[amsat-bb] Re: Report on Echo in the Middle School Classroom

[Jonathan Wagner]

Bruce,

Thanks for the report.
> I have some recommendations for AMSAT based on this experience. First, a
> more extensive set of free-to-use educational diagrams would be very useful
> and, I think, an excellent recruitment tool. They would probably find their
> way onto Wikipedia and other places, with a reference to AMSAT. There may
> be more than I think already available: the AMSAT website was briefly and
> uncharacteristically unavailable when I was working on the presentation on
> Sunday night. 
What sort of diagrams are you thinking of?  I am administrating the CAPE 
wiki at http://ulcape.org and could use that as a springboard for such 
diagrams.  One of the goals of the website is to not only provide 
information about the existing, yet to be launched CAPE1 and future 
CAPE2 satellites but also to provide information on satellites (cubesats 
and picosats, specifically) in general including the various subsystems 
such as communications, power etc. Other topics such as ground station 
operations and other aspects should be covered as well.  In the process 
of documenting this, diagrams will often be needed and any created would 
certainly be freely available. 

> If the CAPE people are thinking of engaging local schools, they might
> consider how much little greater effort it would take to globalize the
> effort, seeding cubesat stations around the world. Bob's Navy lab would
> also be a great place for this. 
>
>   
As per Nick's earlier reply, one goal of CAPE would be to come with a 
very cheap "kit" that could just as easily be sent to Timbuktu as next 
door.
> The other component of such a job would be to streamline and automate the
> collection and dissemination of telemetry. I'm working on a Jabber project
> that does this; stay tuned for more.
>   
Keep us updated.  I'm currently working on some telemetry plotting web 
based software using PHP and the PEAR libraries with mySQL for storage 
in my spare spare time (I'm having trouble finding time within my spare 
time).  It could be possible to interface these with jabber as the 
broadcasting agent with a web-based viewer.

Jonathan Wagner
ITT Electronic Systems
Electronic Warfare Systems
Louisiana Field Office