Students use homemade radio to contact astronaut

Comments

• schmoey

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  I chuckled when I saw the name Rector.
• Morro

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  That is fantastic. I love shit like this.
• Student0667

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  This is amazing. I don't even know how a radio works and they managed to contact a Space Station with a home made radio. Great work!
• bufli

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  yes... except that should be illegal... just think about it, anyone with some electronics background can build a simple radio... give it enough juice and u can start to overrun local raido frequencies etc.
• primexx

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  well, using it for malicious purposes should be illegal. using it for novel purposes which have the potential to be malicious should not be stigmatized, both to avoid shooting yourself in the foot (they're the ones who figured out the technology, after all), and also to stimulate scientific advancement.
• Morro

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  primexx;46498 said:

  well, using it for malicious purposes should be illegal. using it for novel purposes which have the potential to be malicious should not be stigmatized, both to avoid shooting yourself in the foot (they're the ones who figured out the technology, after all), and also to stimulate scientific advancement.

  "Bricks can be used to hurt people! I say we outlaw bricks!!!"
• bufli

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  the communication frequencies are auctioned off (for millions) to corporations
  therefor anyone using the frequencies for a school project or for fun is unauthorized to do so...
  i mean whats the point of having restrictions and auctions in place if we can justify it by "it was to progress scientific advancement"
  IMO there was no advancement made... the advancement was made during the space race decades ago
  
  btw I'm not tryn to bash them, i think its cool and all what they did, but i mean to some extent we need to draw the line :P
• primexx

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  ^ yea and you should pay pharmaceutical giants royalty for using genes that they patented
• PhilB

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  bufli;46504 said:

  the communication frequencies are auctioned off (for millions) to corporations
  therefor anyone using the frequencies for a school project or for fun is unauthorized to do so...
  

  There are many frequencies that people can still use for research and other hobbies, and others require special licenses that are not difficult to obtain if you have a technical background (like the amateur radio bands, etc). I'm not sure what frequencies they used (since the article didn't mention it), but most likely something in the HF range, which is much easier to propagate over long distances, and mostly in the amateur range.
  
  And frequencies are not "auctioned off for millions to corporations". Corporations apply for them, and they are allocated based on demand and supply. Everyone who gets a license to operate on a certain frequency pays the same price (for example, a base unit costs X, a mobile (handheld) unit costs Y, and X and Y are the same for all commercial frequencies). Broadcast frequencies follow the same type of rule.
  
  You can find all this information on Industry Canada's website (assuming it's better than it used to be.)
  
  
  Phil
• bufli

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  yes they apply by placing a BID ie sum of money ... look @ globalive if u need more of an example of how the cell freq's are auctioned off....
• JayDub

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  I give this article a rating of: meh.
• PhilB

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  bufli;46701 said:

  yes they apply by placing a BID ie sum of money ... look @ globalive if u need more of an example of how the cell freq's are auctioned off....

  They only did that for one part of the spectrum allocated to the cellular frequencies (see: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/05/26/tech-spectrum.html ).
  
  That is not how it works for the rest, and there are, as I mentioned, frequencies where one can experiment, or easily get licenses to use.
  
  For the record, I've had an advanced amateur license since 1991, and worked as a radio inspector for Industry Canada, in the Radio Spectrum Management Group back in 1995.
  
  Trust me on this one.
  
  Phil