2.3.2.1 2200 to 2290 MHz . These frequencies are shared equally by the United States Government's fixed, mobile, space research, space operation and Earth exploration-satellite services. These frequencies include telemetry associated with launch vehicles, missiles, upper atmosphere research rockets, and space vehicles regardless of their trajectories.
Might want to read further, this is the first one I came across. There may be more.
Do we know the frequency they are using? Did they go with a circularly porpoised antenna because the transmitter is circular or did they do it so they could be within 3db of a v, h or slant transmission regardless of the rockets orientation.
If we don't know the frequency we could derive it if the length of features in the image could be identified.
First stage (two frequencies used to transmit telemetry):
2221.50 MHz ± 0.002% at 31.6 W ERP 2.816 Mbps +2dB gain over isotropic
2273.50 MHz ± 0.002% at 31.6 W ERP 2.816 Mbps +2dB gain over isotropic
Direct FM modulation with no modulated sub-carriers.
But this won't help because the transmissions will be encrypted.
We are seriously in need of revisiting this idea.
I think if we put our brightest minds to work, we can get this done by at least the first half of 2015. heck we can get it done by the end of this month if we really wanted to.
I am on site to watch tomorrow's WV3 launch attempt.
I will not be attempting to stream any video back to anyplace public, but I will be collecting signal strength data from what limited (and aging) broadband adapters I have access to.
I'll be able to test with an older Sprint 3g/WiMax broadband hotspot (expecting only 3g service), a 4G (older) T-Mobile smart phone, a shiny new AT&T smart phone, and a Verizon broadband hotspot.
We'll see how that goes, and how things perform overall.
I've got the selfish objective of pulling the ULA webcast down to our teammates that will be visiting with me, and possibly even some posting in the live thread if I can get a decent enough connection.
I'm starting to think that a small streaming setup with a Pan/Tilt, and hardware video encoding could easily fit into a 4U ruggedized case, with a tripod for the camera and a cell antenna to deploy. Perhaps the next launch I go watch I will see if I can do something like that.
Just for the record-
At my spot, my limited and highly unscientific test results were:
+ New Verizon Jetpack hotspot- We had usable signal after doing a quick signal strength survey and picking the spot where we had best coverage. We used this device to pull down the ULA launch coverage and view NSF.
+ New AT&T GS4 phone- Had signal; HSPA+ and HSPA. Had no time to fiddle with corner reflectors to aim for the towers over in Lompoc. Could have probably used this connection to stream.
+ Older T-mobile LG P769- floated between HSPA and EDGE. Maybe could use this with a directional antenna
+ Older 3G/Sprint network (Virgin) hotspot- Had 3G coverage, weakish signal. No (4G/Wi-max or whatever Sprint calls it). Could have posted with this connection, probably not stream video.
Does any body know if its possible to set up Viasat Exceed Sat Internet or similar sat provider and have enough download and upload data cap and latency to do decent broadcast? I am thinking a dish and LNB on tripod with automatic alignment motor.
Bumped into this....What's possible
http://dslrpros.com/uas-drone-landing/?gclid=CNbrmIaTs78CFQqFfgodXpMAqQ
That's actually *old* technology - the Phantom 2 is a far tougher, more stable bird than the P1. I fly a P2 with a DJI ZenMuse gimbal and a GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition which will output up to 2.7K video @30fps, 4K @15fps and 12Mp stills, with telemetry displayed on an all-in-one receiver/display (and video from the GoPro, which normally records video plus stills every couple of seconds). Cost? £1,200 (we always seem to pay inflated $ prices on goods in the UK, so I doubt if US buyers would pay as much as the exchange rate might suggest).
There are other, bigger, better birds out there, too - with extras including a new ballistic parachute on the DJI S900.
All in all, drones are good. And the gimbals give you real stability, plus what the cameras can do. I could see there being no need for anyone on top of the VAB at all at this rate...
Are there any hotels with a line of sight to the filming location? Prosumer grade unlicensed microwave backhauls can get you plenty of bandwidth at around ten miles for a couple hundred dollars.
In response to Multirotor camera platforms, I saw this new Video transmitter. I copied the description below. It transmits HD video stream instead of the NTSC which I am used to.
Does a device like this enable real time HD video direct to the internet?
Would you use it that way?
If you had live video stream would you need image stabilization ?
Introducing the DJI Lightbridge, 2.4G Full HD Digital Video Downlink. DJI Lightbridge is an all new revolutionary 2.4G Full HD digital video downlink. DJI Lightbridge offers extremely powerful equipment packed into a small and light-weight form factor. By offering 1920 x 1080p@30fps video data transmission from up to 1.7km (1.05miles) away, it's the ideal solution for the professional aerial photographer and FPV users. Set yourself free and remove the limits from low definition analog video transmitters.
Link:
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__54882__DJI_LightBridge_2_4GHz_Full_HD_Video_Downlink.html
In response to Multirotor camera platforms, I saw this new Video transmitter. I copied the description below. It transmits HD video stream instead of the NTSC which I am used to.
Does a device like this enable real time HD video direct to the internet?
Would you use it that way?
If you had live video stream would you need image stabilization ?
If you needed to get it from a remote camera, or over to where you had better cell signal, maaybe. Think of it as a really long, almost certainly lossy, HDMI cable. You still need to process it (add data overlays, voiceovers, tweak levels, etc), and compress/uplink it to the internet. Or you can skip the processing and do a raw feed.
-Bob
