EEVblog 1547 (Part 1) - Contacting the Voyager 2 Space Probe

How do you contact the Voyager 2 space probe?
PART 1: A detailed explanation by Richard Stephenson from the NASA Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex in Canberra on how the 70m DSS-43 dish at the CDSCC is used to still contact the Voyager 2 probe.
You can follow Richard on Twitter: / nascom1
Low noise receivers: safe.nrao.edu/...
NOTE: This video is a re-release from the EEVblog Discover channel from 2017, to hopefully find a new audience.
Forum: www.eevblog.co...
00:00 - How do you contact the Voyager 2 space probe?
03:14 - Voyager ISN'T the lowest signal level!
06:29 - The Failed Capacitor and the Best Lock Frequency
09:00 - Transmit uplink power
10:00 - System noise temperature
10:30 - S and X band receivers
11:42 - Mars Reconnaissance Ordbiter and the Signal to Noise Ratio
12:39 - Maximum Transmit power is WHAT?
13:12 - The effects of weather
14:16 - Power supply and backups
15:29 - The roll of the Deep Space Network
16:50 - Mag Roll Calibration
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T-Shirts: teespring.com/s...
#ElectronicsCreators #NASA #voyager

[@toastrecon]

Crazy to think that those circuits are still working 50+ years on, and some of the engineers and technicians have already passed away. Probably a sense of pride for them - building something that was still working so many decades later.

[@jameshackett9992]

Theirs a team still running voyager, tv show, "its quieter in the twilight", 7 people left running the show

[@toastrecon]

@@Okurka. close enough. :-) I thought he said 1970.

[@ecospider5]

The temperature variations those circuits go through must be crazy. That’s some durable solder joints.

[@toastrecon]

@@ecospider5 also, all of that cosmic radiation. I think he said 2025 was about the limit of the TEG power source?

[@RK-kn1ud]

Really makes you wonder how horrible the brain drain really has been over the years.

[@beefchicken]

Shout out to Dave for the out of the way interview style. This was captivating.

[@EEVblog]

Richard is a natural educator and knows his stuff, he didn't need much prompting!

[@czarodzi9967]

It was great to hear the engineer talking for almost 20 minutes about the technology!

[@fredfred2363]

This is as good as it gets without all the algebra and maths. Love it!

[@sdrnovice2000]

I just listened without video. Hell of a podcast!!!!

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

My husband built portions of the antenna and waveguide systems on the Voyagers. He gets a bit of enjoyment out of the fact that things he made are now out of the solar system, and may live on intact longer than our planet will.

[@Sonnell]

Wow, I hope he gets more than a little enjoyment out of this!

[@Minty1337]

not to burst your bubble, but once voyager hits the galactic wind and isn't protected by the sun, it's gonna be pretty much destroyed, so as long as we don't nuke each other, we'll outlive voyager.... i hope....

[@ecospider5]

That’s so cool.

[@Spookieham]

​​@@Minty1337 most of the analysis I've seen puts Voyagers lifespan in billions of years or more if it's isn't impacted by a sizeable object. If not it will easily outlive the Earth itself. Voyagers 1 and 2 could quite easily be the only physical traces in the Universe of humanity.

[@Minty1337]

@@Spookieham im still very impressed by NASA engineers, but im sorry, there's absolutely no way voyager has any chance of surviving outside of the solar system's heliosphere, cosmic rays will destroy the computer. and none of that even mentions the only power source left is solar panels, which are not only wearing away, but get further from the sun. once those batteries stop being cycled, they will die and they will never be able to recharge again, and voyager will become a rock. i assume most people giving those multi-billion year lifespans are referring to the structure or the golden record, which absolutely will survive basically forever, but the computer will die, and it wont be sending us any more data within the next few decades.

[@ecospider5]

I feel like I am experiencing his emotions of being able to communicate this information to others. He is obviously very proud of what they do there, and he should be. Talking to people like this always excites me. No matter how much reading you have done around his area of expertise he has knowledge you don’t have.

