Satellites have max 20 watts transmit!


Just saw this statistic in a NASA video about the Deep Space Array.
Turns out that due to limitations in power gathering, etc. satellites transmit power is only about 20 watts! That is true even for deep space probes which have already breached the limits of the solar system.

Wow.

Imagine being able to see a 20 watt light bulb at Saturn from here.
erik_squires

Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

I very much like how this thread really has nothing about audio, but says everything about Audiogon.
Geoff,
Sorry, yes, understood. :) I wasn't trying to discount the value of a BAMF antenna. :) Just wanted to know if you knew of that antenna being used for satellite tracking.

E
The Arecibo antenna is a radio telescope though, not really used for routine satellite monitoring, is it?

Good news, after Hurricane Maria damaged it, it will now get a 5.8 million dollar upgrade.

https://www.space.com/41519-arecibo-observatory-alpaca-antenna-upgrade.html
TBF, antennas are often described as "high gain" so I’m not sure Geoff was speaking purely about active amplification.

With up to 70m wide dishes, I’m sure those antennas are of extremely high gain, not to mention the digital signal processing and at least some electronic gain that occurs down the pipeline.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Deep_Space_Network#Antennas



Best,
E