Here are minutes of our meeting on Thursday -- please just reply with (or let me know) any corrections -- thanks!:
Attendees: Yorke Brown (Dartmouth), Arnold Gaertner (NRC), Houman Hakima (UTIAS-SFL), and Cordell Grant (UTIAS-SFL)
Yorke's new diffused-LED-based light source http://altair1.dartmouth.edu/design/CDR-DiffSource.pdf is constructed, installed in the payload, and working -- a picture, looking at it from the back, of this new source installed in the payload is at http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2014/12/22/16.45-13337-sedLEDSourceInPayload.JPG . This weekend we finished testing the new SPOT Trace http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=128 for backup tracking outdoors in realistic conditions (underneath styrofoam and over an aluminum plate -- although not yet at altitude of course), and it appears to work extremely well -- a screenshot of its online tracking can be found at http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2014/12/22/16.45-60425-lineTracking21Dec2014.png .
We now have feedback from Raven-Aerostar on our RFQ for their zero-pressure balloon with an electronic gas valve (operable at high altitude) at the top of the balloon (with thin wire leads coming down to the payload). This kind of balloon is significantly simpler and less costly to manufacture than a superpressure balloon, and would have the similar benefits of reusability, and control at altitude, that a superpressure balloon can have. We'll have the quote from Raven-Aerostar on this before the new year.
Houman, with Cordell's advice and supervision, now has a solid model design for the nanosat which is very nearly complete. He'll be sending us info and pictures of that for comments at the beginning of the new year. The very last bits of remaining info required for the nanosat design will come of course from our optical and microwave balloon studies, but those final pieces of info will be able to neatly fit into Houman's design.
Still working on the LaTeX of my handwritten analytical calculations of the output of a diffused light source at large angles from normal to the diffuser plane -- https://particle.phys.uvic.ca/~jalbert/RoughAnalyticalCalculations.pdf, and comparing the results with toy Monte Carlo https://particle.phys.uvic.ca/~jalbert/photontoymc.pdf -- more at the beginning of the new year.
We plan to test out the concept for very long-range (up to 100 km and beyond) optical transceiver communication with ALTAIR on December 28 here in NH. Assuming the test works, we'll certainly include the construction of such a system in a Google proposal which is due in April of this coming year.
That's all I remember, please do send things that I forgot. Next telecon will be after the holiday break, in _four_ weeks (rather than the usual two), on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 1:30 pm Eastern time.
cheers, thanks all! -- have very happy holidays, a merry xmas, and happy New Year! justin
On Thu, 18 Dec 2014 02:27:17 GMT, Justin Albert wrote:
> Hi! > > Last telecon in 2014 tomorrow (Dec. 18) at the usual time: 1:30 pm > Eastern (10:30 am Pacific, 19.30 European). Discussion items include: > flight planning, new diffused light source and its modelling, > goniometric and pre- and post-flight calibration, nanosat and new laser > module design, computing/website, grant applications, and recap of > schedules. A reminder of the CSA project timeline is attached. > > Here's how to connect: > 1) Open Skype on your computer (note that of course, you should first install Skype, http://www.skype.com , on your machine if you haven't already). > 2) In the "Contacts" menu, add me ( jalbertuvic ) as a contact, if you haven't already. > 3) Just wait for me to Skype-call you at the usual time (1:30 pm Eastern, 10:30 am Pacific). > 4) If there is any trouble, or if you don't get a call for some reason and would like to join, just send me an e-mail (jalbert@uvic.ca). > > Here's the tentative agenda: > I) Flight planning > II) New diffused light source and its modelling, pre- and post-flight calibration, and goniometric calibrations > III) Nanosat, new integrating spheres, and multicolour laser module designs > IV) Computing/website > V) Grant applications > VI) AOB > > Talk to you all tomorrow, thanks! > justin > > Attachments: > http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2012/11/12/18.02-43361-Schedule-20120702_hqp.pdf >
