[time-nuts] nubie querie

Hal Murray hmurray at megapathdsl.net
Wed Mar 10 21:20:47 UTC 2010


> This, and similar impressive accomplishments, has prompted some
> lunchtime discussion at work (JPL).. One of us (N5BF) has been
> contemplating what it would take to do an amateur EarthVenusEarth
> (after some of his experiments doing EME with 5 watts).. 

Perhaps a better question is:  What is the bandwidth?

What sort of signal do I have to receive in order to claim contact?  Is one 
bit/blob of energy at the right time/frequency good enough, or do I have to 
demodulate the signal and extract a few bits of data?


> So, when talking about "amateur" accomplishments.. where do you draw
> the line on using "big stuff".  If you're an amateur who happens to
> have access to Arecibo or to a DSN 70m dish, is that *really* an
> amateur contact/event? 

I think the traditional test for an amateur is do you get paid for it.  (Yes, 
it helps to be independently wealthy.)

Even if you build your own antenna, there is the question of where do you 
start.  Is it OK to buy a dish if I build the mount?  Can I buy steel pipe or 
do I have to start from iron ore?

I suspect if you look at other amateur activities (say sports), there are 
examples equivalent to scrounging time on Arecibo.


My 2 cents...  You get credit for the part that you do.  Anything goes as 
long as you are honest about what you do.  If you buy the electronics and 
build the antenna, you get credit for building the antenna.  If you build the 
electronics and buy (or scrounge) the antenna, then you get credit for the 
electronics.  ...

Some people are really good at scrounging.



-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.







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