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[04:34:03] <idiot2> hello
[11:56:03] <pepijndevos> Is there any Forth that runs on 2kb AVRs?
[11:58:19] <hypermagic> hi
[11:58:28] <hypermagic> try haskell
[11:58:54] <hypermagic> it only needs 1-2GB memory for a simple example snipplet
[11:59:30] <pepijndevos> Ok, will try.
[15:01:52] <dufa> apt-cache search AWstats
[15:02:21] <dufa> sorry
[15:20:37] <Lambda-Aurigae> AWstats not found. Please use YUM.
[15:20:43] <Lambda-Aurigae> err...
[15:20:45] * Lambda-Aurigae slaps self
[15:20:52] <Lambda-Aurigae> bad Lambda-Aurigae ...no cookie for you today.
[15:21:09] <Lambda-Aurigae> we don't like hats.
[22:19:10] <MarkX> hi
[22:19:26] <MarkX> i have sort of a newbie question about electronics but i was hoping someone might be able to help
[22:21:30] <MarkX> i have an atmega32u4 breakout board. I connected the 5v to a hobby dc motor. the dc motor spins but when i apply a bit of load, everything loses power momentarily
[22:21:33] <aandrew> fire away and see what happens
[22:21:43] <MarkX> i'm assuming that's because the amperage requirement went up
[22:22:17] <aandrew> quite likely. do you have a schematic?
[22:22:20] <MarkX> so when i put this motor into a device, i should be worrying about my amp supply, not just the voltage supplied to the motor right?
[22:23:13] <MarkX> aandrew: not at all, i was basically !@#$ing around for now. this whole project has been one big debacle cause i've started with zero knowledge of everything. I have finally come to the stage where i am getting ready for actual motor testing and figuring out what power supply i can use
[22:23:56] <aandrew> well
[22:24:04] <aandrew> there's an easy way to see how much current you'll need
[22:24:06] <MarkX> that "test" was done at the very early stages when i got the parts i ordered, just goofing around to see if i could get the motor to even spin
[22:24:14] <aandrew> lock the shaft of the motor and apply power. measure the stall current :-)
[22:24:15] <MarkX> go on
[22:24:28] <aandrew> also remember htat DC motors are notoriously noisy from an electrical standpoint
[22:24:47] <aandrew> it's why you usually see something like a 0.1uF capacitor across the terminals, and oftentimes between each terminal and the motor case, which is presumably grounded
[22:25:00] <aandrew> do you have any bypass caps on the atmega breakout board?
[22:25:00] <MarkX> ah yes, i saw that in a design already :)
[22:25:33] <MarkX> yes the breakout is fine. i compared its schematic to one by sparkfun and everything checks out
[22:25:48] <MarkX> i actually based my current schematic off the one on sparkfun
[22:26:10] <MarkX> basic things like usb schematic, bypass caps, resistors, etc
[22:27:23] <aandrew> ok
[22:27:30] <aandrew> how are you driving the motor with the breakout?
[22:28:01] <MarkX> i was going to use this schematic >>
https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1KpNirSCz1cSHlzAXn2dO6cXMncCWobdvFVQ3fYzqPDI/edit?pli=1 << there are 3 motors in actuality
[22:28:29] <MarkX> by that schematic i just mean the h-bridge design with pin 15/16. except i will have 3 of those
[22:28:57] <MarkX> don't need anything else from there.
[22:29:42] <aandrew> ok the H bridge is good
[22:29:48] <aandrew> I was concerned you were driving it directly from the MCU
[22:30:01] <aandrew> now in that schematic the motor is sharing its power supply with the MCU
[22:30:14] <MarkX> right. that is another question i was gonna ask
[22:30:18] <aandrew> (top of the H bridge is going to VCC)
[22:30:21] <aandrew> if you can avoid it don't do that
[22:30:30] <aandrew> first of all it's unlikely you actually need regulated power for the motor
[22:30:43] <aandrew> but more than that all the electrical noise from the motor is on the MCU power supply which makes it unhappy
[22:30:56] <aandrew> if you absolutely must have a regulated 5V supply for the motor use a second regulator just for it
[22:31:19] <aandrew> i.e. duplicate IC2/C1/C3 and connect the output of that regualtor to the motor
[22:31:52] <aandrew> that will help prevent the noise from the motor from getting into the MCU supply
[22:32:18] <MarkX> well i wanted to just use usb to power the device, which means i'll need a power supply for the 3 motors (because i know if all 3 run at once, they will drain any available power). so i figured i could use a lipo battery with a lipo battery charging circuit (MCP73831 based). again simple enough. but putting it all together is going to be weird
[22:32:25] <aandrew> you msut also make sure to never ever PB1 and PB2 to high at the same time, you'll short out the supply through the FETs
[22:32:47] <aandrew> you have a maximum of 500mA from the USB port (and your computer will also hate you for driving a DC motor off that supply)
[22:32:53] <MarkX> exactly
[22:33:50] <MarkX> good point about pb1 and pb2 (though i wont be using them). don't want to short out the power supply. i'll add that prevention into the todo notes.
