Awesome Video of Perseverance's Landing on Mars

When we watched the landing on February 18, Elisa kind of complained that they were using simulations -- like the rest of us, she has come to expect actual video of important events.  Well, now we have it.  Actual video of the parachute deployment, the decent, heat shield separation, dust from the Sky Crane rockets, the whole thing.   Wonderful!   See above. 

The full press conference is worth watching:

Here we learn that the placement of these cameras was inspired by the sports camera that enabled one of the NASA/JPL guys to watch his daughter's gymnastic back flip from her perspective.  As they discussed the images from the spacecraft,  I found myself thinking of my little Astrocam Estes rocket in the Dominican Republic, our kite-camera adventures in the Azores, and the key-chain video camera that Billy and I flew on a rocket in the Shenandoah Valley. 

We also learn that the parachute color pattern contains a hidden message... (see below for the solution, worked out by a fellow in France.) 

One of the JPL guys noted that we've all had a tough year, and he hopes that these images will bring some joy to people.  Indeed. 

And wow, there are microphones!  They show the mic in the press conference video, and they play audio of the sound of Martian wind. 

There was a nice shout out to Sojourner from 1997 (the year my son Billy was born).  

------------------------------

Someone cracked the code in the parachute coloration: 

"DARE MIGHTY THINGS"

and the JPL Coordinates

https://twitter.com/FrenchTech_paf/status/1363992051734478852

LA6NCA's German Military WWII Receivers, and a Luftwaffe Receiver with FAST QSY

Discussions of old military radio gear are dominated by talk of U.S. radios.   Yesterday in the comments section of the SWLing Post I found two interesting videos about German WWII equipment.  Above you can see LA6NCA's receivers.  Below there's a video of a Luftwaffe receiver with an amazing capacity for really rapid frequency change.  

Bootleggers! Radio Criminality -- Some Jean Shepherd Stories

Thanks to Adam N0ZIB who alerted me to Shep's Cincinnati story about the stolen AM broadcast station.  I then found another YouTube video that had that story, but preceded by an even better tale of ham radio bootlegging.  

Adam found his story on this fantastic YouTube channel -- a collection of Shep stuff: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaip8PM6hvPdKsbID0DNaMA  

Thanks Adam.  73  and EXCELSIOR! 

Perseverance gets to Mars with Parachute and Sky Crane

 

Perseverance under parachute canopy

Perseverance hanging from rocket-powered Sky Crane. 

We had another picture of a spacecraft parachuting to Mars: 

It was from the Phoenix lander in 2008: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2008/05/parachuting-on-mars.html

The Sky Crane picture is also awesome, but having spent some time under canopy, I am especially fond of the parachute photos. Dino KL0S and Kevin AA7YQ know what I'm talking about.  And Mike WA6ARA used to design and test parachutes for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  

My affinity for parachutes probably predates my jumping.  My Estes rockets usually returned to earth by parachute (sometimes they used the more economical "streamers").  And my grandfather had a little kite contraption that would send a parachute up to a kite where the device  would hit a cork on the line and release the parachute.  He used to attach a dollar bill to the toy parachutist for the kids in the neighborhood.  Decades later, my dad got one of these, and we frequently flew it during beach vacations.  So I like parachutes.   

AIRBORNE! 

A Step Closer to the Elser-Mathes Cup? Ham Receives Signals from Mars

 

That is the antenna that Scott Tilley VE7TIL  used to receive signals from the Chinese spacecraft Tianwen-1 in orbit of Mars.  In a recent SpaceWeather article, Scott comments on the importance of SDR receivers in these deep space reception efforts.  

https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2021/02/16/ham-radio-signals-from-mars/

I've been watching the Elser-Mathes cup for a long time. I dedicated my book "SolderSmoke  -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" to my kids, Billy and Maria, noting that they were both possible future winners of this most prestigious award.  Scott Tilley's work has put us a step closer to an award ceremony for some intrepid radio amateur. 

Here is a good article on the Elser-Mathes Cup: 

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/June2016/Schoenfeld.pdf

Scott was in the news last year for finding a zombie satellite: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2020/04/quarantine-search-for-zombie-satellite.html

A Problem with the San Jian PLJ6-LED Counter

I had hoped to use this handy and cheap little frequency counter to add some glowing Juliano Blue to the frequency readout on my Quarantine Hodgepodge rig.   I've used these boards with my BITX20, my HA-600A,  and with my DX-100/HQ-100 rigs.  But guess what -- these boards do not work with the BITX40 module board that is the heart of the Quarantine Hodgepodge.  And the reason why is interesting. 

