Public Relations Kahuna (son of DB "Da Big" Kahuna) NØAX
I am corresponding with VE7CT about Relay Stations and trying to come with
ways to present their functions in such a way that we can avoid the
misperception that they'll be "taking lists" or "giving away the store" in
some way.
I am also planning a series of short FAQ-style notes that can be posted on
eham and QRZ and ... to attract the attention of the Little Fish and
not-really-DXers much like the Five Star group did. This is about the right
time to start on them, since they don't really have all that much intense
interest and so a shorter attention span. I will use the ARRL club mailing
list that I compiled in publicizing Ham Radio for Dummies as a further means
of distribution - probably kick that off with a short "What the heck is Kure
Island?" piece aimed at general-purpose newsletters.
Antenna Kahuna NI6T
ANTENNAS:
SteppIR--Mike N6MZ reports the verticals are done. I will ask him to have them shipped to Walnut Creek so we will have them for our July 9-10 work session. Mike reports the yagis will be ready by July 15.
Titanexes--Kimo plans to erect the Titanex verticals for Field Day this weekend. He has bought spare parts, so he will know this weekend if he is complete. I confirmed with him yesterday that I want both Titanexes and the BCS.
AMPLIFIERS
ACOM--Krassy K1LZ's serious accident on St. Paul I. leaves this subject up in the air. I have left phone and email messages for Will Angenent K6ND at ACOM. If this is unresolved by the time of our work weekend, I will start accumulating personal amplifiers and will also call Alpha. I would rather not call Alpha until I know that ACOM is not coming through.
Alpha--Kimo has a brand-new/in-the-box Alpha 99 which he will lend us. This a manual-tune 1500W amplifier (we used S/N001 on Kingman) which we will utilize on the low bands. This means four additional amps are required.
COLVIN AWARD
I need an updated budget to complete the application.
Satellite Kahuna AD6E
SATELLITE:
Status: Contract for Satellite time is completed. Contract for the
terminal unit is in process.
Schedule: on schedule for delivery before July 9
Comment: Our satellite access is in place with Telenor, but I havn't seen
it personally. The terminal unit should be here by July 1 IF Bob fills out
the credit application and sends it in.
STATION LAYOUT:
Status: Preliminary list of equipment is in place. Coordination with John
(Camp Kahuna) to obtain the major items (tents, tables, chairs) is done.
Lesser, but still importint things such as headsets, keys, cabling is
identified, but not obtained.
Schedule: on schedule to complete list and identify sources by July 9.
Obtain and pack all items by Aug.
Comment: I will probe the team for things like headsets, keys, some of
which are personal and may or may not be shared. Station location and
antenna switching arrangements are being coordinated with Antenna Kahuna.
Radio Kahuna N6MZ
RADIOS:
Status: Ray needs only "the word" from me to pull the radios from stock. I
will burn-in/test them at home, then have them shipped to CA. The ID-1Data
radios are here and tested. All the little cables and interfaces and bits
will be determined before July meetings then we can start collecting them
(John has a huge supply).
Schedule: on schedule
Comment: Did someone already ask Ray for a Pelican case for each radio?
NETWORKING:
Status: Preliminary design complete. Testing ID-1 data radios with N1MM
will occur this week. Tom N1MM reports that the "slow" 128kbps link will be
fine.
Schedule: on schedule
Comment: I think we should bring 802.11 hardware and antennas to replace
the ID-1s "just in case." I have the antennas. The hardware is off-the-shelf.
ANTENNAS: (not my kahunaship but SteppIR has our 2 verticals ready and are
working toward the July 15 deadline for the yagis)
COMPUTERS: (not my kahunaship, but Don N1DG is working on refurbed laptops
such as the ones we bought for FT5XO; should have a list today or tomorrow)
DXA Kahuna - KK6EK
Status Report 16 June 2005
The task:
The DXA Kahuna task was to create the DXA system. This involves planning the system, writing the software and/or guiding programmers, and ensuring that the hardware is in place to implement it on Kure, including one or more advance trials.
Specific tasks include:
1. Define the basic operating parameters of the system, including required hardware and software, data format, data transfer rates, and software environment.
2. Write the software for capturing data from the logging computers and other sources
3. Implement a dynamic website (www.cordell.org/DXA) that presents the real-time data to web clients.
4. Ensure that the satellite link is implemented.
5. Create a Relay Station team to generate content for DXA.
6. Find support and programmers to assist in the development.
7. Find and train a webmeister.
Status as of 6/16/05:
1. The DXA system was defined in several documents from 2002 and 2004. The basic system specification is complete.
2. Writing the software is a nearly full-time job at present. Areas that are essentially done include:
2.1. The DXA GUI. You can see it at www.cordell.org/DXA It is continually undergoing revisions.
2.2. The DXA data packet defined. Packets will be assembled and uploaded over the satellite link once per minute. The FTP application for doin g the 1-minute upload was acquired and implemented.
2.3. The software for capturing DXA packets and parsing them to send the data to the appropriate files for the GUI to access. Part of this includes archiving the packets and providing for backup packet storage. The archiving is done automatically every hour.
2.4. Tools for simulating the K7C operation, to demonstrate and test the operation of the DXA software.
3. The DXA website has been operational for 3 months.
4. AD6E was tasked with producing the satellite link. He had obtained donated air time from Telenor. The hardware is not yet acquired.
5. VE7CT has put together the Relay Team. It is workable as is, although we are seeking additional members.
6. Financial support ($5K) was obtained from ICOM. Two programmers were hired, but their real contribution to date has been minimal.
7. Searching for a webmeister continues.
What needs to be done, and when it will be done:
2. Complete the software
2.1 Complete the acquisition of logging computers (W6KK)
2.2 Write the software for acquiring the data from the logging computers and assembling DXA packets (contract programmer, 2 weeks)
2.3 Implement the ability to create and merge personal messages
2.4 Implement administrator panels for monitoring and controlling the system
2.5 Write a User’s Manual
3. Clean up the GUIs (2 weeks)
4. Test the system
4.1 Through the satellite link.
4.2 Response to high demand
7. Need to find a webmeister by August.
Comments:
Tweaking and debugging will go on right until the Dxpedition. I will depend on the team to cooperate in evolving, testing, and cleaning it.
Two major critical items are not currently done: the satellite link hardware and the webmeister.
While initially I thought this job could be done by a group of programmers working cooperatively, two things prevented this:
(1) I could not get anyone to actually start work;
(2) In order to keep the project bounded, I had to make choices between sophistication, generality, and the schedule.
To a great extent, the present DXA is a working php-script version of a projected application built with Java or other compilable language. Whether the application will be built will depend on how well the present version works.
There has be rather high interest in DXA. In spite of its very simple nature, it appears to the user as magic. The magic is, of course, due to the real-time satellite link, plus the programming needed to extract the data from the computers, link it to the onsite computer, assemble it into packets, upload the packets to the satellite, download the packets to the central site, and present it to the user.
The greatest unknown is what will happen when the demand goes high during the DXpedition.
