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The NASA Ames Amateur Radio Club (AARC), along with help from some other amateur radio groups, demonstrated exciting wireless communications capabilities during Yuri’s Night. One of the activities showed how signals could be sent from earth to the moon, and back to the earth, using surface of the moon as a reflector (earth-moon-earth or EME) for “moonbounce” communications. The other activity, Amateur Television (ATV), demonstrated how live video feeds could be sent between locations at Yuri’s Night, and also transmitted via a repeater to anyone in the south bay area, using a regular TV to tune into the over-the-air signal.
The EME effort was significantly assisted by folks from the 50 MHz-and-up club, as well as folks associated with the Jamesburg dish (http://www.jamesburgdish.org), in Cachagua Valley, near Salinas. Also participating in this EME activity were several students from the San Jose State University amateur radio club. Led by Jim Moss, the participants were able to successfully communicate with folks in Texas and Europe using a dish antenna, and able to hear stations using a “yagi” beam antenna. We also had a yagi array lent from M2 Antenna Systems Inc. Amateur television (ATV) effort demonstrated how anyone with a ham radio license can transmit TV using same techniques just like professional broadcasters. Assisted by members of the K6BEN-ATV group, activities were continuously shown on amateur television throughout the south bay area. Anyone using a TV with an aerial antenna, and tuned to cable channel 57 would have been able to see and hear these transmissions. Using conventional equipment, a “rover” with video camera (similar to what a news broadcaster might use) and a portable lowpower TV transmitter to send video and audio live throughout the event area. Anyone using a TV with an aerial antenna, and tuned to cable channel 58 would have been able to see and hear the roving transmissions. Yuri’s Night Bay Area was a huge public relations bonanza for NASA, particularly with a large number of 20-somethings attending (average age of NASA people is 50). This illustrates many paid $40-50, arrived on their own time, not affiliated with the government or the aerospace industry, and never seen or heard the kinds of stuff NASA does. They may have come for the shows and music but they saw and interacted with those who are excited about exploration and technology. Event is the world space party commemorating the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin (April 12, 1961). Center director Pete Worden stated, “We clearly communicated the value of spaceflight to this generation and future generations, and you could see that many of our passengers enjoyed learning what NASA and Ames are all about in addition to enjoying the music, dance and art that made the day so colorful.” Acknowledgments of contributors (not all of these people were present in the AARC booth, but all made contributions in one way or another):
Ames Amateur Radio Club (AARC):
Dave Hartzell, N0TGD Mark Foster, KI6DHU Don Reynolds, KI6CCS Michael Wright, K6MFW
K6BEN Amateur Television (ATV) group:
Byron Beck, KG6UOB Johnathan Corgan, AE6HO Nicholas Corgan, KG6MYQ
EME Jamesburg dish staff:
Goran Popovic, AD6IW Joel Wilhite, KD6W Kevin Hague, N5XSA Pat Barthelow, AA6EG (did not attend but did arrangements) Mike Staal, K6MYC Brad Douglas, KB8UYR, SVWUX member
San Jose State University students:
Robert Norris, KI6MIN Jeff Orr, KG6KCO Nader Shakerin, KI6DBU Mikhail Blinkov Alan Maenchen, KD6E Evan Luine, KI6EQF Websites:
http://www.nasa.gov/YNBA/ NA6MF - EME Operation from Yuri’s Night (youtube) Yuri’s Night Bay Area Pete Worden welcoming speech (youtube)
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Yuri’s Night at NASA Ames Research Center:
