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    We a a Volume-4 Number 10 October 1986 SATELLITE TV RECEPTION ‘Much has been said and written about satellite TV over the past few years. But what does this entail? Can anyone receive such programmes? What is the cost of a suitable installation? How does the law stand in regard to reception of these signais and the installation of the necessary equipment? In this introductory article we will attempt to give answers to these questions and others, as well as give a theoretical appreciation and practical information on the subject. ctor technology Satellite TV receiption .... Electronic propulsion for satellite Research and the future . Software for the BBC computer Computers of tomorrow .....----ecceeseseesees Projects Loudspeaker impedance meter Headphone amplifier .. 723 as a constant current source ... Real load resistors... Portable mixer -3 .... 10.17 10.74 News and views ...... Corrections .... guide lines New products .... Switchboard .... Classified ads ... Index of advertisers selex - 16 Measuring techniques ....... The heavy weight of electronics Unknown transformer data . Transformer coils in series & parallel ..... NOTE: High-power AF Amplifier - 2 wil be featured in our Nov'86 issue and notin this issue as mentioned earlier. een Publisher: CA. Chandarana ElecToR evecrmomics evr. cro Television standards peerrornner ca what now? atest Howse. Bath Pace Uae Two important events took place this summer that will have a pro- Eaton: Len Seymour found effect on TV broadcasting in the future. One, the Peacock ur 8 Report, is of interest to Britain only and does not really deal with ckoowkraat 24 | technological matters; the other, a CCIR motion, affects the entire DET Kasco western world. In true fashion, the first was given extensive pub- iektor sat licity, the second hardly any at all Nationale; Le Seau; 8° $2 70 Balled — Fence The Peacock Report will probably affect television broadcasting in Raedersdort | Britain for the remainder of the century. Although it contains many Sekt Vetag GmbH | welcome recommendations, only one of these has a direct bear- eta Stae 25 ing on the design of TV receivers. Another, with some importance itor: EJ A Krempatsauer” to the telecommunications industry, suggests that national tele- | communication systems should be allowed to act as common car riers for a full range of services, including TV programmes. ‘Voula — Athens — Greece tor: € Xanthouls Beko SCE Designers of TV receivers may have a busy time ahead in view of ome s the proposal that all new television sets sold or rented in the Editor D Famagal United Kingdom should be adapted to receive direct subscription re & Bento Ute services by 1 January 1988. steane, 320" Reauaarcmones It is interesting to speculate as fo how such a direct subscription service would work. In ali probability, it will entail a form of scrambling. Television sets would then have to be fitted with a special socket into which viewers would have to plug a decoder. Such a decoder, whatever form it takes, would cost the viewer money over and above the cost of the television set. Of the various decoding systems in existence, the one used by France's Canal Plus is probably the most cost-effective. International 6 & techoieat rm SW Walraver In the French system, a subscriber rents a keypad on which a per- sonal number is keyed in, This number is changed monthly, so that the subscriber has to renew it twelve times a year at the | appropriate fee. | Such a subscription service could not be introduced easily, par. Sirour ger araesgemeem st | ticularly since the relevant equipment is not yet available. | Other than that, the report does not say much about the quality or ee rrr | technical requirements of television services. But then, that was not seen al part of Prof. Peacock’s brief, as politicians are not really interested in such minor matters, From a technological! point of view, a more important event was | the lamentable decision by the European delegates at the Comité | Consultatif International de Radiocommunication | (CCIR=International Radio Consultative Commitiee) to reject a | Japanese proposal, backed by the USA, for a world standard for high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasting (1125 lines; 5:3 aspect ratio; suitable for projection onto a large screen) It appears that the Europeans were afraid that Japanese pro- ducers would dominate the Don't they already? Copyright © 1986 Elektuur B.V ‘The Netherlands world market for video equipment. nor ine cctcbr 1098 10-05 SEMIKRON innovation+ service welding offers many secon sctoba 1308 10-09 _ CLEANLINESS — the invisible Dimension of Quality— | DISCOVER WITH KIRLOSKAR CLEAN AIR SYSTEMS. | A must for Dustfree, sterile Atmosphere in | Electronics, Aeronautics, Engineering, Medical, Chemical and Pharmaceuticals. | Air Shower Clean Bench: VerticallHorizontal _Elactronic Cleaner © Prov Clean Ai, © Idea! for ndustial Cloan Air Systems oc KIRLOSKAR sD ELECTRODYNE PVT.LTD. eer ine catober tea 10-11 MEETING THE NEEDS OF NEW GENERATION 4 ™ Fa ELECTRONICS eRe ee eee hea tel Lhe Issue) SATELLITE TV RECEPTION by J & R v, Terborgh Much has been said and written about satellite TV over the past few years. But what does this entail 2? Can anyone receive such programmes? What is the cost of a suitable instailation? How does the law stand in regard fo reception of these signals and the installation of the necessary equipmen?? In this article we will attempt to give answers fo these questions and others, as well as give a theoretical appreciation and practical information on the subject. Strictly speaking, the sctellite is a repeater station: it receives the pro- grammefs) from the TV studio vic a suitable transmitter and then transmits it back to earth at a different frequency. | Most existing and pro- | jected IV satellites travel in a geostationary orbit, that is, they remain always above the same point on the earths surface (but see Electric propulsion for sofetiies elsewhere in this To receive the satellite nals, which are trans- mited in the 10.9 to 125 Ghz (gigarhertz=one thousand million hertz) band, a parabolic aerial, popularly called a dish Gerial or just dish, is needed. The aerial must have an unobstructed view of that part of the sky where the satellite is located (these locations will be discussed later in this article). if he aerial is placed in the garden, even a small tree or washing-line post between satellite and receiving dish can ruin reception. It Is possible fo put the dish ‘on the roof of a house, but | this involves planning per 10-20 mission (which is, we understand, not required for installation in the garden). Wherever the Gerial is situated, it is important that itis fastened securely (most installation engineers recommend about 200 kg of concrete anchorage In the garden) fo prevent its sailing away in high winds. The aerial signal is fed to one or two down con. verters (depending on which programmes are to be received), which are mounted onto the dish From there the signal is fed to the IDU (indoor unit) tuner, in which it is con: verted into o suitable video input fo the conven. tional TV receiver. Although the satellites are bout 23000 miles away from