[22:36:13] <MarkX> so for my lipo requirement, i should be looking for 5-7.4v except with a higher continuous discharge so i can use more current at once right?
[22:36:42] <aandrew> it's a good idea to intentionally delay the turn off of one leg of the bridge to the turn-on of the other by a few microseconds. FETs can take a bit of time to turn off. Most motor control PWM capable peripherals have some concept of dead time for this reason
[22:37:08] <MarkX> gotcha, i'll add that into the notes
[22:37:18] <aandrew> MarkX: yep you can charge the lipo with the charge circuit and connect the top fo the motor H bridge to the battery + terminal
[22:37:31] <Valen> charging more than 1 lipo cell from USB is going to be challenging?
[22:38:06] <aandrew> check the notes of the charge IC though, it might not like something "hanging off" of the battery when it's trying to charge it. if it's got some kind of charging output signal you can maybe use that to drive a fet that disconnects the h-bridge from the battery
[22:38:22] <aandrew> Valen: depends on the charge controller but yes could be
[22:38:32] <MarkX> Valen: no no, i meant the hook up. should i connect the MCP73831 straight to the 5v USBV as suggested in the datasheet, or should i make it an output from the MCU so i can control when it goes into charge mode
[22:38:54] <Valen> well when you charge how much current are you going to be pulling? 500ma?
[22:38:59] <aandrew> MarkX: well the charge controller probably has pins to control that
[22:39:08] <ferdna> anyone doing HCl and H2O2 etching?
[22:39:13] <MarkX> ah, let me look into that in the datasheet
[22:39:14] <Valen> aandrew: have you seen an IC that'll do that? I'll buy them in a second lol
[22:39:24] <Valen> if its the same one I'm using it won't
[22:39:28] <aandrew> an IC that'll do what, charge multiple cells?
[22:39:36] <MarkX> https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Prototyping/Batteries/MCP73831T.pdf
[22:39:42] <Valen> yeah, do boost conv on input power then balance the cells
[22:39:42] <MarkX> that is the datasheet btw.
[22:39:57] <MarkX> and i've seen you can just put the cells in parallel when you want to charge.
[22:39:58] <aandrew> yes
[22:39:59] <Valen> you feed it power, it charges the battery it has a status output
[22:40:14] <MarkX> https://learn.adafruit.com/multi-cell-lipo-charging/simple-balance-charger
[22:40:23] <aandrew> see you have a STAT pin you can use to disconnect the motor from the battery when charging, and a PROG pin I think you can (ab)use to disable charging if you want
[22:41:03] <Valen> I guess you could use prog to basically tell it to use 0 current for charge
[22:41:26] <aandrew> yes
[22:41:32] <aandrew> that's why I said (ab)use :-)
[22:41:42] <Valen> you are a bad man ;-P
[22:41:45] <MarkX> hmm, so if i do that, the +/- of the battery would go to both the charger as well as the VCC/GND shown in that schematic then right?
[22:42:01] <aandrew> Valen:
http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/8584fb.pdf ?
[22:42:26] <aandrew> well the + of the battery would go to the charger output and to the h-bridge VCC
[22:42:35] <aandrew> the - of the battery would go to your circuit common
[22:42:38] <Valen> aandrew: balancer only isn't it?
[22:42:49] <aandrew> that would ONLY use the battery for the motor and not for the atmega
[22:43:12] <MarkX> ah perfect!
[22:43:17] <MarkX> that's exactly what i wanted
[22:43:17] <aandrew> Valen: the 8584 is the charger and the 6804 is the monitor
[22:43:31] <MarkX> now speaking from your well versed knowledge, so far what i've described. has my logic been sound?
[22:43:38] <aandrew> so far you seem on track, yes
[22:43:40] <MarkX> i'm not dividing by zero or something yet am i?
[22:43:41] <Valen> also the device I want to make is the size of my thumb aandrew ;->
[22:43:42] <MarkX> beauty
[22:43:54] <aandrew> Valen: chip scale packaging? :-)
[22:44:03] <Valen> make at home ;->
[22:44:09] <aandrew> lol
[22:44:16] <aandrew> now you're getting into my billable time
[22:44:38] <Valen> here's one I prepared earlier
http://imgur.com/a/sxZfd
[22:45:24] <aandrew> ... interesting... wooden LED flashlights?
[22:45:26] <MarkX> some kind of sex toy?
[22:45:40] <Valen> the skungy looking PCB closeup is beacuse that one was in my pocket for a year
[22:45:42] <Valen> aandrew: yes
[22:45:54] <MarkX> i was close
[22:45:56] <MarkX> hahaha
[22:46:14] <Valen> MarkX: well, I guess I have used them during "activities" but any flashlight would have done ;->
[22:46:27] <MarkX> bahahah
[22:46:34] <aandrew> interesting. for being in your pocket a year it seems to have held up very well
[22:46:44] <MarkX> so can i ask, are these going into production?
[22:46:48] <MarkX> is this some sort of kickstarter?
[22:46:50] <Valen> (inside a wooden torch)
[22:47:10] <aandrew> you guys have all these great ideas and are actually MAKING them. I'm stuck just past the first part of that pair
[22:47:15] <Valen> eh... we suck at selling things we sell them at local shops
[22:47:32] <aandrew> Valen:
http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/33001fb.pdf
[22:47:33] <Valen> if you want one $40+ postage
[22:47:50] <aandrew> Valen: that's a 6 cell in one chip
[22:47:58] <Valen> I only need 2 cells
[22:48:03] <MarkX> actually i was more interested in the business aspect of things. how hard was it going from idea -> sellable product, etc
[22:48:10] <aandrew> cut the chip into thirds
[22:48:12] <Valen> what I really want to do is put an SST90 into the same form factor
[22:48:32] <Valen> (about as bright as a car headlight)
[22:48:51] <Valen> the VF is a bit higher than one cell of lipo
[22:49:06] <Valen> so rather than put a 9 amp boost converter in...
[22:49:43] <Valen> but as you can see, it is *very* space constrained, so I really need the MCU to do as much as it can
[22:50:10] <MarkX> very interesting
[22:50:35] <Valen> I'm only using that microchip lipo charger because 1) lipo's in your pants are a little scary and 2) I'd need a fet anyway to carry the charge current so board space change is minimal
[22:51:27] <MarkX> actually i recently went on a trip around south east asia. before i left i wanted to buy a flashlight. not a single one came with the capability to be recharged using usb
[22:51:33] <MarkX> yours has that
[22:51:35] <MarkX> which is awesome
[22:51:39] <Valen> yup ;->
[22:51:43] <Valen> and its open source
[22:51:49] <Valen> though the source is shamefull
[22:52:13] <MarkX> i say apply it to a very powerful flashlight and sell it on its own as a usb rechargable flashlight
[22:52:35] <Valen> it is a powerfull usb rechargable flashlight lol
[22:52:42] <MarkX> take those heavy metal ones and just add a usb charging feature
[22:52:57] <aandrew> is that a lipo in your pants or are you glOH GOD NO
[22:53:01] <MarkX> oh i meant those old school big heavy metal flashlights. i forget their name
[22:53:10] <aandrew> maglight
[22:53:13] <MarkX> thats it!
[22:53:16] <Valen> its multi-mode too but you can go from off to ultra low power , and off to full power with one button press
[22:53:33] <Valen> it has one ~180 degree led and one 15 degree LED
[22:53:46] <Valen> in ultra low mode it'll run for ~17 hours
[22:53:53] <Valen> and you can read by it
[22:54:04] <aandrew> nice
[22:54:06] <Valen> in full power mode ~50 minutes i think it came out at
[22:54:11] <MarkX> beauty
[22:54:22] <MarkX> outdoor shops should love it
[22:54:28] <aandrew> I think you should put them up on ... tindie? I think that's the site
[22:54:31] <MarkX> make it water proof :D
[22:54:31] <Valen> you could ~double that run time if you write the source better ;->
[22:54:32] <aandrew> I think tinder is something quite different
[22:54:39] <MarkX> lmao not tinder ahahahha
[22:54:41] <Valen> one is more fun than the other
[22:54:49] <MarkX> unless you want some EE tang on the side
[22:54:57] <aandrew> a bead of silicone around it before screwing it shut might make it water proof enough
[22:54:58] <MarkX> then you'll get all the bitches ahahahha
[22:55:10] <aandrew> bigger question... being a wood case, does it float?
