VOYAGER 1 Signal Received by AMSAT-DL Group

Anonymous Coward writes " Space probe VOYAGER 1 successfully received. On March 31st, 2006 an AMSAT-DL /IUZ team received a signal from the American space probe VOYAGER 1 with the 20 m antenna in Bochum. The distance was 14.7 billion km. This is a new record for AMSAT-DL and IUZ Bochum. The received signal was clearly identified through means of doppler shift and position in the sky. The receive frequency was exactly measured and compared with the information provided by NASA. This distance equals approximately 98 times the distance between Earth and Sun. VOYAGER 1 is the most distant object ever built by mankind. This again proves the superior performance of the Bochum antenna. Most probably this is the first time Voyager 1 has been received by radio amateurs. VOYAGER 1 was launched on 5. September 1977 by NASA. It transmitted the first close-up pictures of Jupiter and Saturn. In 2004 VOYAGER 1 passed the Termination Shock Region, where the solar wind mixes with interstellar gas. VOYAGER 1 today is still active, measuring the interstellar magnetic field. The following radio amateurs were involved: Freddy de Guchteneire, ON6UG James Miller, G3RUH Hartmut Paesler, DL1YDD Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA/HB9DUN Special thanks to Thilo Elsner, DJ5YM of the IUZ Bochum, Roger Ludwig of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena USA and the Deep Space Network Tracking Station in Madrid, Spain for their cooperation. "

Decoded message

[LiquidCoooled]

Message contents:
I AM V'GER, YOU ARE NOT TRUE LIFE FORMS.
I will remove the infestation on the Creator's planet.

Mr Sulu, Brown alert, we're gonna need some new uniforms.

Re:Decoded message

[cnettel]

You carbon-based bags of water bastards!

Field Day

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

If they send a signal back out to Voyager now, will they be able to count it for bonus points on this year's Field Day?

Re:QSL Card

[harrkev]

Riiight. And just where is Voyager 1 going to get stamps?

Isn't this great!?

[FridayBob]

Now I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And to think that now even amateurs can contact Voyager 1, even though it's almost 100AU away. This makes me want to build my own compact, high-performance radio telescope, with a superconducting receiver, just so that I can commune with V'ger before I go to bed at night. :-)

Re:Caps

[foxhound01]

anything that was built in the 1970's and has gone that far deserves to get its name in all Caps.

deep space what?

[Ricken]

Deep Space Radar Telemetry huh....

Re:Don't build 'em like that anymore

[clintp]

It wasn't always that far from Earth. Rumor has it that at one time it was actually *on* the planet. It's hard for the tree huggers to believe that we've built a nuclear power source that's functioned flawlessly for 30 years, but it's true.

Re:Standing Ovation

[tverbeek]

Actually it was, "All these world are belong to you except Europa. Attempt no set you down there."

Re:Decoded message

[Black Parrot]

> I AM V'GER, YOU ARE NOT TRUE LIFE FORMS.

You'd think V'GER would get along fine with beings named ON6UG, G3RUH, DL1YDD, DH2VA/HB9DUN, and DJ5YM of the IUZ Bochum.

Re:Decoded message

[jeffy210]

Negative, I am a meat popsicle.

Re:Excellent!

[hubie]

One joke I recall was that to properly place blame you need to criticise the Jefferson administration because the last time such an alignment was possible was on his watch, and his science advisors didn't advocating launching anything.

Re:Light Time

[halcyoncheese]

It's not that hard to receive, what with the aliens sitting just past Mars, playing a loop of old Voyager transmissions, and snickering.