the receiving aerial the colour video signal {and teletext signal) is of excellent quality. In Britain, signals can be received from iwo different satellites: Eutelsat | - F4, commonly called ECS 4 and Intelsat V - F4, The first carries ten European ‘channels (of which four in English), while Intelsat transmits four English- language programmes See also Table 2 in this article and Flektor India, March 1986, p. 3-25. When you want to switch from one satellite 10 the other, the dish has to be repo- sitioned, and for this it Is best to rent or buy a motor-driven aerial. Full programmes are given in the monthly Safetite TV Europe (4.50), Costs vary widely. Dishes may be rented from DER at an initial outlay of ‘around £750. Complete systems cost from just over £4000 for a DIY outtit to ‘over £3000 for one with a motor-driven dish, So far, the programmes discussed here are trans- mitted by communications satellites with spare capacity. The transmitters on board these satellites are of relatively low power, so that large (1.5 to 1.8m diameten receiving dishes need to be used. Many European countries are planning fo launch a Direct Broadcasting Satellite (D8S) within the next few months, Such satellités have powerful transmitters, so that rela- tively smalt (less than 4m diameter) dishes will sut- | fice to receive th signals. These smaller dishes will be much cheaper and much easier fo install. The BBC had originally planned to launch their DBS service this autumn, but these plans had to be aban- doned, because of the ‘enormous costs involved Plans for a British DBS ser- vice are now being developed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (BA) AAs regards direct recep: tion of programmes fans- mitted by communications satellites, the law (at least in the’ UK) is not clear. Strictly speaking, no private individual is a lowed to intercept com- munications transmissions, but the fact that the equipment fo do so can now openly be rented or bought from reputable suppliers seems to indi- cate that in this insiance the government does not intend to enforce the requirement: for a special receiving licence. ‘Compared with terrestiai transmitters operating in VHF/UHF TV repeater band, TV satellites 4. have a much larger plik station for TV and data comms geostationary satel 1 uplink (14/17 Gt, 70-95 dW EIRP) downlink (11 Gie 40. 48 BW EIRP) = at sat eros aap (tachi) sotto scale 90° w. s 275° E90" Lg. Inte, 0° ECs te ‘6081-16 Fig. 1. Two geostationary satellites (la) providing signals 10 stations that could not possibly be reached but with an exten- sive network of terrestial wansmitters. Figures ib Ic show how a dish aerial 1s pointed towards the satellite using augle of elevation @ and orbital pos- ition with respect to the eenwich meridian, coverage area (footpriny; 2. operate at frequencies of the order of 12 GHz rather than 50. . 850 MHz; 3. employ FM rather than ‘AM for the vision chan- nels which conse- quently need a bandwidth of 27 10 36 MHz instead of about 7 Mi 4. may offer more pro- grammes at a time whilst being capable of supporting enhanced multi qural subcarrier systems. The present article is not Intended to cover such topical subject aspects as economical viability of satellites as compared with terrestial transmitier networks, launching schedules and arrangements (ESA, NASA), transponder leasing by Intemational consortia, progremme content, legal matters, and the cable vs. satellite debate Neither will it explore details of technical operation, con: struction, and electro chemical/electromag- etical positioning systems of modern satellites (but see Flectric propulsion for sateliites elsewhere in this issue), although these would appear highly interesting subjecis in view of the fast progress of International space technology and SHF ‘engineering, With the foregoing con. straint as fo subject matter in mind, It Is instructive to investigate what can be received using a number of given system par- meters. To this end, a draft may be made of a hypothetical TV satellite receiver system composed of what is currently con- sidered fo have represen- tative characteristics; see Table 4. With this system on Paper we will assess vision ‘and sound quality by means of guided calcula- tion. As to the target satellite, Intelsat V F-4, which car- ries a mainly British pay- load, it should be made quite clear that this is a CSS (communication ser- vice satellite) iniended to service cable network headend stations em- ploying large (diameter 235m) dish aerials and very sophisticated con- verter and transposer equipment, It is only the recent development in GaAs (gallium arsenid) technology that has made It possible to receive this satellite with relatively small (diameter 1.5 m) dishes; LNB’s (low noise block down converters) incorporating GaAs Fels as ultra low noise active devices are currently being offered at com- Petitive prices, enabling private reception of the relatively weak satellite signal. Not all terms used in Table 1 will be clear at first glance, but they will be explained in due course. First, however, it is necessary to know the whereabouts of that tiny spot in the sky. Spotting the satellite The hypothetical receiver system just introduced may be considered either station D or E in Fig: 4a. It should be reiterated how: ever that Table 4 specifies characteristics of a private, not a community (CATV/SMATV) receiver; the requirements for the latter stsior nia abr 1966 10-21 ‘are far more stringent. The revolution time J; for orbiting bodies such as satellites B and C is com- puted from: Tr=1.40818333((a7)+4)*? [h] 0 where = altitude of body above equator [km]; = mean radius of earth; 6374 {km} For the body to be geo- stationary it must travel at @ velocity that results in T, = 2dhours. From (1) it is seen thal the requisite value for a is calculated .40818333((c7)+4)>* ((a16374)+1)9*=17.043236 (c16371)+1=47.043236" i6371=6.6227—4 @=35 822 km. The geostationary orbiting plane is already quite crowded with communi- cation satellites, and regulatory action is called for on part of the WARC (World Administrative Radio Conference) 10 ensure orbital position spacing of not less than 02° (about 450 km), while a servicing (parking) orbit is being considered for spare as well as defective satellites at some 100 km further into space Although gravitational and centrifugal forces are i equilibrium in any orbit, satellites are none the less frequently repositioned by the relevant uplink control centre which obtains its information from monitor. ing telemetric stations. Such positional correc- tions are called for to compensate for satellite movement owing to fluc tuations in the earth’s magnetic field or possible collissions with stray. galactic mater such as meteorites; consider that satellite span (solar cells) may be well in excess of 45 metres, while the absol- Ute orbital velocity Vo in synchronous orbit amounts to no less than Vo=631.35IV to+A) kms] (2) 10-22. lair nia creer 1008 | Given a specific orbital | Ocean) like Intelsat V F4 position of B the receiver | (see Fig. 10}, 2 Is relatively dish elevation angle small (about 10°) at re- | (eee Fig. 1b) will need to | ceiver latitude §2° N. This be established for the rel | means that the dish aerial | evant latitude of the should be located in such recelver location within | a manner that clear sight the satellite's service area. | is ensured towards a point | Obviously, « decteases as | Just above the horizon. the location is further up | It Is evident that the north. Therefore, 8 may be | actual distance to the received with, say, 2 = 22° | geostationary satellite is on the Orkney Islands more than 35 822 km al, (=58° N) while 2 = 29° on | say, 52°N, since the Channel Islands allowance should be (=49° N). made for the sphericity of The requisite angle of the earth and the fact that elevation also depends in | the orbital position may the orbital position of the | not coincide with the satellite; if this is pos- longitude of the receiver itioned at, for instance, location. 