CHATTANOOGA ENGINEERS CLUB
www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org
www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org
NEXT MEETING ______________________________________________
Monday, January 13 - noon
Cellar Restaurant, Downtown
Topic: Broadcasting Goes
Digital - Louis Lee, Channel 12 News
Just about everyone has more than one television set in
his home, and the average American watches about 4 hours of television a
day. So it is no surprise that when television broadcasting goes digital
it will have quite an impact on our lives. Louis Lee, of the Channel 12
WDEF news department will address the progression of Advanced Television
Systems. He will update us on the status of Digital Television and High
Definition Television in this area as well as nationally and the rest of the
world. Many people are confused as to the availability of these digital systems,
and have many questions, particularly when it comes to buying new consumer
television reception and display devises. Louis will provide us with a clearer
picture of consumer options. He will also discuss the business of going digital,
including when broadcast and cable systems can be expected to start carrying
digital signals from local channels, and what you will likely be able to see. He
says that the hurdles to implementation are numerous, but the end result should
be a "sight" to behold.
Lois has worked in the broadcast industry a number of
years, as a videographer, news reporter, and most recently as operator of an
up-link satellite truck that provides remote live news coverage. Lois will come
to our meeting in one of those trucks - a News 12's dual-path Ku-band uplink
satellite stations - and park it at the Days Inn parking lot. Following his
presentation at the Cellar Restaurant, he will provide us with a brief tour of
this exotic truck.
January Invocation
Chairperson: Ron Burton
OUR PREVIOUS MEETING _________________________________________
Bradley Carlson, an employee of
Jacobs-Sverdrup on contract with NASA, told us that rocket "science" is really
simple, it's the rocket "engineering" that is complicated. Such
engineering is involved in designing the right shape nozzle to get the most
thrust possible. Another tricky component is the fuel. Since the
fuel is very powerful and explosive, a poor design can lead to catastrophic
results. He explained that most launches use rocket boosters that drop off
a short time after launch to avoid needing to accelerate this additional
mass. Solid boosters used with the space shuttle weigh 1.3 million pounds
when full of fuel. However, after the fuel is spent it only weighs 200,000
pounds. Instead of carrying all the oxygen needed for the fuel to ignite,
(as done with the shuttle's main engines), they are working on designs that
would take off like an airplane. At Mach 3 to 5 they would use its high
speed to capture and compresses air to mix with fuel and ignite to increase
speed through a ramjet. At Mach 5 to 8 it would use a scramjet. They
would like to get up to Mach 14, but flying that fast heats up the vehicle too
much. Once the manned vehicle is launched into a lower earth orbit, the
airplane-like, unmanned vehicle would land automatically much like an
airplane. A goal of reducing the cost of payloads from $10,000/lb. to
$100/lb. may still take billions of dollars in research. Once the cost
gets down for possible commercial use, they expect the need for taxpayer dollars
to diminish.FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS
___________________________________
January 20: NO MEETING - In observance of
Martin Luther King day.
January 27: MetroNet - Chattanooga raises
the speed limit on data communications
February 10: Nanotechnology - What is it
and what are its potential uses? Jim Roberto, ORNL
February 17: E-Week
Luncheon - Speaker Dave Whitfield
February 24:
Control Logic Model for Data Intense
Environments - Tony Wheeler, Wheeler &
Associates
March 3: The Sun - A very close look at
our nearest star - Mitzi Adam, NASA
WHERE WE MEET _______________________________________________
Unless we note otherwise, all of our presentation meetings are held at the Cellar Restaurant in the Tallan Building, Union Square Downtown Chattanooga from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Our meeting room and luncheon service are open by 11:30 a.m. Lunch buffet is $10.00 per person (inclusive). No reservation is required. Free parking is available in the Days Inn Motel (on Carter St. and MLK Blvd,) courtesy of the Days Inn management. When you park there, be sure to place a note on your dashboard indicating you are attending the Engineers Club meeting.
QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS ?
_____________________________________
If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please call Brad Baucom at 423-648-3582 or e-mail him at bradbaucom@comcast.net. You can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org .
If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please call Brad Baucom at 423-648-3582 or e-mail him at bradbaucom@comcast.net. You can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org .