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Eavesdropping on the Moon

Posted: 02-11-2014 02:31 PM
by Fan
Amazing article! Voguy will get a kick out of this I am sure :)

http://legacy.jefferson.kctcs.edu/observatory/apollo11/

Posted: 02-11-2014 05:31 PM
by voguy
It's amazing they pulled that off. Today it's a lot easier as some hams have figured out if you push enough ERP(watts) at the moon, someone on the other side of the earth can hear the bounce off the moon.

Instead of using the one para-refector that the guys in Louisville used, they are using large multiple Yagi arrays. I've not had the guts to try it, or bouncing off satellites. Too rich for my blood. But I've seen them do it which is cool to hear your voice come back several seconds later.

BTW, because of the Louisville event, that's when NASA thought it might be in their best interest to encrypt communications. Now they use some strange spread spectrum stuff for comms. So you can hear a noise, (sort of like a modem noise), but you can't hear voices. Damn!

BTW, Fan, without googling, can you name a famous Hollywood actress responsible for the idea of spread spectrum communications? Hint: Samson and Delilah.

Posted: 02-11-2014 05:33 PM
by Fan
I know nothing about hollywood celebreties but I would guess Lucille Ball :) I did not google, but she was featured on a mythbusters about thinking she was receiving radio signals through her fillings in her teeth.

Posted: 02-11-2014 05:35 PM
by Fan
Now, devil's advocate, is it at all possible that someone was broadcasting the signal of the voices at the moon to bounce off in case anyone was listening? Similar to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Planet_Mars

This would account for the delay he heard, thinking it was an artificial delay introduced for the TV broadcasts....

Posted: 02-11-2014 05:37 PM
by Fan
according to this there would be a ~3 second delay http://www.quora.com/How-long-does-it-t ... h-the-moon