60° E (above the Indian | There exists a complex Table 1 ite reception system W object satelite Intelsat V F-4 (27.5° W; 7-118 GHe EIRP = +44 48W) Wm aerial primary feed dish; 1.5 m ciameter. LNB paramowrs: F = 3.48 max; input loss 148 (polarizer: conversion gain >50 de receiver bandwidth: 36 MH ambient tomporawre: 290K | +17° Cl I system 1F1 and total gain: 960.1780 Miz at Ge=B0 JB. 1 cownlead cable ‘attenuation: <4 0B. 1 unobstructed view to satelite positon is assumed. Fig. 2. Rear view of a dish, fitted with the Polar Mount satellite tracking system which enables easy di positioning for satellites at different orbilal positions. Photograph reproduced here by courtesy of Har rison Electronics) Fig, 3. Showing the TV ellie uplink station at ssive, Belgium. (Pholo graph reproduced here by courtesy of Regie Telefone en Telegrafie Belonum) Fig. 4. Basic operation and outlines of dish aerials for use on the I] to 12 GHz band. The offset parabola shown at the left of Fig. 4c 1s an attractive alternative for receplion of future DB satellites, relationship between orbital position, longitude, azimuth and angle of elevation, and this has been taken as the basis for the design of the so- called Polar Mount track ing system, the practical | version of which is shown | in Fig. 2. Once correctly adjusted, the system ‘ensures correct tracking of the polar belt, allowing easy (motorized) pointing of the dish towards satellites at different orbital positions. Many suppliers of satellite receiving equipment can provide customer-specific Charts or tables aiding in finding the correct combi. nations for elevation and czimuth, With reference to Fig. 1a, it Is seen that the term EIRP (effective isotropic radiated power) is used to | specify equivalent | transmitter power, which is the product of aerial gain factor Go and transmitter ‘output power Po, or the sum of these if expressed in Bs; EIRP is expressed in Bs relative to 4 W (dBW) or 41 mW (Bm) EIR Example: Po=20 W; Go=100 times, then EIRP="0l0g10(2000)= +33 dBW or EIRP=+43 dBW + 20.d8 = +33. dBW = +63 dBm Obviously this is a con: venient method of express- ing relatively high or low power levels. I, for instance, downlink Il is run at +45 dBW EIRP, the equivalent power is SB + 4008 346x10'W = 34.6 KW, while uplink | is run at, say, +92 dBW EIRP, or 2B + 9008 = 1.6x10°W 6 1.6 GW. The former value is typically achieved with Po = 20W and Go & + 32dB while the enormous uplink power is ensured with Po = 500 W into an aerial 48 metres ‘across exhibiting a gain of 62GB Figure 3 shows a view of the satellite TV uplink station, System constituents As the parabolic dish is probably the only suitable type of aerial fo offer sut ficient gain at frequencies above 2.5 Ghz, its design ‘and basic operation requires a brief discussion. Remember that our sysiem uses a dish 4.5 m across. Figure 4 shows a number of dish types. The first one, 1) = Viox v0) {5 (ap.4) 1010930 (6(0/.*)) 34p%70.1/0 yerble sektor nde october 1986 10-23 shown in Fig. 4a and re ferred to as the primary focus type, Is probably the best known, and some of its basic design formulas are given inset with the drawing. The Cassegrain aerial (Fig. 4b) Is a more sophisticated type exhibiting improved et ficiency and easier LNB mounting at the focal point at the centre of the feflective surface. The oft set aerial shown at the lett in Fig. dc is exp=cted to become widely used in the future as it can offer higher efficiency than the primary focus type shown {at the right, The teason for this lies in the com- paratively large shadow the LNB mount and sup- port rods throw onto the rellective surface of the latter; this effect becomes more serious with rela- tively small dish sizes. The offsel aerial has a further advantage in being less curved and therefore less prone fo gather snow if fit: fed at large (>35°) elev- ation angles such as may be required in, for in- stance, Switzerland and northern Htaly To mate clear that dish aerial gain with respect to 2 dipole (Gard) rises and half power beamwicth (p29) falls with increasing dish diameter, Fig. 5 shows graph that may be used to estimate the relevant characteristics of our (hypothetical) dish, which is 15m across. The next item. to be con- sidered is the LNB (Table 4; Fig. 2. This is basically a high conversion gain, low noise device which trans- poses the 10.95....11.75 88 band into an inter mediate frequency (IF) of 950... 4750 MHz, using a 40.0 Ghz local oscillator. The 11 GHz amplifier stages as well as mixer and local oscillator are usually all GaAs technology ensuring a low noise figure (3.48), good stability over a con- siderable temperature range, and high IF gain. The indoor unit, lastly, is. @ wideband FM TV tuner which accepts the IF: 10-24 sear ina crober 1988 band and decodes vision and sound channels. Receiver and system noise In order to assess the final vision and sound quality of the set-up outlined in Table 1, a so-called downlink budget needs to be specified; basically, the parameters given in Table 1 are a sufficient help to consider details regarding the system noise vs, signal sirength balance. Will the signals from about 38 000 km be clear or nof? The equivalent noise power any receiver pro- duces at its input, Pr, is calculated from 4 and the overall system noise, Prays, from Posey K(T-+Te}BW (W] (5) where & = Boltzman’s constar 138x140 JIK; Tr = receiver equivalent noise temperature [K]; To = aerial equivalent noise temperature [kK]; BW = receiver bandwidth (He With reference to the calculations and graph shown in Fig. 6, It is seen ‘that our LNB attains a 7; of about 300 K at an ambient temperature, Ta, of 290 K. As jo the aerial, Ze in (5) is basically the sum of large number of factors, Including the equivalent noise temperature of galactic, atmospheric, and man-made inter- ference at the frequency of reception, while the relative degree of dish smoothness, lis shape fac- tor (surlace irregularities = 11102), reflective qualities, beamsquint, f/D ratio (see Fig. 4a), overall efficiency of illumination, side lobe ‘patiern, and relative height above ground also play a distinct role. In general, commercially available dishes, if placed at a suitable "clear view" power fe ere ah tameter Dem) > ae d= t=en200 fd eis temperate KIT, > 8a AN 7aBW/m2 PFDA Pro: PFO PrD= 1184BW/m2 PFDA Prog PDS PFO PFOS a ECS-A West Spot Intelsat VF ‘B60BTeD Fig. 5. This combination of curves enables a quick estimate to be rectivity as ch