[22:55:37] <Valen> well, its *really* not water proof, so haven't tested ;->
[22:55:46] <Valen> I do conformal coat the pcb's though
[22:56:08] <Valen> so in theory they are ok with a bit of fresh water
[22:56:20] <MarkX> i like it
[22:56:22] <MarkX> its a good idea
[22:56:31] <MarkX> can add to it and possibly make some money
[22:56:42] <MarkX> or die trying
[22:56:52] <Valen> The issue is unless you make squillions of them its not going to make any real money
[22:57:09] <Valen> that $40 doesn't really cover the costs of making it ;->
[22:57:16] <MarkX> is the wood overlayed somehow onto the metal ones shown in the first pics?
[22:57:29] <Valen> I think we sell them to shops for $50 and the shops sell them for $70 or so
[22:57:37] <Valen> nah, there are two different ones
[22:57:44] <Valen> the metal one is a prototype
[22:57:59] <MarkX> oh god. no offence but that is not a $70 product the way i'm imagining it
[22:58:16] <MarkX> apologies.
[22:58:52] <Valen> As i said, unless you make squillions of them you can't compete with people buying a $1 thing from the local variety shop
[22:58:58] <MarkX> exactly
[22:59:20] <MarkX> but if you change a bit, outdoorsy people might go for it
[22:59:40] <Valen> if you look about half way through that gallery you can see some smaller ones, they are done the Chinese way, with a bent LED leg pressing onto 2 coin cells
[22:59:53] <Valen> we sell those for about $40 retail
[23:00:03] <MarkX> actually i can see that being a keyfob for a lincoln or something which uses a lot of faux wood inside
[23:00:22] <MarkX> if you were to fake the wooden look but keep the circuitry it would help i think
[23:00:36] <MarkX> don't mean to crap on your idea or anything, i actually really like it
[23:00:38] <Valen> by the time you CnC mill the timber, hand sand it, then varnish, sand and varnish again there is a fair few man hours in it
[23:02:15] <Valen> see the string of torches in the last picture? that took 2 people about a day and a half to put all the components onto the boards, solder them up put them into the cases, solder the batteries in
[23:02:18] <Valen> program etc
[23:02:49] <Valen> There is around half an hour to an hour in the timber work, not counting the milling time
[23:03:51] <Valen> That's not counting the 2 failures in that run, and all the time developing it, writing the software etc ;->
[23:04:03] <MarkX> yea...
[23:04:10] <MarkX> just paint it wood like lmao
[23:04:26] <Valen> cutting the aluminium one took longer
[23:04:31] <Valen> then it needed to be polished
[23:04:36] <Valen> and insulated internally
[23:05:03] <Valen> if you want to make it cheap you pick-n-place the production and use an injection moulded plastic case
[23:05:27] <Valen> and you start off making ~5000 of them ;->
[23:05:39] <Valen> probably be in the $25 RRP range then
[23:06:24] <Valen> I'm rather more interested in making fewer of them, better and selling them for more ;->
[23:06:31] <MarkX> i see
[23:06:38] <MarkX> i'm thinking how to make them cheaper ahhahah
[23:07:15] <MarkX> could use plastic with hydro dipping (i forget the actual name of it) to paint a wooden pattern on them. then dip into a material that makes it shiny...
[23:07:28] <aandrew> see I'd want one made of wood
[23:07:33] <aandrew> not plastic that looks like wood
[23:07:45] <MarkX> ya that's true
[23:08:07] <Valen> aandrew: <posh accent>I can tell you are a discerning customer come this way sir to our prestige line<>
[23:08:22] <aandrew> lol
[23:08:28] <MarkX> i'm just impressed with the usb charging. just suggesting things if you want to stick to the wooden design
[23:08:46] <Valen> the wood is a premium feature, not a cheap option ;->
[23:08:48] <aandrew> you gotta figure out a way to play on the word wood
[23:08:57] <Valen> we sell them in wood galleries
[23:09:03] <MarkX> 0o0o
[23:09:07] <MarkX> fancy
[23:09:13] <aandrew> wood-e (wood enlightener)
[23:09:14] <Valen> (shops that have lots of crap made out of wood, mostly to tourists)
[23:10:17] <MarkX> (i figured)
[23:10:18] <MarkX> hahahaha
[23:10:27] <Valen> but good quality stuff as a rule
[23:10:36] <Valen> not the cheap junk
[23:10:55] <Valen> IE the $5000 wooden clocks etc
[23:11:13] <Valen> (well those piss us off, they use plastic gears, and glue wood veneers onto them
[23:11:19] <Valen> and call them a wood clock)
[23:11:59] <MarkX> i've seen some really nice "wooden" totoro cuckoo clocks
[23:12:12] <Valen> oh MarkX this is the schematic for that torch
http://www.vapourforge.com/jake/temp/1_cell_low_power_mcu_dev_schematic.png
[23:12:28] <MarkX> neat!
