Nate Duehr wrote:
> On Nov 16, 2007, at 1:16 AM, Hector Martin wrote:
> 
>> John Chung wrote:
>>> Hector,
>>>
>>> Is this a HAM project?
>> Yes. I'll be getting my license soon :)
> 
> What's the hold-up?  :-)
Getting ahold of the local club and figuring out where I take the exam! :)

>> It's for a satellite though (a cubesat).
> 
> dsPIC isn't exactly space rated, is it?

I don't think iPod batteries are space rated either, but everyone seems
to use them :)

Most of the satellites seem to use fairly off-the-shelf parts, and they
work for the most part. I'm looking for more information on what special
considerations we should have, besides the obvious temperature and
pressure differences. Especially regarding radiation, etc.

> Have you been in touch with the AMSAT and other folks who've already  
> done this (many times over)?
> 
> PCSAT, ISS, and ANDE are all doing APRS on-orbit as you read this...  
> might be smart to make friends with some of the designers of the  
> existing birds.

We're working on it. We're a FUNSAT team at the Florida Institute of
Technology. Our current priority is finishing up the initial report, but
I'm slowly finding information and contacts to learn more.

Our sat will be carrying an experiment. For data reporting purposes, it
boils down to taking measurements every second or so, storing them in
Flash memory, and downloading the data (possibly summarized) during the
communications window. The idea is that I'll be able to take the
summary, see if there are any "interesting" timeframes, and ask the
satellite for a detailed download of that particular chunk of data.

-- 
Hector Martin (hector@marcansoft.com)
Public Key: http://www.marcansoft.com/marcan.asc

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