Apollo Comms Part 10: Apollo SDR reboot and first voice transmission!

We use an SDR radio to talk to our Apollo transponder.

Links to doc:

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00:00 Recap of previous episodes
00:59 Using SDR for recreating the Apollo ground station
01:53 What is a Software Defined Radio
04:29 Introducing the team that re-contacted a lost NASA spacecraft with SDR
08:41 Apollo SDR receiver using GNU radio
12:38 SDR receiver sees the Apollo signal
14:39 SDR transmitter locks the Apollo receiver
17:51 Transmitting voice down: subcarrier explanation
20:48 Programming and testing the SDR downvoice demodulator
21:58 Receiving voice from the Moon!

[atomikrobot]

I'm so happy to see you working with Balint! He's done so much for the SDR community over the years. If you'd like to help his family, he's running a donation for Rett Syndrome. I'm sure raising awareness of Rett Syndrome would mean a lot to him and his family.

[mxr]

It’s not some TED talk or Nobel prize, but getting to be featured on Marcs channel is the achievement people will aim for! 👏🏻

[Hainbach]

Such a fascinating journey. Thank you for sharing it!

[udp]

"how old was the spacecraft?" "i think it was launched in 1978, so pretty old".. thanks guys.. I was launched in 1973.. i feel older than pretty old right now.. amazing video, as always

[davidmcgill]

Something amusing about just going down to Arecibo and plugging a laptop into a 1000 ft dish.

[BDJones]

When Marc first talked about the satellite my first thought was "OMG some nerds went rogue and used Linux to tell an ancient satellite to fire its thrusters!" Which is exactly what happened but they got permission first. I'd love to hear what an old Nasa Engineer thinks about the small book sized SDR doing the same work as the room full of old hardware. Amazing to think about.

[tomhofmann]

Guys….
No words. I envy you the toys and fun and profoundly admire your work.
Many many thanks for allowing me to share. I am 73 years old but still conversant with today’s tech so I understand the scope of the challenge you set yourself.
Hats humbly iff and greetings from Argentina

[thedogwooddandy]

This channel is just a showcase of the most impressive humans earth has on it at present. I am floored perpetually.

[Yrouel]

This series has become my second favorite (the top one remains your restoration of the AGC), really cool how so many smart people are pitching in their expertise to make this project happen.
Also RIP Arecibo :(

[trcostan]

As someone that works with modern radio equipment I was having a good time watching 100s of pounds of 1970s analog gear going to work! But SDRs are really cool also! Keep up the good work love this channel

[feicodeboer]

I really like that analog computer reference, never thought of a radio in such a way.

[tocsals]

I remember donating to their project back in the day. Both guys are certified 'steely eyed missile men' in my book ;)

[TheFleetz]

My brain hurts but in a good way! Never ceases to amaze me how you collaboratively pull together brilliant people in participate in your amazing projects. You all are literally on another planet! 👍

Kudos to Mr Fancy Pants Marc pulling this all together and equally to those who have participated. I personally take less than 1nS to hit the play video button when your downloads appears, makes my day! Thank you all...

[bluesillybeard]

the sheer contrast of the giant analog heap of electronics and the laptop connected to a circuit board is just something else.

[JonTheBrush]

Epic, and totally made by "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that"

[londonglide]

I never enjoy being so out of my depth, as I do when watching your Videos. As a child of the Space Race era, this stuff just delights me. Thank you so much.

[gingerman]

Videos like this really humble me. I'm not a dumb man by any means. But these guys are on a different level. The engineers that originally designed this hardware are on another planet.

[hotplatelabs]

This is such a joyous video! Thank you and thanks for the reminder about ISEE-3. RIP Arecibo though :(

[joeeagles]

That was fantastic! Shows how much the technology advanced but also how pretty advanced they were back then despite the bulky equipment they had. The beauty of it all is that the space program made it possible that we have this SDR and other technology now. Kudos to them and to the team that is "re-doing" all that.

[xmtxx]

OMG, thank you very for ISEE-3.
I remember giving for the initiative, but I didn't really followed up on it. I didn't realized how awesome, and adventure it was.
Just part about puting your own hardware in the Arecibo Dome, was awesome.
Great content as always, thanks!