[R-390] R-1247 Nasa Receiver info

[wb5uom at hughes.net]

Like others have said, this is great stuff. Very good information.  I was
born a few years to late for I think it would have been great to be a part
of something like that.
Thanks guys for sharing. (and no need to stop either)

David/WB5UOM

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry K" <w5kp at hughes.net>
To: <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: [R-390] R-1247 Nasa Receiver info


> How true, Ed. Few folks today can appreciate the investment in multiple
> high power transmitters and receivers, directional antennas, and the
> multitude of warm bodies required to support a life-or-death reliable
> 24/7 ISB HF ship-to-shore link over a 2500-mile North-South path for
> even a few days,let alone for weeks at at time. We kept at least two and
> sometimes three freqs on the air at all times, and used leap-frog QSYing
> during the frantic dawn and dusk long-path transition periods. There
> were times the MUF would dive from 14 MHz to 2.5 MHz over a 30 minute
> period in the evenings, and you couldn't wait it out, you had to have
> the circuit up and working during those periods. There were no reliable
> computer Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) forecasts available most of the
> time, just pencil and paper seat of the pants prognostication based on
> experience. However, I'm proud to say my crew of a dozen or so, with
> great support from the Hawaii NAVCAMS folks, ran those links with a
> documented 99%+ reliability factor for three weeks straight every
> mission. Nobody got any sleep!  :)
>
> Today's long-path communicators have it made, they just dial up a couple
> of satellite channels and let 'er rip.
>
> Jerry W5KP
>
>
>
>
> DJED1 at aol.com wrote:
> > I recall back in the early '60s listening to Gemini capsule
communications
> > on HF SSB.  I assume that NASA was linking comms back from one of their
> > remote sites like the Azores or Australia.  Maybe they didn't want to
> > maintain the staff that the military used to supervise the operation of
RTTY and
> > SSB reception, hence a setup which would be frequency stable to a few
cycles.
> > Ed  W2EMN
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