dhameter. Aig. 6 Showing how squiv lent receiver and plotted as a function of LNB fi nation of a 1g, her Fas or F xample of a CSS ed with a horn feed 2 tana h aiumen: for /D = 08. location, can be expected fo have Tz values of 40. ..50 K; the better the aerial, the lower Tr With system parameters Tr = 300K, BW = 36MH2 and /o estimated at 45k, (4) and (5) show that Proi=AB.908x10-* W 2 128.27 dBW 98.27 dBm while Prin A7A396X10-% W 127.66 dBW = 97.66 dBm The theoretical threshold voltage, Umn, this receiver (le. the LNB not the system) can detect is calculated trom Umn=V RP ae (V] @ which, with 50 ohm gives, Umin=\/ 50X44, 904x40-% = 273 WV. Now that we have estab- lished the figures working on the negative side of the balance, let us pro- ceed with calculating how much the Intelsat V F-4 signal counter- | balances the system noise. Catching Picowats The theoretical path loss, /, relevant to a line-ofsight link between iwo stations spaced d kilometres and ‘operating at about 11 GHz is approximated by J~4142010g:e0 [a8] 7) The figure 114 is an ‘empirically established, sufficiently conservative | factor that does, however, not include any | additional attenuating influences such as heavy rainfall, snow, hail, fog, passing aircraft or sudden disturbances in the rel. ‘evant section of the atmos- Phere. The additional Gttenuation caused by adverse weather con. ditions may rise to as much as 0.6 dBikm, while meteorite showers and satellite positioning errors ‘cause an even more dramatic increase of /. If it is known that (7) gives us Jo-A4d+20!0g1038800 = 205 dB {or reception of Intelsat V FA, it should be remembered that some 210 dB may be a mote practical value in view of the prevailing weather conditions in most of western Europe, In many instances of adverse weather con- ditions, either an auto- matic signal strength monitoring system, the rel | evant CATV/SMATY auth- oriies, or even the transponder leasehoider may arrange for a logo fo be shown notifying viewers of the possibly Impaired Vision andor sound qua iy With Intelsat V Fas EIRP of +44 dBW and / = 205.08 @ so-called isotropic aerial, which is a | hypothetical reference | device offering unity gain (G:=140 dB), would receive | 2 power level of EIRP—/=(44—205)= —161 dBW @ if located at the centre of ‘lait itis ecteber 1906 10-26 the satellite's downlink beom on the earth’s sur- face. Since an isotropic gerial has an effective sur face, sso, of Sino 724 [m7] 0 which on 445 GHz (@=0.025 m = 25cm) gives $20=4.97 X40? Since this Isotropic surface offers unity gain, a real aerial with an effective surlace of 1m? must have @ power gain G of @ WOlogroll/sac) [4B] (10) which in the present case gives Gi=10 1091020107 = +43 dBi Note the difference between @ and Gass; the terms are relative fo an isotropic and a dipole aerial respectively, while Css G+2.16. On an effective surface of 4m? the satellite thus pro- duces a power flux density (PFD) of PFD=G/+EIRP—/ [aB(Wim?)} a ‘and so in the present case PFD=+43+44—205 = =118 dBW/m4. The PFD is @ measure of relative signal strength in satellite reception technology and system planning, In Figs 8 and 'b, PFD contours (footprints) have been drawn for the elliptical beams produced by ECS and Intelsat V 4 respectively. Its readily seen that Increasing the effective aerial surface is the only means of compensating for the lower PFD values in areas bounded by PFD ‘contours PFD-1 to PFD-6. If you happen to live in the latter, you “simply” need an extra 6 dB of aerial gain fo get the same quality of reception as in the centre footprint; using the same receiver, of course, Refer to Fig. 5 once more fo see what increase in dish diameter would be required fo accomplish this, and you can under- sland why CATV/SMATV headend stations use very large dishes (D>3.5 m) to 10-26 sisor nia ecote 1966 cope with less than favourable weather con ditions. Downlink budget The foregoing paragraphs have led to two important figures which counteract ‘and thus form weights on the carrier-to-noise (Cin) balance: Cin=PFD—(Prira) [4B] (12) which in our case goos down in favour of the car- rier weight: Cin=—M8—(—127.66)= 49.66 dB. This figure Is not bad at ll, considering that CATV/SMAIV authorities demand approximately +15 dB for their set-up, which necessarily includes a 3...5™m dish. In practice, Cin~10 dB has proved to be a satistactory value for private reception, Figure of merit it ought to be recalled here that both Unin and Cin have a bearing upon the RF input of the system; they provide neither o direct measure for, nor any conclusive information ‘about, what happens at the indoor tuning unit's output, ie. on the colour TV set. Manufacturers of TV satellite receiving equip- ment generally use the figure of merit, expressed Gs the gaintemperature ratlo GIT 0 specify the relative quality of their os GIT: Ga Where = aerial gain (power factor, not in dB); @ = sum of losses between preamplifier (LNB) Input and point of ma» mum PFD in aerial system (Power factor, not in dB). For our hypothetical system with parameters as per lable 1 we can assess eirat GiT=A010g10 __20,000%0.8 0x45 +(t—0.8}2007300] A0loguo(t6,000394) dBIK = 164 oBIK, provided of course, that the overall conversion gain is high enough (which condition seems tc be satisfied with Ge at 80 dB) and that the input noise figure of the indoor unit is not more than. about three times that of the LNB (see literature references [1] and [2] ) The calculation of GIT shows quite conclusively that pre-LNB losses (a) can degrade the overall system performance to a very high extent; all attenuation in the form of fillers, polarizers or lengths of waveguide fitted to the LNB input may have a detrimental effect on the system sensitivity, just like the moth sheltering against the rain in the feed hom of our LNB (Fig. 7); reception was only restored to normal ater the insect had been removed. The signal-to-noise ratio, SIN, is, finally, a measure of vision quality at the receiver system output SIN=PFD+GIT+x [dB] (4) tn which x is generally given as 147.3 d8 for systems operating at a bandwidth of 36 Miz (uiterature reference (7) ‘Our equipment therefore offers SIN=(—118)+ 16441473 =45.4 dB which is more than ad- equate for excellent vision and sound quality, as proven by Fig. 14. Tuning actoss the transponders on Intelsat V Fal reveals a channel ‘assignment as shown in Table 2c, while Table 26 shows the programmes: cartied by ECS. | | | High-power transponders: DBS it has already been noted that the foregoing calculations apply to private reception of a satellite intended to ser- vice CATVISMATY systems, and it should be clear by now that receiver dish size is highly dependent on satellite EIRP Planned as early as in 1972 and assigned their orbital positions during WARC 1977, DBSs (direct broadcast satellites) have, regrettably, become the subject of heated debates | in which technical | ‘arguments are rapidly superseded by the wildest | speculations about pro- gramme content, overspill capacity of downlink beams, and exotic modulating systems intended to make recep- tion as costly as poss- ible. Scrambiing is offen wrongly identified with the D2-MAC system, which hos, in fact, been developed with entirely different cims in mind and which is basically