Here is what happens:  First, you plug in the IF frequency of your rig.  In my case 12 MHz.  You connect your VFO output to the signal input on the PLJ6.  You power up the PLJ6.  You then have to select one of two IF frequency options.  One of these options ADDS your IF frequency to whatever it detects at the signal input.  In my case, for a 7.2 MHz signal it would detect a VFO signal at 4.8 MHz. If it were to ADD this signal to the IF freq,  it would readout 16.8 MHz.  And it does.  But obviously that is wrong.  So you go to the other option -- this one SUBTRACTS the designated IF frequency FROM whatever it finds at the signal input.  So here we get 4.8 - 12 =  -7.2   Almost perfect right?  But here is the problem:  The PLJ6 can't handle negative numbers!  So it displays 000000.  Not helpful. 

Here is the manual: 

https://www.mpja.com/download/35057tebasic%20manual.pdf

I didn't have this trouble with any of the other rigs because none of them required the use of negative numbers.  My BITX 20 for example had an IF of 11 MHz and has the VFO running a bit above 3 MHz -- so the PLJ6 just adds the IF to the VFO signal and Bob is my uncle.  Similar problem-free addition takes place with the other rigs. 

I found some discussion on this problem on the internet.  Here is one: 

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/bitx40_and_plj_6led_frequency/4330098?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,0,4330098 

Some of the respondents didn't seem to understand the problem.  Others hint that the ability to handle negative numbers was as some point in the code for the PLJ6 device,  and may somehow be accessible, but no further info is provided. 

I have already worked up a possible solution, but I'm interested in how you folks would approach this problem.   Any thoughts or suggestions?  I will reveal my solution in the days ahead.   

James West, Inventor of the Electret Mic, has THE KNACK

 

James West (r) with Gerhard Sessler (l)  Bell Labs 1976

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/17/james-west-began-40-years-at-bell-labs-with-world-changing-microphone-tech/

For many reasons, this is a really nice story.  It is about a kid with The Knack, a kid who, like young James Clerk Maxwell, wanted to understand how things work.   It is also a technology story, the story of the invention of a device very important to us: the electret microphone. (Remember the earlier carbon mics in telephones?  I'll bet more than a few of our readers are guilty of stealing a few of those mics from pay phones.)  And it is a reminder of the benefits of helping kids who might need a mentor... or and Elmer.    

Thanks Hack-A-Day.  And three cheers for James West. 

Phasors and the Propeller Analogy from Walla Walla University

We covered this excellent and very illuminating work before. As a follow-up, student Konrad McClure was kind enough to send me this video, which goes the extra mile with the propeller analogy. 

For me, the most interesting aspect of this is that it provides an explanation of the phase differences between upper and lower sidebands.   I need to study more about aliasing and the Nyquist criteria.  

Check out the video.  It get us a lot closer the an intuitive understanding;  math often falls short in this area. 

Thanks Konrad! 

See also: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2020/09/mixer-insights-using-propellers-and.html

Please send feedback to Konrad via the comment box below. 

Put this Chart on the Wall Above Your Workbench

 

If you are like me and sometimes forget if R=E^2/P or E^2P, this chart will help. Very useful.  

My Current Rig: The Quarantine Hodgepodge

 

As I continue to Stay In The Shack,  last week I was looking for something to do. This is what I came up with.   

Left to right: 

-- Speaker

-- Ramsey-kit QAMP20 modified for 40. I now have two MTP3055V MOSFETS in there.  

-- BITX40 Module with a solidified VFO from a Galaxy V (note the knob from a Drake 2B!)

-- Power supply 

It puts out about 15 watts SSB.  I was bracing for attacks from the 40 meter waterfall police, but no, everyone said it sounds great.  I had four very nice contacts yesterday.  It was fun. 

Still to do:  Possibly a San Jian frequency counter to give some Juliano Blue glowing numerals for the frequency readout.  This would be a step up from the Juliano Blue sticky note and  corresponding piece of black electrical tape that currently serves as the frequency indicator. 

Jean Shepherd Works Through a Satellite in a School

Ah,  1975.  Obviously a very different time...  I'm not sure if Shep would fit in well in the classrooms of today.  There was bit of Rodney Dangerfield in his demeanor -- that would likely cause some trouble.

 

But this clip was fun.  Shep was right on target when he talked about how getting your ham license used to mean that you'd "mastered a technical art." 

The OSCAR satellite they were using was 2 meters up and 10 meters down.  There was a Heathkit HF transceiver with a transverter.  And a Simpson multimeter.  That mic was a Turner +3 

Thanks to Steven Walters for alerting us to this.  

EXCELSIOR!   

Use Only Telefunken Tubes -- They Are the BEST!

No translation required.