Coop's Satellite Digest (1979 - 1987)

READ ONLY: Learn about the history of TVRO satellite and the men who made it all possible. Re-discover the science and engineering behind TVRO and how an industry was born out of nothing.
elko
TVRO Guru
TVRO Guru
Articles: 0
Posts: 213
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:02 pm

Re: Coop's Satellite Digest (1979 - 1987)

Post by elko » Sun Jul 31, 2016 8:09 pm

Foxcreek wrote:elko,
I was there ....... I had the first TVRO system in the city of Boise, Idaho in 1979.
Cool! I didn't get into c band until the 1990s. :spin
Foxcreek wrote: In another post I mentioned the Satellite companies I used to work for..... No one
responded to it so I'm sure I'm one of the pioneers here on this site !
foxcreek :cool2
Design work or installs? TVRO business must have been booming in those days!

Birkhill was an RF genius who developed some of the first c band feed circuits that were later copied by everyone in the tvro business. Taylor Howard was another pioneer microwave engineer of that era...

Foxcreek
TVRO Guru
TVRO Guru
Articles: 0
Posts: 233
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:15 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Coop's Satellite Digest (1979 - 1987)

Post by Foxcreek » Sun Jul 31, 2016 10:55 pm

elko,

It all comes down to Amateur radio ( Hams ). Most of the innovators
in early analog satellite systems were Hams like myself. This included
the likes of Taylor Howard, Bob Cooper, Steve Birkill, on & on.
The satellite companies that I worked for in the early days were all
started by Hams that I knew from our radio activity. I was first
licensed as a novice class ( WN0FAW ) when I was 15, got my
General class ticket a year later ( WA0JDX ). At this point I became
more interested in girls and cars, let my ticket expire and then
again many years later I renewed again ( N7BQL ). I'm not currently
licensed as a Ham but I do hold a commercial general class ( GROL )
which is required to work on commercial radio ( police, fire, government ).
My insatiable appetite for RF electronics is of course what propelled me
to get my BSEE and enabled my working career. It's really too bad that
kids today are not all that interested in Amateur radio. They all seem to
want to be digiweenies like Bill Gates !

foxcreek :cool2

Post Reply

Return to “History of C Band Satellite”