[23:14:17] <MarkX> i wanna get to the point where i can have a small room set up for this kind of work
[23:14:25] <Valen> heh this is close to the PCB layout
http://www.vapourforge.com/jake/temp/torch.png
[23:14:28] <MarkX> i think that might first start with me moving out of my parents basement
[23:14:45] <Valen> that seems like a bad plan lol
[23:15:17] <MarkX> hahaha
[23:15:33] <MarkX> i want to buy and use tools though. i use to work at a place where all the tools were at my disposal in my own time
[23:15:40] <MarkX> had everything i ever needed. was awesome
[23:16:00] <MarkX> also im shamelessly creeping your temp directory. sorry.
[23:17:22] <MarkX> no proof of aliens there. damn
[23:18:10] <aandrew> Valen: diptrace?
[23:18:19] <Valen> kicad
[23:18:22] <aandrew> ah
[23:18:28] <aandrew> that seems to be an awful lot of MCU for what it does
[23:19:01] <Valen> well
http://www.vapourforge.com/jake/temp/1005_0029.jpg is part of a rocket does that count MarkX?
[23:19:10] <aandrew> especially with that external crystal
[23:19:18] <aandrew> but mind you you're actually running the USB D+/D- into the chip
[23:19:23] <MarkX> aahhhh, do you have a rocketry club where you are?
[23:19:40] <Valen> that one was launched at woomera on a defence dept missile ;->
[23:19:43] <MarkX> aandrew: i think that is how he does the programming
[23:20:06] <Valen> oh that schematic was the development board
[23:20:07] <MarkX> Valen: do you have magic level security clearance?
[23:20:34] * MarkX has been watching too much x-files
[23:20:42] <Valen> lol nah, student thing done through university and "the Australian space research institute"
[23:21:04] <Valen> just had to have a dept of defence minder when we were out there
[23:21:10] <MarkX> pffftttt
[23:21:15] <MarkX> that doesn't count at all
[23:21:22] <Valen> that paticular rocket is about 12ft underground now (no chute)
[23:21:56] <Valen> but when we were out searching for it the guy bent over, picked up a hunk of wreckage, told all of us we didn't see this
[23:22:08] <Valen> went put it under cover in the back of the ute
[23:22:25] <MarkX> :|
[23:22:35] <Valen> half an hour later another guy turns up, picks the thing up leaving it inside the wrapping and drives off
[23:22:59] <MarkX> and these guys were australian researchers?
[23:23:09] <Valen> (keep in mind that woomera is about the size of england)
[23:23:19] <Valen> we were, that guy worked for defence
[23:23:23] <MarkX> i see
[23:23:32] <MarkX> were they dressed in all black?
[23:23:40] <MarkX> was one constantly smoking a cigarette ?
[23:23:43] <Valen> lol nope
[23:24:04] <MarkX> did one ask you to refer to him as deepthroat?
[23:24:26] <Valen> there may well have been deepthroat activities, but I unfortunatly was not privy to them
[23:24:36] <MarkX> bahahahahha good one
[23:24:41] <Valen> though in hindsight it was rather a saussagefest so perhaps that is for the best
[23:25:02] <Valen> http://imgur.com/a/97hZX for my trip if you are keen
[23:25:34] <MarkX> very interesting,
[23:25:43] <MarkX> did it make it to space?
[23:25:53] <MarkX> past earth's gravitational pull?
[23:25:58] <Valen> nah not those
[23:26:12] <MarkX> some have before?
[23:28:26] <MarkX> actually this is something i want to get started in because a future project of mine relies on getting into space. any advice what i can be googling/participating in? i live in ontario canada btw.
[23:29:06] <Valen> yeah, at the end of that you can see the juno 2 (i think) launch pads
[23:29:10] <Valen> they went to space
[23:29:24] <Valen> australia had the 4th satellite (or 4th country) to have a satellite
[23:29:47] <MarkX> and you were part of that?