but an en- hanced version of exisling PAL/SECAM standards All of these speculations are quite premature, since the frst pair of European DB satellites are not due for launching until later this year (both Russia’ and Japan already have DBSs in operation), and it will take controluplink centres at least halt a year to compiete extensive test procedures As to the mandaton minimum PFD level DB satellites must be capable of producing within the centre footprint, RARC 83 (fegion 2, the Americas) relaxed the original =103 dBW! require ment stipulated by WARC 1977 to —107 dBWIm?), thereby formally recog nizing the rapid progress in SHF semiconductor technology over roughly 6 years It was also agreed that a Cin ratio of 14.08 ond a figure of merit GIT 40 dBIK should be target design values for individual receivers. (Literature reference (6D. eee ea Figures 9 and 40 sum- titel position: 27.5° W marize a part of what was EIRP: +44 dBW agreed upon during channel bandwidth: 70 Mie WARG 1977, although it must be pointed out quite clearly that these are but vanspondey vote ‘dsperal recommendations 10 indi No, beam, fprogramme} couny! | frequency |sxrambing | bandwidth | pro: | [MHZ], | vision ViduallGounirles of which, aration counties | iGHei | system | iMnei_| emphasis | fe) | _sxatom lsctipresronly Fiorce 1w 10578 2 (TDF) and Federal 2wn | Premewei| ux | 11.018 | none | 30 | ccinan5 | 2542) | PAL Germany (TV-Sat) are on The Chi the verge of putting a hens’ ational DBS in obit; the Chant FBU (European Broad: awit | sce | ux | tit | nore | 30 | cemmans | 225 Ht) | PAL casting Union) iniends to Sport Arts have ESA launch the Chee (Olympus (L-Sat) DBS which see f is to have a very large gn |store wg | mm | 29 | comes |zizt| Pat BERN Ienoon een Gas owe uy Suse |S # z Fig. 1"), the Scandinavian te wos | — = - = Tele-X is probably the 2ev cw | usa | 1118 | none coin 405 | 225 He) | PAL next in line, while aly, Be 2 = | aml = = Ireland, Luxemburg, ond Switzerland have their Al dite sec 0 change. Projects still in the plan- hing stages To understand why DB satellites can be received © Table 2 8) by relatively smalll dishes (60. ..90.cm across) and Table 2b. low-cost LNBs for the 417... 425 GHz band, you Eutoleat 1 F-1 (ECS 1} need merely interpret the orate. ee e foregoing calculations in channel bandwidth: 72 MHz. pie! Mrcateceres ton ine) : EIRP levels of these transponders will be of the cama . of arbital positions for | one shown in Fig. 12. Multi | imber of DB saieliites | language transmissions own are CS satellites | (EBU), as well as, for ‘adv orbiting the earh | instance, VCR timekeeping and high-quality stereo programmes (compressed Eee 7 bandwidth systems like equator. Panda.Wegenen), public 4 data services and Teletext Fig. 10 over satellite. ..; no ment of wonder DB saiellites are expected fo become a revolutionary force in the TV eta just chead of us | Next mont we will publish nsponders provided’ | the list pan of a design ploy uiferem | oran indoor tuning Unit | | ees for satellite TV reception Fig, iI Projected footprint | Literature references Sat. PED= —116 dBW [illenz R, DL3WR: Nowe | | | © inreceiver systems, VHF ecepiion | Communications 4-75. 103 dBW | [2] Aerial amplifiers. Elektor | | excellent Electronics (UK), February 1980, [3]Kernot, R J: 7he use of the European communi- cation satelites for tele- ou noe Boek down conver M8) 12642 utgoor ait vision transmission. = dich serial an poritoning system J sctiteal tee El = downias eale {4]Scott, J MC and ner, MAC decoder vslon and sound processing (pon) Neusten, M: Experience of accessing Eulelsat transponders from transportable earth. stations. Collogium ot the Electronics division of the IEEE, digest No. 1986/22, [5]Evans, D $ and Jessop, G R: VHRUHE manuel. Thitd edition; The Radio Society of Great Britain (RscB) [61 €8U review (technicor): several articles in issue Nos. 200, 202 and 246. [lkathrein Haus & Antenne, English edition 1985, [8] Safelite TV receiving equioment. Flektor Indiia, March 1986. 4 Bu DE VSat arg Stereo amplier Since T's the international symbol for both period and thermodynamic fem: perature, it \s used with these different meanings in formulas 4 and § re- spectively. Similarly, o | | | iP used tr alttude in for | THE MUSIC CHANEL LID T98s | further improvement of about 2 dB SIN as com- pared with conventional PALISECAM coding, while being recognized as capable of supporting multiple aural subcarrier mula 1 and for sum of losses In formula 13. (Ea) siete ina center 1986 10-29 ELECTRIC PROPULSION FOR SATELLITES by Dr Anthony Martin, Culham Laboratory, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Fuel is a significant traction of a communications satellites mass. A large part of it is needed for the rockets which keep the spacecraft stationary in orbit relative to tracking stations on the ground. Flectric propulsion systems to replace chemical rockets promise large savings in fuel mass, with correspondingly greater communications payloads. | Mos! commercial satellites care destined for geo: stationary Earth orbit. That Magnes zsiiesitelicl (anode is, an orbit with a period ae: | / of 24 hours, which means + | the satellite rotates about Vapour dstribution | Earth at the same rate as bat = meses Earth revolves about its | | ¢— electrode ‘xis. The satellite will then Hollow Me ‘appear to be fixed in the aoe it sky, s0 the antennas fee receiving its signals do not From pronailant < Ip chamber have to be steered or storage tank so i ta moved to track it. ee in The greater part of Earths al = ete srean long-range communi ; Th eectode ations are now routed it this way, including inter. Keeper 4d tee continental telephone i e calls, and television trom 4 the other side of the world ic pears ; is familiar on our screens. lee Plans are already well nas $$ —§_ fx ‘advanced tor direct ena Yi broadcasting satellites oe a Lp which will relay signals HA with such a high power that they can be picked | up by a relatively small dish antenna in the home, | corrected by using on on- | satelite: once itis unable | 1 bypassing the need for board propulsion system to keep station, the com- large receiving stations | to correct the veloclly by | munications payload is cena But an uncontrolled about 50 mettes per sec- | switched off and the satellite would not remain | ond in one year | salto s abandoned, fixed in its 24-hour orbit for | So, orbit contol to keep a | very long. Because the satellite ‘fixed’ in the sky or ie Seviaionel pul'stine | onataion is ewentat ced | PTODUISION Sun and the Moon ona | the satellite must be able | systems satellite distorts is orbit it | to provide this indeed. would wander about the | ability to correct the orbit | Any orbit control sysiom sky and make tracking dit- | may often decide the must be reliable and have ficul. This effect hos fo be | useful lletime of the 10-30 oer ia oxeder 1966 a long life, which means! about 10 years for modem spacecraft It should also weigh very little, for every kilogram that is not used for payload reduces the revenue that the satellite earns. Satellites now in service use chemical rockets for orbital control. The pro- pellants used are allowed fo react in a rocket chamber and the prod- Ucts from the reaction are expanded