Barely Works Technology
The n5bf/6 Planning Page
back to DSP-10

Focus:  Space Radio
    Includes moon and planet reflections, radio astronomy, satellites, meteors, and off-planet communications.

Goals:
   EME DXCC (LOTW)
    EVE
    Lunar Beacon
    Harvest some of that vast untapped frontier of QSOs available in the next 20-30 dB of patient signal processing.
    Lunar and Martian QSOs.
    Satellite Tracking Network Technology

These plans don't reach these goals, but they enable the research.  They "find the path."

Box Standards
Hardware Development Path
Software Development Path
Time and Frequency Reference
PicDev (to be renamed)

Planned Operations
Planned Publications
Metric and Awards

These are all plans.  As things are completed they stay here but are marked complete and linked to the blog.

There is no schedule because the deal I have with other areas of life requires flexibility.
That being said - sometimes an operating event or equivalent will generate an intensive if I'm "close."

Capabilities are tested via contests and other organized operating activities where needed.
Contests serve as a conveniently agreed time for operators to do such tests.  For this, they are not ends in themselves.

May need some sort of handbook as a resource.

I'm an example of one of these.  Good piece about the same thing.


Original Intentions (2005)

The minimums:
- Done!  Load the provided software and make contacts of some sort.
- Done!  Build the 8-watt "brickette".
- Get very familiar with the existing product and software.
- Do a transmitting and receiving converter to 432-438 MHz (maybe 430-450)
- Build Unit II (for full duplex) and Unit III.
- Develop a development environment.
- Load or write PSK/AX.25 software for AO-16, phase track, determine orbit, demod, digi.
- Think about HF

The pipe dreams:
- Homebrew a suite of software to do everything that can be done in 15 KHz bandwidth, and possibly beyond.
- Transmitting and receiving converters, "shoes", and "boots" for the some of the dozens of ham bands HF to EHF.
- Done!  (a surprise) Join the QRPp EME crowd and then evaluate Venus Bounce.
- Automated time and frequency management.
- Satellite RF phase tracking and orbit determination.
- And stuff like that.

last updated 2007 June 8 cbd
added Microwave Product Digest link 2010 August 28 cbd