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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.
"
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.
liqbase
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?
Riiight. And just where is Voyager 1 going to get stamps?
"-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
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. :-)
anything that was built in the 1970's and has gone that far deserves to get its name in all Caps.
Linux is to the internet as Duct Tape is to the Universe.
Deep Space Radar Telemetry huh....
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.
Get off my lawn.
Actually it was, "All these world are belong to you except Europa. Attempt no set you down there."
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
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.
It's not that hard to receive, what with the aliens sitting just past Mars, playing a loop of old Voyager transmissions, and snickering.