through a nozzle to produce a jet of fast-moving gas. The vel- city of the jet, or exhaust, which the propulsion syste can achieve i important. The amount of propellant that has to be Used fo provide the 50 metres per second change in velocity is related exponentially to the ratio that the velocity | change bears to the exhaust velocity. The higher the exhaust vel- city, the lower the mass of propellant that must be carried fo keep the satellite on station Monopropeliant rockets have exhaust velocities of about 22 kilometres per second and, for a 10-year mission, must carry 200 grams of propeliant for every kilogram of satellite mass at the start of oper- ations. Bipropeliant sys- fems have an exhaust velocity of about three kilometres per second, which means they must carry about 150 grams of propellant for every kilogram of satellite, but at the expense of a heavier, more complex rocket system. Flectric | propulsion However, the energy ‘available from a chemical reaction is limited. To teach higher ‘exhaust velocities, the source of energy must be decoupled from the pro- peliant. It is here that elec- tic propulsion systems offer an alternative to chemical rockets. Electric Power Is used 10 accelerate propellant to ‘TOTAL PROPULSION SYSTEM MASS ( 4 6 [MISSION DURATION (years) Bipropellant rockets lonengines 70 much higher velociti the range of 30 to 40 kilometres per second. That means only 12 10 17 grams of propellant are needed per kilogram of salellite mass. Of course, the mass of the electric rocket and its power sup- plies must be reckoned as Part of the propulsion system, but even so it can be seen that the mass gains possible with this type of system are very large. The case of a 24onne satellite, typical of those that will be used for the most important communi- cations links until the end of the century, can be used fo illustrate the point. 5, in The main propulsion requitement that has to be salistied is the ability fo provide a velocity change of 50 mettes per second every year for station keeping and a further 60 metres per second al the beginning of the mission to place the satellite in the correct initial orbit. Ian electric propulsion system were used fo carry out these manoeuvres, gains in the payload frac- tion of about 25 per cent could be realised, com- pared with the mass that would be needed by a chemical propulsion system with its much greater need for fuel, To emphasise this figure, the Comparison of electric propulsion with chemical rockets, for a lOyear North South station-keeping duty. Data ate for a two-tonne geostationary satellite, with initial station acquisition and 50 metres per second vel- ocity change per year roar naa once 1988 10-31 saving in mass of o 2tonne satellite could be as much as 280 to 300 kilograms if electric pro- ulsion were used instead of chemical rockets. This contrasts with the total Payload mass of a modern telecommuni cations spacecrati: The Olympus- satellite being bull for the European Space Agency by British ‘Aerospace, and sched- Uled for its first launch in 1987, has a communi cations payload of 307 kilograms. | Electric thruster | In an ton thruster, pro- peliant is accelerated by electric forces to high velocities to produce thrust. For this fo happen, the propellant must have ‘on electron removed from the atom, leaving & Positive ion. By far the most flexible means of carrying out this ionisation process is for electrons to bombard the propellant atoms and knock off an electron. So in an electron bombardment ion thruster electrons are emitted trom @ cathode and acceler ated to a cylindrical ‘anode, colliding on the way with propellant fed ino the discharge chamber where the pro- ess happens. Al the front of the chamber is an ion extraction system, usually consisting of two grids with G large number of small holes drilled in them. An electric potential, usually in the range of 1000 to 4800 volts, is applied across the grils, thereby causing the ions to be Pulled from the discharge and accelerated through the second grid to form the beam. It only the ions were extracted from the dis- charge, the satellite would build up a large negative charge very quickly. So a neutraliser is included, to eject electrons and balance the charge on the spacecraft, All the foregoing has to do with the thruster part of the system. Bul a complete 10-32 etter ate ear 1988 system needs an electrical power source. That might, be the main solar-cell array powering the satellite. The array is usually oversized relative to the needs of the Payload, to allow for solar-cell degradation over the lifetime of the satellite, Alternatively, the source might be the bat teries carried by the satellite to support it through periods when the solar cell array is In eclipse from the Sun, Typical stationkeeping thrusters need a few hun: dred watts of power fo operate them, which Is a | smait traction ‘of the several kilowatts which are: available on board large communications satellites. The need to draw power from the spacecraff, rather than from the chemical reaction of conventional rockets, governs the design of the propulsion sysiem as ‘9 whole, High exhaust velocities, achieved by high accelerating voltages, reduce the ‘amount of propeliani needed. But they also mean that the power unit, which converts the output from the solar array or batiery to the voltages tequired by the electric propulsion system, becomes heavier and heavier with a corre sponding need for higher Power. So there is an opti mum point between a reduction in propetiant mass and an increase in Powersupply mass. Future propulsion Even with the prospects of all the benelis to be gained, communications Salelites sil do not use electric propulsion, but rely on chemical rockets Why? There are several reasons Although electric proput sion systems are capable of increasing the paylocd by 20 to 25 per cent on a Wide variely of satellites, i is only recently that com munications spacecraft with masses of more than one fonne have become ‘elotively commonplace Previous generations of vehicles had masses of | about 750 illograms ong the extta payload that | might have been addec | was not considered enough fo warrant the cost of developing the | propulsion system. The UK io-centimetre diameter ion thruster, designed for stetion- keeping of multitonne communications | satellites, now being tested with xenon pro- pellant. It is only quite recently that communications sotellites with powers of several kilowatts have become operational. Elec- tric propulsion systems would absorb a small fraction of the total power ‘available, in contrast 1o earlier available powers of 500 fo 1000 watts; the oro- pulsion appeared to require too large a frac tion of that lower power to | gain easy acceptance. Also influencing accep!