Minutes of ERPS General Meeting #277
19 February 2004
The President called the meeting to order at 8:25 PM. Members present were
Bill Clawson, Rick Eversole, Sean Lynch, Dave Masten, Pierce Nichols,
Gerald Nordley, Julie Porter, Michael Wallis, Dave Weinshenker, and Chris
Winter. Charles Prael was there to discuss the robot arm.
Reports and discussion on agenda items were as follows:
DOCUMENTATION
-------------
Chris Winter
Chris reported that he is finishing up a bid for the ERPS Web site update.
He will submit it to the Board when it is ready.
Items for this year's Data CD-ROM were discussed. A major item is the
video Chris Valentine put together of amateur footage of Columbia's
disintegration time-synced with the MCC audio. Pierce offered his Matlab
simulation and a mass properties spreadsheet for Gizmocopter. Rick also has
some items, which he will deliver on a CD-ROM.
INFOTECH
--------
Sean Lynch
Nothing to report
LIAISONS
--------
Michael Wallis
Michael informed those planning to attend Space Access '04 (Phoenix, 22-24
April) that discount tickets are usually available from the airlines in
early March. See Henry Vanderbilt's Web site (http://www.space-access.org/)
for hotel information and other details.
About a year ago, Michael did some work on a new design for the ERPS site.
He has now stripped from the design some CSS statements that every popular
browser but Microsoft's Internet Explorer can deal with. This should make
the Web site more generally accessible. Work to make it show up properly in
text-only browsers like Lynx is under way.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
--------------
Michael Wallis
The dates for the next COMSTAC meeting have been posted on the AST Web
site. It will be held at the end of May. Michael and Dave M are planning to
attend.
TREASURER
---------
Rick Eversole
Rick reimbursed Pierce for some more purchases of tools and supplies he
made.
The robot arm was discussed at length. Rick reported that Ross-Dove has a
suitable auction scheduled for the end of March. The bottom line is that
Charles is happy with the timetable as it stands. But he offered a
suggestion: Do a test auction on eBay. There would be some cost associated
with this; Rick will look into it.
Charles formally thanked us for our responsiveness in the matter. He does
need one thing: a total weight for the aluminum stock he donated. Pierce
will provide this.
CHIEF SCIENTIST
---------------
Kevin Bollinger
Nothing to report
FLIGHT CONTROLS
---------------
Dave Masten
Nothing to report
PROPELLANTS/SPARGER/FF
----------------------
Pierce Nichols
The parts for Freezewheel Mark 1 are on hand.
Pierce has finished a new condenser tower for his sparger, and is working
on a new heat exchanger coil assembly. He plans to install both these items
at the Ranch at the first opportunity, which looks like it will be Sunday.
REGULATORY
AFFAIRS
-------
Dave Weinshenker
Nothing to report
SAFETY
------
Dave Masten
Safety is AOK.
TESTING
-------
Dave Masten
Nothing to report
**** PROJECTS
Composites
----------
Kevin Bollinger
Nothing to report
Gizmocopter
-----------
Dave Masten
Progress continues on the flight software. Dave M reported that a spare
computer is needed, and that the non-standard cable assemblies that the PC-
104 unit requires (ordered over two weeks ago) are still en route.
Gizmocopter meetings have moved to Monday nights.
KISS
----
Dan Solvin
Nothing to report
POGO
----
Dave Masten
Pierce repaired a cracked weld in the frame of POGO. Construction of the
vehicle's frame is proceeding.
SMARTFLIGHT
-----------
Dave Weinshenker
The Livermore club is in the process of moving to Snow Ranch, a site some
30 miles east of Stockton which will allow them to launch bigger motors.
The Petaluma club, AIUI, is waiting for the end of the rainy season because
their new launch site is undriveable when muddy.
Spike
-----
Sean Lynch
Nothing to report
NEW BUSINESS
------------
Gerry Nordley reminded the group that memberships in Contact: Cultures of
the Imagination (taking place in March at NASA Ames) have reached 150.
Attendance at this event is limited by the size of the conference room to
only 200. Those interested should sign up ASAP.
Julie reported that the latest version of ExpressPCB can do four-layer
boards and has a limited ability to export files as DXF format. The
component manager has also been improved.
Meeting #277 adjourned at 9:05 PM. The next meeting will take place on 4
March at the Denny's on Bowers Avenue in Santa Clara. Watch the list for
full driving directions.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Winter
Secretary, ERPS
+++ PLEASE ADVISE THE SECRETARY OF ANY ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THESE
MINUTES +++
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