Discussion on tracking-systems-team

[ohm...@pdx.edu]

Justin and Jad,
Check this out:
http://pelican.com/case_group_search.php?CaseGroup=Laptop
This might be a great way to protect our laptop and other electronics
in the car.
-Ben

[cod...@msn.com]

the case sounds like a good idea to protect just any computer, but i'm
worried about it being to bulky and plugging in all of our equiptment
into it. I believe pelican cases are made more for just shipping,
being water proof, and drop tested when closed. This might be a great
thing to have to carry all of our stuff to the launch location so it
doesn't get damaged. I would like to look at a laptop that is
roughed enough on its own and has gps, but those are pretty spendy.

[Ben]

I just talked with my friend Pete, who is a pilot. He said he would be
more then willing to fly and help us look for your box, if we think
that it might end up somewhere out of line of sight. . . We just need
to stay in-touch with him if we want to go that direction.

--Ben--

[Chris]

While researching the power transmit distance of the Kenwood TH-D7, I
found this website (I referred to this in the "links discussion"
above...
http://www.mrc.uidaho.edu/~atkinson/ENGR204/Borealis.pdf

What I really focused on was the use of the downward facing antenna.
(Under section: Radios and Antenna) They used a verticle with 4 leads
that point the signal downward. It looks like a great design.. It
seems to me that if we build a better antenna, then we would get a
better signal at less power.

[Chris]

A quick idea to Mark: You mentioned that you flew the TinyTrack
Microtrack300 and had limited success. It might be educational to use
this unit on this flight. It would provide some redundancy, and (if
all connections are decent) we can see if this would be a viable
option for future launches. It is really small and wouldnt take too
much room. You can use my callsign if necessary. Just a thought.

[Chris]

I found a great APRS website that integrates GoogleEarth and APRS. It
will even provide a KML file for Google earth... very slick layout.
http://www.openaprs.net/

Secondly, It looks like Mark has a Pocket Tracker (obsolete). Byonics
now has a Transmitter/GPS/APRS combo called Microtrack300.
http://byonics.com/microtrak300/
Maybe its too late for this launch.. but this would warrant future
investigation.. Awesome little package for 95 bucks

[Guy]

Here are a couple of links to some open source navigation projects.
Check em out!
http://roadnav.sourceforge.net/
http://www.tegmento.org/gpsylon/
http://www.gpsdrive.de/index.html