- ance are natural resist- ance fo change and reluctance to adopt what is offen seen as a com- plex system of strange thrusters, power supplies and controls, compared with the chemical rockets which might be thought relatively simple because they are so familiar. It is, only recently that the benefits from such a change have become so. | potentially great as to compel this attitude to be | rethoughi, ‘One maior objection to the use of electric aro: puision has been the choice of propellant for most of the work carried out on thrusters, namely mercury. It is almost ideal {as @ propellant because it is heavy, dense and easily | stored. But it is not an ideal material as far as spacecraft designers are concerned, for It amaiga- mates rapidly with many metals such as copper, gold and aluminium, which means that the spacecratt siructure, elec trical wiring, power. producing solar cells and forlh could all be vulnerable to atiack. Another problem with mer- cury is to do with the fact that it is liquid at normal temperatures, Care must be token fo heat the pro- pellant to a vapour betore introducing it into a thruster, and fo keep il as @ vapour If it condenses, it could lead to breakdown of high voltage insulation, shorting out of power supplies, damage to solar cell arrays and other serious problems All these disadvantages ‘and problems with pro- pellant are eliminated, or i least greatly reduced, if @ gas Is used instead of a liguid metal. The favoured candidate is the rare gas xenon, which is inert. It does not contaminate or react with the elements of space syslems so it removes most worries ‘about the structural Integrity of longulite spacecratt. It does not condense upon compo- nents, so it does not cause electrical trouble. The power supply systems ‘are simpler, 109, for no supplies are needed to heat and vaporise the propellant. That means better system reliability, The problems of economic justification and power requirements hitherto associated with electric propulsion have dimin- ished in importance, while those to do with choice of propellant and complexity of power supply have been reduced by thruster developments, so the time is ripe for this novel pro- pulsion technique A very successtul pro- gramme of work on the development of electric Propulsion systems, led by the UK Royal Aircraft Estaiblishment at Farn- borough in collaboration with Culham Laboratory ‘and several industrial firms, enced in 1978. The reasons for not continuing For the construction projects in Elektor, India we try to use ‘standard’ components wherever o possible. This may not always be obvious at first sight, so some further explanation is given here. further had nothing to do with any failing in the systems that had been developed, which were at least ‘as advanced and efficient as any others, but with tt other with s ihe economics and arguments to do mall, low powered spacecraft which | have airea | gram Selvate provic dy outlined. The pro- me has now been re- with a view to ding ion thrusters for station-keeping of multi fone satellites. The work is based around thrusters of 40 cer sntimettes diameter operating with xenon pro- peliant instead of mercury. How far development reached in the previous progr samme is shown by the fact that the same thrusters are being used; the only modification needed was lo remove components that were used fo vaporise the mer- cury and keep it in vapour form. Present plans call for a test flight on board a satellite in 1989, and commercial implementation soon atter Britain is not alone in such work, ‘of course: alll the leading space nations are planning to test electric Propulsion systems in the next few years, The USA is due to fly a satellite with two mercury devices Japan has already flown @ small mercury system ‘and operated it for 200 hours In space, and is developing a 12-centi- metre xenon sysiem Germany has plans to fly @ 10-cenlimetie xenon systern for a six-month test on the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA). | With so many contenders | itis obvious that electric propulsion is about io come of age and find more and more appli- cation in the 49903. The focus of work will then shitt away from the prootot Principle of a new propul: sion system and concen: trate more upon providing the most efficient, flexible and commercially attract: ive product for commer. cial users. Though electric propulsion will have been @ Tong time coming, it will soon be here to siay, te ver ea hee pce nt | {SCSATB,eAatro enon tm | Resistors = -{—} ator oh se pt Capacitors it ease eee toring oetaner 986 10-33 LOUDSPEAKER IMPEDANCE .... METER |—— - \A simple, yet interesting and useful, instrument for _ measuring the resistance and the inductive reactance of a loudspeaker. It may be argued that a loudspeaker | band drive units, but on the low side | As the block diagram shows, the impedance meter is something that | for middle frequency units and | meter consists of a quadrature sine is needed only once ina blue moon, | tweeters, The meter is, therefore, not | wave oscillator, a synchronous rect but to many dyed-inthe-wool audio | suitable in the design of a loud: | fier, a voltage source, and a null constructors it could be a godsend. | speaker enclosure, because then the | point detector. The oscillator pro- Loudspeakers are frequently offered | impedance at a number of different | vides two signals, sinat and cosut, forsale at very low prices by various | frequencies needs to be known, | thathave the same frequency, but are retailers, but often there is no ind 90° (n/2) out of phase. The sinat cation a5 to their characteristics. The i signal is used to control a voltage- presen circuit wil a least enable | OOS/QIN driven cuent source, the output of the impedance to be asceriained | CONsidlerations which flows through the impedance, with a good degree of accuracy. A Z,to be measured, multimeter will, of course, only give | The principle of the impedance | The potential drop across Z consists some idea of the resistance. Auseful | meteris almostmore interesting than | of two voltages, Us and Ux, which aspect of the present circuit is that | its practical construction. Owing to | are 90° out of phase (Uk is caused by the resistance and the inductive re- | the inductive reactance, measuring | the resistive part of the im actance can be measured separately. | impedances with the aid ofa bridge | pedance, whereas Ux is due to the ‘The only limitation of the meter is | circuit is not as simple as it may ap- | inductive reactance, X.). The basis that all measurements take place at a Mt. The present meter | of the meter is that the two oscilla frequency of 1000 He. This is an ex: , based on a different | outputs can be adjusted accurately cellent value for woofers and broad: sophy as shown inFig. 