[@gunderd]

I know there's a small well to draw this kind of content from, but this is exactly what I'd like to see more of! You can tell how passionate Richard is and he knows his world inside-out. Amazing stuff. Thanks Dave!

[@EEVblog]

Finding interesting stuff to visit isn't particually hard, but finding someone as good as Richard to explain it potentially is.

[@peterjeffery8254]

This is one your best videos of all time David. Thank you.

[@MrSnoots]

This was way better than the thumbnail suggested! Super cool that people have figured out how to communicate over billions of kilometers. Also interesting to hear what kind of issues need to be considered when doing that.

[@stepheneyles2198]

Exactly! We have enough trouble keeping our 458MHz radios working over a few miles so listening to this was enlightening! Thanks Richard and Dave for introducing us!

[@azpcox]

When NASA lost one of the Stereo spacecraft behind the sun, the signals they were picking up trying to recover it were around -190 to -200 dBm. Simply incredible.

[@EvertG8086]

What the hell is the noise floor? I can barely pick up the noaa satellite directly overhead my house with a noise floor of -60 dBm.

[@palharley]

Wonderful, thank everyone for giving you the time to document this incredible piece of space history.

[@stevedaenginerd]

This was awesome! Thanks Dave for taking the time to put this interview together and take the time to go out there to do it. 😁 I can't wait for part 2! I learned so much about a craft that I thought I knew a lot about how the comms happened. Yup, I love the mixed content you do, anyone that wants this kind of thing split out to a separate channel needs a realignement! Lol 🤓

[@EEVblog]

This was already split out onto another channel 6 years ago :-D

[@stevenflogerzi1955]

I live in the Los Angeles area and I was visiting a friend in Canberra back in 1983. I made it out to Tidbinbilla during one of the days when they were at work and spent a few hours at the visitor center and adjacent area that you were allowed to view the dishes. Quite a sight indeed, the dishes are massive. I am glad Dave was able to bring this to his channel. :)

[@walterpark8824]

Very, very cool! We’re so enamoured of tech that’s brand new, but this thing is doing great science with hardware and software from 1977! That’s delightful. Your informants description was technical and clear as a bell. He hears a bell ringing 15 million km away? Fantastic!

[@stephenhicks826]

I remember the Voyager launches. Thank you for this - nice to know that the missions still go on.

[@shazam6274]

A MAY ZING !!! Thanks Richard and Dave for this excellent insight. Weeks, nay years, worth of information in less than20 minutes! The 2nd even more amazing part is that I understood everything he was discussing ! Thank you very much Dave for letting Richard do the talking because if it was you, this would have been a 3hour video 😀😁.

[@Lucky32Luke]

Do you know a better analogy to loneliness than Voyager 2? Imagine yourself to be as far as Voyager 2. The mind boggles. Amazing engineering! Thanks Dave for making this video.

[@Lucky32Luke]

I think or put it this way, I do hope that most engineers going into engineering is dreaming to do ground breaking stuff such as this. Some of them make it and do the unimaginable. Watching them do this amazing stuff makes me proud. Engineers should have a national day in the calendar. Just as all scientists should have one dedicated day in the year.

[@markoprskalo6127]

It's best analogy and I sometimes think that I am just like voyager 2 space probe and sending weird signals and telemetry

[@fredfred2363]

Bloody excellent, super nerdy doco. More please! Just love the detail and inside tricks. A real education, even for experienced engineers. 👍🏻🇬🇧😀

[@AnalogueGround]

Thanks Dave - an incredible insight and those tiny signal levels are just bonkers!

[@organiccold]

Being an Amateur Radio for about 25 years i understand exactly what he is saying about the RF. The output power is crazy though. Those RTGs have aife of +-88 years according to a NASA video i seen yesterday. Amazing. Thank you Dave

[@rabidbigdog]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1142">19:02</a> That is one GLORIOUS tree in the right-frame all the way through the last part with Richard!

[@vincei4252]

Ah man, would have been great to see the transmitting hardware. Great video, Dave. 73

[@EEVblog]

This is only part 1, there is a look at the Klystron to come.

[@vincei4252]

@@EEVblog Awesome, looking forward to seeing it!

