EEVblog 1547 (Part 3) – Tour of the NASA Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex

Part 3. Tour of the NASA Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla, with Richard Stephenson https://twitter.com/nascom1

Links:
GaN solid state amplifier: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190028651/downloads/20190028651.pdf Deep Space Network information https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series10/03_Reid_chapt3.pdf https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series10/04_Reid_chapt4.pdf https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series10/05_Reid_chapt5.pdf
Air exclusion zone: https://www.avsef.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/documents/nsw-act-nat_r430_tidbinilla_increase_in_transmitting_power_0.pdf
Maser amplifier: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19940025169/downloads/19940025169.pdf
X band uplink: https://ipnpr.jpl.nasa.gov/progress_report/42-87/87O.PDF
34M Beam Waveguide antenna: https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series4/Mono4_Ch6.pdf https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series4/Mono4_Ch7.pdf

Forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1547-contacting-the-voyager-2-space-probe/

00:00 – Tour of the NASA Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla
04:00 – Does the wind add any jitter?
04:29 – The new 34m Beam Waveguide Antennas
06:10 – The 400kW Klystron!
08:33 – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter tracking
10:34 – Upgrading Low Noise Amplifiers from Maser to MEMT
11:39 – LNA downconverters to 300MHz IF
12:14 – 1.1MW generator!
13:11 – How is this different to Parkes?
15:07 – Doppler shift
17:05 – Hydrogen Maser
18:00 – Why in a valley?
19:08 – Why worry about external RF?
20:09 – Transmit Mask
21:01 – The bearings
21:50 – Birds
22:29 – End of an Era for 70m dishes?
25:04 – Still the only game in town
26:15 – The original moon walk dish

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