[23:29:49] <Valen> you could tell it was australian though, they were trying to work out how to do the antennas, get them to unfurl
[23:29:50] <Valen> hah no
[23:29:53] <Valen> I'm not that old
[23:29:58] <MarkX> ah hehe
[23:30:11] <MarkX> 25ish?
[23:30:12] <Valen> so they just cut up a tape measure
[23:30:20] <Valen> 30
[23:30:27] <MarkX> cool
[23:32:37] <MarkX> i tried finding clubs for that kind of stuff around me
[23:32:41] <MarkX> no luck :(
[23:33:04] <Valen> define "in space"
[23:33:18] <Valen> aandrew: I was always told for development use the biggest chip you can ;->
[23:34:00] <MarkX> to the moon
[23:34:26] <MarkX> actually even getting out earth's gravitational pull would be awesome
[23:34:47] <Valen> well you need to go much much further than the moon to get out of earths sphere of influence
[23:35:07] <MarkX> oh then just to the moon ahahaha
[23:35:23] <Valen> what is it you want to make?
[23:35:37] <aandrew> he wants to make a Monty Burns Sun Blocker
[23:35:53] <Valen> oh, right, well I know some people you might want to talk to then
[23:35:58] <MarkX> hahaha
[23:36:06] <MarkX> i want to make a moon explorer, a robotic one
[23:36:15] <MarkX> EVENTUALLY
[23:36:22] <MarkX> i'm not saying tomorrow, that is a far away project.
[23:36:32] <MarkX> hopefully my first few succeed enough to fund it
[23:36:46] <Valen> ok, step 1, be an internet billionair
[23:36:53] <MarkX> go on
[23:36:54] <Valen> step 2, become new space millionair
[23:37:00] <MarkX> doable continue
[23:37:20] <MarkX> should i name my company edison or something along those lines?
[23:37:20] <Valen> (see spaceX, armadillo aerospace, to some extent blue origin)
[23:37:49] <Valen> to land something on the moon requires the same propulsive effort as landing on mars btw
[23:38:19] <Valen> I suggest joining A-Rocket, its a mailing list, they are discussing amature launch vehicles at the moment
[23:38:37] <MarkX> did i mention it doesn't have people?
[23:38:41] <Valen> perhaps also take a look at a book called "microlaunchers"
[23:38:43] <MarkX> just a rocket with a paylood
[23:38:51] <MarkX> interesting, i'll look them both up now
[23:39:03] <Valen> if you are planning on more than a few grams, it isn't going to happen
[23:40:39] <MarkX> what if the rocket is the payload
[23:40:55] <MarkX> some sort of transforming rocket
[23:46:14] <Valen> the rocket equation will generally kill your dreams ;->
[23:46:35] <MarkX> :'(
[23:46:42] <MarkX> ah well, that's the future
[23:46:42] <Valen> if you are after something feasible for a small group to assemble you will have a few grams left over after your make orbit
[23:47:08] <MarkX> i guess i go after the top gear motto "how hard can it be" hahaha
[23:48:08] <Valen> take a read starting here
http://www.freelists.org/post/arocket/Minimal-Amateur-to-Orbit
[23:48:27] <Valen> john carmac (guy who made doom, quake, etc) chimes in as well as i recall
[23:48:55] <Valen> he has spent amongst the least money on space stuff and done things
[23:49:09] <Valen> (so a few $million lol)
[23:49:27] <Valen> some of the former armadillo aerospace crew have a kickstarter at the moment
[23:49:40] <MarkX> damn interesting
[23:49:44] <MarkX> is this your field?
[23:49:47] <Valen> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/95173281/spaceflight-fast-and-affordable-access-to-sub-orbi
[23:50:03] <Valen> the woomera thing was the last year of my space science degree ;->
[23:50:26] <MarkX> cool!
[23:51:04] <MarkX> i've seen some balloons being sent up really high as well. that would be very interesting to try also
[23:52:41] <Valen> that is a *much* more achievable goal ;->
[23:53:04] <Valen> put it this way, I've been trying to get my fingerprint into orbit for over a decade now
[23:53:11] <Valen> no luck yet
[23:53:27] <Valen> (as in something I have made with my fingerprint on it if you will)
[23:54:28] <MarkX> ah, i thought you meant your finger
[23:55:07] <Valen> lol no
[23:55:46] <MarkX> interesting as hell though
[23:59:13] <Valen> I suggest if you do join ARocket, don't post for a while, its pretty active at the moment, just listen
[23:59:17] <Valen> how old are you?
[23:59:46] <Valen> (or read the archives is a good place to start)
