[time-nuts] nubie querie

[David Forbes]

Hal Murray wrote:
>> 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?
> 

Marconi claimed credit for the first transatlantic communication by sending the 
letter S in Morse code. That sounds like a fine standard - one byte of data. 
It's statistically significant.

With regard to the restoration and use of a derelict radio telescope for amateur 
radio, that's a fine example of amateurs putting themselves to a big task and 
succeeding. I work on radio telescopes, so I know how big a task that is.

--David Forbes