Finally! It looks like we're all more or less finished with school for the semester! For most of us, that means one of two things: (1) You've gone back home to mom and dad for a summer of lazing around, or (2) You have to spend your summer working full time in a hot, sweaty factory. Unfortunately, I fit into the second category. So I'm sure you'll understand why this entry is a few days late. Last Friday, our team made the first real significant advance in the project. Armed with tape measures and screwdrivers, we built the antenna for our primary station! And what a beautiful antenna it is! Fourteen feet long, 10 dB of gain, with circular polarization. It was a beast of an antenna to assemble, but well worth it. We assembled it in room N214, and ended up having to take it up to the roof in three sections. When all was said and done, it took about seven hours to assemble the antenna, clean the junk off the roof of the N building, take up our antenna, and mount the antenna stand to a pair of four by fours. And those bags? Thirty kilograms each. That antenna's not going anywhere. By the end of it, we were all filthy and smelly, but it was an awesome experience.
In the middle, in the blue hat, is Mr. Kelly Gray. Many thanks to him for his help!
I guess at this point in the project, you're saying to yourself, "This project is pretty awesome! I wonder who's hands I should be shaking."
My dear readers, today is your lucky day.
From left to right: Mr. Paul Je, Mr. Gino Cunti, Mr. Mark Rector, Mr. Patrick Neelin, and Mr. Kevin Luong.
Again, a million and one thank you's to Brenda Dube for her amazing photography!
Tomorrow morning, we're all meeting up to start on the construction of our primary antenna. We're supposed to go on the roof, so let's all hope it doesn't rain. See you tomorrow!
I'm sitting here in the computer lab, trying to study for my last two exams, and my mind keeps drifting back to First Contact. It amazes me how quickly this project has gained momentum. It's a great feeling, when people ask me about how the project is progressing. Last Friday, in particular, was amazing.
In short, we hosted a presentation of this project for a few very important people, including the president of Humber College, Mr. John Davies, Associate Dean Mr. David Alcock, and Associate Dean Ms. Susan Krausz. It was, without a doubt, the best presentation I've ever been a part of. For those who are close to me, you'd know that I am not normally very good at public speaking. Maybe it was the suits. Maybe it was the giant carafe of coffee and donuts. Maybe it was the energy in the room. Whatever it was, we all put on a pretty excellent presentation.
I'd like to thank Melissa Neelin for helping us to prepare for the presentation, Brenda Dube for taking such amazing photos of the presentation, Mr. Rector for talking us up before we went on, and Mr. Ramdas for taping the presentation.
I'd also like to thank all the students, faculty, and members of the administration who attended, too!
The last week has been pretty darn productive for Operation: First Contact.
Last Wednesday, on April 9th, we put on a presentation for a panel of students representing all the different programs at Humber. Our presentation went really well, and we got approved for some extra funding for the project. I'd like to thank the panel so much, because without their support, we'd have to resort to begging for spare change!
On that note, last night, we had a booth set up at a party set up by Humber Rez. While we didn't make a whole lot of money, we certainly made people aware of our project. My sister Melissa came up from Welland to give us a hand with everything, and we're all really thankful that she did! She's going to be starting at Humber next year, and she's going to be a welcome part of the Humber Telecom Club!
Tomorrow, assuming all goes according to schedule, we should be starting the assembly of our primary antenna. We ended up deciding that the Hy-Gain OSCAR-style Yagi was the very best antenna to suit the needs of our project. While we assemble it, we're going to be taking some primary measurements for the antenna we're designing. Over the summer, we'll be building our antenna. We'll also be spending a considerable amount of time testing, re-testing, and re-re-testing both antennas.
Now for some really big news!
Friday, we are going to be hosting a meeting for some of the most important people at Humber College. I'm not going to give away too many of the details just yet, but trust me when I say that it's going to be pretty exciting!
