On August 12, 1960, Echo I, a 100-foot-diameter spherical balloon, was placed in orbit around the earth by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of long-distance communication by microwave reflection from a satellite. A two-way coast-to-coast voice circuit was to be established between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facility in California and a station provided by Bell Telephone Laboratories (STL) in New Jersey. Similar tests were also planned with the Naval Research Laboratory and other stations. This paper describes the general organization and operation of the Holmdel, New Jersey, station, and discusses the results of the experiments performed between the balloon launching and March 1, 1961. Successful voice communication was achieved through a variety of modulation methods including frequency modulation with feedback, amplitude modulation, single-sideband modulation, and narrow-band phase modulation. Careful measurements were also made of the loss in the transmission path.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Participation of Bell Telephone Laboratories in Project Echo and Experimental Results


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1961-12-01


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English







    Hardware and Software Research at Bell Laboratories

    Bernstein, L. / IEEE; Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995


    Gigabit Networking Research at AT&T Bell Laboratories

    IEEE; Lasers and Electro-Optics Society / IEEE; Communications Society | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1993