# An Interview with Brent and Bryce Salmi

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2018-07-30
- Length: 2h 04m
- Episode: 401
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/401-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi/

## Summary

Brent and Bryce Salmi, avionic engineers who spent five years at SpaceX, discuss their work on Falcon 9 avionics and their current roles at Relativity Space and South Bend. They detail the design of an analog Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) for AMSAT Fox satellites, emphasizing radiation hardening and stateless reliability. The brothers also explain Faraday RF, an open-source digital radio platform designed to enable delay-tolerant networking and software-defined applications within the amateur radio community.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=0) Introduction: Brent and Bryce Salmi
- [2:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=157) AMSAT Fox Satellites and CubeSat Standardization
- [9:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=582) Analog MPPT Design for Radiation Hardening
- [15:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=944) SpaceX Tenure and Falcon 9 Avionics
- [32:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=1926) Commercial Off-The-Shelf Components in Aerospace
- [49:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=2975) Designing for Failure and Reliability
- [1:05:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=3942) Faraday RF Open Source Digital Radio
- [1:29:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=5362) Delay Tolerant Networks and Ham Radio Applications
- [1:54:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi#t=6895) Current Roles at Relativity Space and South Bend

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- SpaceX (company)
- Faraday RF (company)
- Relativity Space (company)
- South Bend (company)
- AMSAT (company)
- Fox satellites (product)
- Falcon 9 (product)
- Gotenna (product)
- HackRF (product)
- CC430 (chip)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [76: Entropy Is for Wimps](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-11-12-76-entropy-is-for-wimps) (Embedded.fm)
- [012 - Cheese vs. SDR](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2018-06-29-012-cheese-vs-sdr) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [130: Criminal Training Camp](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-12-17-130-criminal-training-camp) (Embedded.fm)
- [Ep078: Happy B-Day MP3, Eavesdrop on a Mars Probe, Shadowcasting 7-Segments, & a Spicy Commodore 64](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2020-07-31-ep078-happy-b-day-mp3-eavesdrop-on-a-mars-probe-shadowcasting-7-segments-a-spicy) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [498: To Consume Stickers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-04-04-498-to-consume-stickers) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-30-an-interview-with-brent-and-bryce-salmi. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.