1. | to give a compensating potential at 10-34 stor nn etter 1988 the inputs of a differential amplifier that is identical to the composite drop across 2. The output of the dit ferential amplifier is then zero. A synchronous rectifier and a mull point detector facilitate the correct setting of the two potentiometers. When both LEDs are quenched, the value of R and Xi can be read off the scale of the potentiometers once these have been calibrated, Circuit description ‘The quadrature oscillator is com- posed of opamps Ai and Ac and {generates a signal ata level of about 65V and a frequency of around 1000 Hz. The sine wave voltage ap- pears at A, and the cositte one at B ‘The voltage-controlled current source is formed by As, Ti, and T2, while Riz is the current-determining resistor, 2 Fig. 1. Block diagram of the meter. The tage drop ‘oss Z 1s com- pensaied by a composite signal provided by the lator. The values of the resistive and reactive elements can then be read off | te scales of he potentiometers eterna octane 1986 10-35 Pars list FisRo,RisjRa,Roa=10 & Fo=8i2 RecRerRa Re to Ri inel— Rr2=100.9:1 W Righi4=22 Ris 47 Ri7=18k Rra=82 « Risa Ras = 100 & Roz sR =220 fs=aM7 50 k 4709 620 9 i preset vwironound Ps;P6=10 k prose P= 100 k preset Pr=50 k preset Capacitor criCece cac 180 2-100 1= 80135780199 Semiconductors 6/80140 ‘The two compensating voltages are taken from the oscillator via potential dividers Ri-PeP: and RiePrPs and C and D (which are linked to A and B respectively). Since the value the inductive reactance, Xi, ich smaller than that of the DC re sistance, R, the value of Ris is coi x than that of Ri tial amplifier is formed by opamp Ac: potentiometer Ps pro vides the necessary off-set compen sation ‘The synchronous rectifier is com 10-36 setor inti oxtcbne 1966 dof Ts and ICs. The amplif- | sistor in the LM3Il. Series co: of the latter is +1 or —I, | nation Rev-Cs smoothes depending upon the state of Ts. This | voltage of ICs befor ompara- | to the null-point det h can be | cosine out | he oscillator by §) | what unusual output con- | figuration of the comparator (output | pin 7 to ground and earth pin 1 to | =I5V_ via Ra) becomes clearer | when it is realized that pins | and 7 | are connected to the emitter and col- lector respectively of the output tran catio diodes Dz quenched. ‘The power supply, which p symmetrical voltages of + fairly simple affair as shown in a - ss > s oe 2 | es | ELEKTOR me | a i) | r & | | 8 Sve Tense \dication is provided by di- Construction | | 1¢ meter is best built on PCBBSO41 | ownin Fig. 42nd housed in a Vero | se Type 76141ID Note that poten- | siometers Po and Ps can be mounted | direct onto the PCB Do not forget wire links A-C and B-D. onnections between the PCB and and outout terminals should be short and made in relatively thick wire. Do rot ft Cs until the meter has | 1. calibrated. | is advisable to uso LEDs of equal | ance) resistor across the output tor | where R and Xi are the values ead ighiness in the Ds and Ds pos- | minals from the tort pane! ions. Set Pz (R) to read 10 and slowly ad- The self-inductance of the voice coil se of the Type 75-I41ID Verobox has | just Ps until both LEDs just go out. may be calculated from. swo advantages! the meter then fits | Replace wite links ACC and B-D by nicely in the Elektor series of | (temporary) links AD and B-C. ‘measuring instruments, and use may | Switch $1 should remain in position be made of the front panel foll| R d SOF available through our | Connect a 23-ohm (I per cent wler Experimental Readers’ Services—see Fig. 5 ance) resistor across the output ter Xultn mk minals. extensions gta Set Pa (i) to read 23 and slowiy ad. a Calibration | jus r ont both LEDs jst go os: | Veious extensions may Be incor wh LEDS jus 99°". | porated, although these have not | Adjust Pi so that the oscillator | Remsée wie links AC and BD | oo) sed in our own laboratories. | starts, which is conveniently For instance, if wire links A-C and B- | the loudspeaker if r D are replaced by a change-over Using the meter Di. erales kobe ines 'o checked wit nder tes. Tum Ps and Ps fully anticlociewis | ‘Connect the loudspeaker under test | D and B to C, it becomes possible to | wipers to ground), and short-circuit | across the output terminals. ;pactive reactances (Kc rminals. Diodes Dz and | Set $1 to position R and turn Pe (R) | Again, if the output of the voltage | until the LEDs just go out. ontrolled current source is made | Seti to position X. and tum Po Qi) | switchable, different measu | unti the LEDs just go out ges become available. And f | nally the oscillator could be made to | The impedance of the loudspeaker chselecte switch Si on the front panel to | is calculated from 3. But then, this would no sition R. nect a 10-ohm (1 per cent toler- | 2=)(R?+X: by C L Boltz i) an order has been Salford University has a GEC Avionics system, the Ring laser Tecelved for he Anglo: | research company with 60 | electronic information is : FHIO!, The compass \s sales of £4 million thal a picture is displayed amazingly made in several sizes with | Newcastle University has a | on @ visual display | ditfering orders of | research agreement with | screen. In addition, the accurate | ecoursey, | an electronics company | company has used its | with an annual furnover of | established head-up Able fo respond fo a turn: | £2 million. Surtey University | syslem so that the picture ing motion of as littie as a | at Guildford has a club of | is created in front of the thousandth of a degree | _— | companies, numbering | pilols eyes and he sees er hour the ring taser | | eight, which each pay it | the view as if he were fly. giro compass has been | £5000 4 year for access to | ing in daylight. aries Ee aae| research results and help | The infra-red sensor that 10 ce after cade | i itie it | in solving specific transforms radiation into of research and deveiop: | UNIVELSI eal eo | problems. | electrons Is mounted in |/ment The instrument is | pavinership Companies such as British | the front of the fuselage based on a heliumineon es Aerospace, GEC, and ICl_| behind ¢ transparent laser housed in the bose | WMA) INQIUSITY | are sponsoring reseaich in | ister. The output from this of a triangular block of | British universities. Some- sensor is processed by the glass ceramic. An important technologl- | times they fund pro- electronics system to The laser emits light in two | cal partnership is crowing. fassorshie create the signals for the opposite ditections rune | in Britain — that between | ir noc been estimated that | folovsion Ivew ecokpl the triangular path which | the universities cnd in- | nwersites ore coming. | display. could, in fotcl be up to | dustry. Brought abou! — | Su £430 million a year | The system increases air 300 mm long, The two partly by the reduction | from industry. This is small | craft capability by 200% loser beams are projected | In government money compared with the 21300 pilot can use his airoratt round the triangle by two | available through the Uni- | tuition trom public funds, | af night or in smoke or plane mirrors polished to versity Grants Committee but the university holding | haze. The total night vision | such a degree that any this indusirial funding is__| Companies are growing at | was originally conceived | irregularities ore less than | increasing by sponsorship | Spout 40% a year at Britains Royal Aircraft | ‘atomic size of research, and some | Establishment in its "Night | Normally the two beams times by the establishment | Bird" programme. To this | would arrive al the third | of indlusirial companies by GEC Avionies added its | coinet of the triangle in| the universities themselves. cent SECT LOLES phase, faking exactly the | British Petroleum, for Pr Nesey ckcale same time to travel the | inslance, is working on path, However, if the plastic membranes to Inlangle is rotating rapialy | clean oll. Research is Night vision for | then one beam ttave based on fundamental ‘ poe shorter path than the work on biciogical tissues | QYrCrart other and the two arrive | and the company is spon: out of phase. The beams |

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