VOYAGER 1 Signal Received by AMSAT-DL Group 110
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.
"
QSL Card (Score:5, Interesting)
What a coincidence (Score:3, Interesting)
I questioned him on this and he assured me that the signal reception had been confirmed.
Not that this adds anything to the conversation other than a weird coincidence of him telling me about this and now seeing the story.
As an aside, I would highly recommend visiting the annex if you get the chance. The number and variety of planes in the hangar is impressive. Essentially the entire history of flight, from a competitor to the Wright Brothers to ballooning and on to spaceflight, is represented. They even have the model of the mother ship from 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and you can see the easter eggs the designers added such as an R2D2 figure, a graveyard and two airplanes.
There are even several planes which are the only ones of their kind to exist anywhere in the world including several from WWII as well as the Enola Gay.
It will take the entire day to see everything so plan accordingly. The parking is $12 a car not including the tolls on the Dulles Toll Road.
Um, so what? (Score:3, Interesting)
This is just a story about how some amatures managed to find it. I mean, that's cool. Don't get me wrong. Congrats to those guys. But don't play it up to be more than that.