[@wv_]

It’s possible that the actual farthest man made object from earth is a manhole cover (or what remains of it) shot upwards during a nuclear test at at least 4 times the velocity of Voyager 1. Over 60km/s although some people think it’s more likely it was vaporised before leaving the atmosphere. If any of it was not vaporised it would be. (Operation Blumbbob) it could have been travelling much faster but it was only visible for one frame on the high speed camera so they have a lower bound for the speed.

[@aerobrick1251]

Thanks for the wonderful video! I really enjoyed hearing the real world figures he gave. I hope you're able to show us more about these very sensitive measurements!

[@PS-xc2kb]

Excellent com systems perspective. Whoever designed the system had a a really forward looking mindset.

[@gadgestlab]

Thanks for sharing your awesome field trips with us. Great topic! You always seem to go to the coolest places.

[@pattonpending7390]

Isnt the thermal noise floor of the universe (leftover of the Big Bang) -174dBm/Hz? Thats a very tight link budget!

[@kostasantoniadis5451]

Great video Dave! Of course we all still love your big knife videos, but this stuff is rellly interesting. Ps Cudos to all the engineers and technicians that made and maintain all of these!

[@jameslucarelli7172]

I cant wait till we launch another voyager style probe. Awsome stuff dave👍

[@Raketenclub]

oh we did :D

[@hgbugalou]

The deep space network is one of mankind's greatest achievements and a truly international effort. The Australian site is arguably one of the most important ones too with so little land in the southern hemisphere. Very cool to learn more about it.

[@drdeconstruct9341]

Very excited to see this. About to start working on the DSN at JPL - feel like this is required viewing. Thanks for the amazing interview!

[@Spookieham]

Thanks for reposting this on the main channel after the Twitter discussion Dave - greatly appreciated and hopefully it will find an even bigger audience.

[@SeanBZA]

If you have been following CuriousMarc you will see the entire system used on Voyager is derived from Apollo, and that they had to undo some of the modifications made to it after Apollo to use on Voyager. But the connection system is still derived from the original Apollo one.

[@jh77sly]

The spacecraft power supply could have malfunctioning transducers - made me think of Bass 305 Virtual Bass album... the first track has a line "Please check your transducers. They could be malfunctioning." Gave me a chuckle.

[@jbrown468]

This is such an amazing video. Thank you for re-releasing it!

[@EEVblog]

Thanks. Wasn't sure how people would think about me re-releasing stuff.

[@RK-kn1ud]

@@EEVblog When you first released this content, I basically said "that's cool I guess". Now that I'm a lot older, I now realize how unbelievably intelligent these people are over even the most highly skilled people I've ever met. It's a great educational experience.

[@johnsmiht7776]

WOW! The whole thing is AWESOME! I could not move once I started watching. I wish the average person could understand how fantastic this is. These are the giants on whose shoulders we will stand!

[@gwharton68]

Dave , that is a great video. Voyager is an amazing engineering feet. Hats off to all involved. I have toured Goldstone some years back and Canberra is sure a lot prettier.

[@eifelstromer]

A very informative technical video. Voyager 2 is probably the most successful space project.

[@knightsun2920]

Nice to see, my dad tracked local Satellites and visited Australia twice when he worked at Telesat.

[@MrMesospheric]

There really is nothing quite like someone who knows their stuff and enjoys it. A really interesting video that even grabbed the attention of family members who are not so scientifically-minded. 👍 Thanks!

[@PaulTopping1]

Clearly talking to the right guy! Interesting stuff.

[@minigpracing3068]

Thank you, these trips are always fascinating.

[@redsquirrelftw]

It's incredible that we can still talk with that space craft to this day.

[@Raketenclub]

...and tell it: "you are happy, go on, we love you" :D

[@xavierdemers-bouchard2747]

Dave, jump in that shot, chat with the man! He was so interesting and passionate but it could be more human if you're in there geeking out on my behalf. This said, that was ridiculously amazing. I can't believe you got that technical walkthrough for us. Thank you!!! Beautiful stuff. Truly a Bobby Dazzler. A think of beauty forever.

[@paaabl0.]

