Page for info about the December 2006 HackFest

Attendees

• Matt Ettus <matt@ettus.com>
• Eric Blossom <eb@comsec.com>
• Bob McGwier <n4hy@amsat.org>
• Frank Brickle <brickle@pobox.com>
• Phil Karn <karn@ka9q.net>
• Johnathan Corgan <jcorgan@aeinet.com>
• Tom Rondeau <trondeau@vt.edu>

That was about all we had space for as you can see:

http://n4hy.smugmug.com/gallery/2262143

Travel

The HackFest will be held December 13th-20th, 2006. Plan to arrive late on the 12th or sometime on the 13th.

Ettus Research Galactic Headquarters
604 Mariposa Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94041

The best airport to fly into is San Jose (SJC). The next best would be San Francisco (SFO). Oakland (OAK) should be considered a last resort.

Suggested Hotel -- Marriott Residence Inn Mountain View and Palo Alto http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/SFOMV

Other Hotels -- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=hotel&near=604+mariposa+ave,+94041&ie=UTF8&z=15&om=1

This one is literally around the corner from GHQ. If they are full or cost too much, let me know. There is another [somewhat less nice] place next door.

If Eric isn't driving here from Reno, then it would be nice if someone rented a car. We only need one, though.

Note from Johnathan: As I live in San Jose, I can help shuttle people from the airport to Matt's if need be.

What to Bring

• At least one laptop with
  • 802.11
  • USB 2.0
  • A working installation of GNU Radio and the USRP programs, built from SVN
  • You get bonus points for alternate architectures or operating systems
• Books or specs describing anything you'd like to implement
• Radios you'd like to make GNU Radio apps to interoperate with
• No need to bring any USRP or related hardware

Plan

Hack away on important things missing from GNU Radio, like:

• Infrastructure
  • Control loops involving hardware like AGC (#66), DC Offset, and IQ compensation
  • Inband signalling
  • Proper squelching
• Library
  • IIR Filter design
  • More ECC, like BCH codes
  • GUI Improvement
• Complete Apps
  • Scanner
  • Ham Radio multimode
  • Something flashy for demos
  • Analog TV
  • Closer-to-realtime HDTV
  • OFDM
  • MIMO demo

In addition to all the hacking, we'll have some other suitably geeky distractions planned. Ideas I'm working on right now include tours of the Computer History Museum, Stanford Linear Accelerator, Stanford Radio Club and "Big Dish" area, and TechShop. Suggestions for others also welcome.