message that then can become a new template. For example, a damage assessment form sent to the station for the operator to fill out and return, instead of relying upon a back-and-forth question-and-answer session. Another example would be an address book for the particular place or event, sent out to all stations located at a particular place or participating in a particular event, in order to provide complete contact information for all participants. Templates can also be used for the body of outgoing messages, so that commonly used phrases or sections of a message or report do not have to be typed in. Antenna Pointing Templates, along with position location information, would include the information needed to locate satellites.
Open Questions
Gateways to commonly used services need to be identified and possibly supported.
Specifications concerning durability need to be made.
Support for an external display needs to be discussed.
Revision History
Version 1.0 released 22 May 2008
Appendix A - Interface n-Square Diagram
See original document for this table. It will not format correctly in text.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Tuesday Challenge for 20 May 2008
Tuesday Challenge for 20 May 2008
Here is the Tuesday Challenge for Namaste. Reply to the list to claim the task and post work.
Draft document will be drawn up starting next Tuesday, when a new challenge will be posted.
We may be interested in looking at including some sort of function, such as a module to be mounted on or with the half-meter dish, which will alarm the operator to the presence a person walking through the main axis of the beam produced during transmission. Since levels in the main beam exceed the limits of Maximum Permissible Exposure mandated by the FCC, we're interested in helping the operator easily comply with the regulations involved.
Here's the current Bulletin 65 worksheet for Namaste:
http://www.delmarnorth.com/namaste/Namaste_Bulletin_65_Worksheet.pdf
The Tuesday challenge for this week is to propose solutions for this situation.
Here is the Tuesday Challenge for Namaste. Reply to the list to claim the task and post work.
Draft document will be drawn up starting next Tuesday, when a new challenge will be posted.
We may be interested in looking at including some sort of function, such as a module to be mounted on or with the half-meter dish, which will alarm the operator to the presence a person walking through the main axis of the beam produced during transmission. Since levels in the main beam exceed the limits of Maximum Permissible Exposure mandated by the FCC, we're interested in helping the operator easily comply with the regulations involved.
Here's the current Bulletin 65 worksheet for Namaste:
http://www.delmarnorth.com/namaste/Namaste_Bulletin_65_Worksheet.pdf
The Tuesday challenge for this week is to propose solutions for this situation.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Super Portable Overview
Overview and questions about the super-portable (handheld) Namaste ground station project.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Thomas Rondeau's Cognitive Radio Dissertation
Here is Dr. Rondeau's dissertation. Please check it out and participate in the formation of specifications for the terrestrial interface module.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
PowerPoint Presentation for Dayton 2008
Here is the PowerPoint presentation for the 2008 Dayton AMSAT Forum talk by W5NYV.
Tuesday Challenge for 29 April 2008
Tuesday Challenge for 29 April 2008.
Technical challenges proposed to the group for all to work on.
Technical challenges proposed to the group for all to work on.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Namaste Bulletin 65 Worksheet version 2.0
Version 2.0 of the RF Safety evaluation of maximum permissible exposure limits as mandated by the FCC
Please review and comment.
Please review and comment.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Dayton 2008 AMSAT Forums Talk Notes
Here are the notes for the talk at Dayton 2008. Please comment and critique and get them back to me.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
7 April 2008 RACES Program
Jerry Kostro AK6QJ presented results from the 2m SSB Voice and Data tests. Winlink preformed very well, even in cases where a voice link could not be made.
Andre Hansen K6AH presented results from a Winlink test on Palomar Mountain, where a changed protocol dramatically reduced message latency.
Andre Hansen K6AH presented results from a Winlink test on Palomar Mountain, where a changed protocol dramatically reduced message latency.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Link Budget in Mathcad Update
Updates to the link budget check in mathcad.
Completed Orbit and GEO Azimuth Calculations checks.
Completed Orbit and GEO Azimuth Calculations checks.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Namaste Layers Discussion
A beginning of a treatment of the communications link as a layered protocol, to better determine interoperability with services like IPICS from Cisco, and APCO-25.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Updated Link Budget Spreadsheet From Jan King
Here is an updated version of Jan King's link budget spreadsheet, with an initial set of assumptions about the system filled in.
The updated baseline spreadsheet (straight from Jan King without any Namaste numbers in it) is on the link budget page here.
The updated baseline spreadsheet (straight from Jan King without any Namaste numbers in it) is on the link budget page here.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Upcoming Satellite Platforms
Here is a gathering of notes on the three platforms Intelsat is using for future launches. If you can try and find out more about these three platforms in order to help ACP, then please add to the discussion.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
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