So awesome! Thank you for this amazing and detailed tour!

[@andye2005]

Thank you, one of the best videos I've ever seen. It will be a very sad day when we cannot hear the Voyagers any more.

[@leandrolaporta2196]

They can hear -168DBm omfg! That's unbelievable, how the hell can they cool the lna to only 4.5k !!! State of the art indeed

[@bwadley75655]

Incredible video I have often wondered about how they communicate with earth. Thank you!

[@MatthewSuffidy]

Apparently Voyager 2 had both main and backup radio receivers develop faults, so it does not really receive transmissions that great. I think maybe like they lowered the baud and filtered the transmission. Apparently at the time all the planets were in a line up for a slingshot ballistic track. It was maybe mentioned in 2001 more literally lined up planets.

[@rockpadstudios]

Wow - fantastic video. I could listen to this all day

[@Petertronic]

I remember this from the earlier upload, but well worth watching again, brilliant interview

[@Lampoonlongtails]

Wow, what a privilege to visit the C.D.S.C.C. in Tidbinbilla. Perhaps for a future outing, you could organize a virtual tour of the Parks ground-station, as in the movie, The Dish. I'm sure, you will be afforded a better tour of the facilities, than us, 'great unwashed masses', and we will be able to enjoy, a virtual ride on your shoulders!

[@electronicbob6237]

It would be great..to see Voyager Signal on a Spectrum Analyser...maybe in the next part hopefully...😀

[@OffGridAussiePrepper]

Well done Dave, cant wait for part 2

[@bokisan7624]

Thanks Dave and Richard! Great video. I've always wondered how the Sun doesn't interfere with the signal sent to Voyager from Earth. From that distance, its antenna is practically facing the Sun. Very interesting.

[@StressBlister]

Thank you for these wonderful and informative videos. Always something new to learn.

[@paulkocyla1343]

Awesome! It´s so satisfying to get detailed facts and figures about the system. Thanx so much!!

[@electronics.unmessed]

Very interesting for radio fans. A lot of information directly from the expert. 👍👍👍

[@sethalump]

This was rad. Always love hearing how excited NASA folks are about their jobs.

[@llucos100]

Awesome video, like this format of content!

[@chouseification]

nice field trip Dave! :D

[@nigelsears7191]

wow ! thank you for bringing us this Dave

[@Jake-ug6fk]

I didn't realize this was a re-release until looking closer at DSS43 in the background.... there's been a few changes since this video.

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

Awesome!!! Nice to hear Mega Maid from Spaceballs (‘gone from suck to blow’) has found work maintaining Rf transparency by sucking out all the moisture. If no one gets the ref or the joke, my apologies. Great idea for a series. Something I’ve just started working on, is attempting to access and download the imaging data from the South Korean Lunar Orbiter, Danuri. Similarly to Voyager comms, telemetry and command uplink is via S-Band, while payload data downlink is somewhere in the X-band. At the top of an ever growing shopping list are the freqs of the Danuri where I may find the data I wish to access. This will be my first attempt at video production and posting. On top of that , I’m fairly new to computer science and electrical engineering. But, I’m getting old, I don’t like that I’m getting old and I’m bored. Thanks for your videos, your forum and all the other information resources you put out there. It’s all greatly appreciated.

[@kroberts5698]

This posting was great! Thank You Dave.

[@slypig24]

Wow, very interesting. Thanks for that tour Dave.

[@Slikx666]

Finally, a video that I understand most of it. 😀👍

[@discophil6726]

This is facinating!

[@DadofScience]

Awesome. Thanks Dave!

[@timmackey3401]

Fantastic interview. Thank you.

[@ZaneDaMagicPufferDragon]

Awesome 👏🏻 thanks for sharing this with us!!!!

[@sumantkhalate]

.... with your host Dave Jones from the EEVblog. Please bring back the EEVDiscovery channel.

[@scowell]

Would be a nice addition to get a visit to the vertex room... and out into the dish! I used to have my own dish, when I ran the FDVLBA in west Texas... the backup system was only enough to stow the (25m) dish, so a 460ci Ford engine was enough... no life-or-death importance to radio astronomy. We had all the same stuff... steerable sub-reflector, dichroic filter, even a set of crossed dipoles on the sub for 6meters. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@richardockman8303]

Great video Dave , Richard Stephenson's Talk was clear for those of us who are space nerds.Australia has been there for ever step in the NASA program.

[@Plan-C]

The engineers who figure out how to compensate for a bad capacitor on a 1970's vintage probe that left out solar system years ago..... Next level

[@RK-kn1ud]

1) The fact that this Australian guy talks about bearing clearance in thous blows my mind. 2) 0.007" is a crazy amount of clearance when you're talking about the surface area that these bearings probably have in this particular scenario. 3) The fact that he knows SO much more about the antenna other than it's bearing clearance is insane. This guy lives and breathes this antenna. He probably has more knowledge that the sum of all the PhDs I've ever met in my entire lifetime. Entire individuals might spend their entire lifetime focused on the bearing clearance, but this guy seems to be well-versed in RF as well. Crazy. 3) I would like to see the oil pump...Dave, please make this happen. 4) I hope he writes a book that people will read.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

It's amazing the Robustness that these devices demonstrate. If you build it well it will last.

[@FranLab]

Cool!

[@petehiggins33]

4.5 kelvins

[@andysPARK]

Loved this interview, thanks.

[@tudibelle]

Such a brilliant video, thank you

[@cherrybacon9790]

Born in 77 few days prior the launch of V2, I truly enjoyed this inside story. Thanks Dave!

[@aussietesla7821]

Very interesting stuff! thanks for sharing

[@tomhumphries6606]

Good on ya cobbber! Sorry, I'll get me coat. Fantastic, very informative, thanks.

[@retireeelectronics2649]

Very nice. Visited the Parks Radio Telescope many years ago and that was impressive also.

[@simonbaxter8001]

Fabulous video, Dave! Big shout out to not only the tech that's involved, but to the people that thought of this stuff in the first place. I thought I knew alot about RF, but after watching this, I know Jack s**t!

[@maximus6884]

loved this.

[@__Dude_]

That ws a nice one, Dave. Thanks!

[@danielepatane3841]

I have never payed attention to details like introducing noise in the chain of amplification 😲 I never thought of cooling LNA to almost absolute zero! But that the difference between me and a professional 😄. Very enlightening! thanks for sharing!

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

*Long live Voyager 1 and 2!*

[@colourist.]

Absolutely fantastic film .

[@jimangel2011]

WOW! AMAZING Video Dave..

[@grayaj23]

Great video, Dave!

[@uja1096]

An animation showing just how far voyager 2 is from earth would be awesome.

[@EEVblog]

Sure, but you can't visualise earth-pluto-earth-pluto ?

[@Sabrinahuskydog]

@@EEVblog I'm considering using earth-pluto-earth-pluto as the name in an RPG game.

[@andyburns]

This bloke clearly knows EVERYTHING there is to know about the voyagers, his telescopes and the signal propagation between them ...

[@TokkanFX]

Excellent, thank you.

[@mrfoodarama]

Awesome stuff Dave!

[@Sheleronk]

I got a little confused because like 10 seconds into the video I was like.. now hold on, I remember watching this video! And sure I did back in 2017, happily reawatched it again tho, it's a remarkable piece of technology for sure

[@AKATEATime]

Hey Richard, Dave would like to know if he can take one of those home and put it in his yard. Fascinating!! Thanks Richard & Dave!

[@JeffreyJonesRecumbentRider]

Wow! 75 kilowatts tx power, what's the ERP? I'd hate to be in the path of that signal. BTW, I visited Goldstone in 1981 right after they had increased the dish to 75 meters for the encounter with Neptune. It's mind-blowing to see these antenna close up.

[@TomKappeln]

When V'ger 2&1 started i was 11 years old ... i remeber the starts !

[@guhropitu-ec2gd]

Thanks for an excellent video

[@hotbrakepads]

Amazing video. Thank you!

[@zebo-the-fat]

30 hour ping time... I had an ISP like that a few years ago!