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Old Satellites Never Die!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 7:39 am
by choff
A satellite abandoned 50 years ago comes back online by itself.

http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/22/satel ... ck-online/

Re: Old Satellites Never Die!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 3:07 pm
by Tom Ligon
That's neat!

Electronics of that age were stone-axe but robust. Integrated circuits were in their infancy, and it is likely this satellite has either none or just a handful. I would expect mostly discrete transistors, all bipolar, and probably fairly radiation-tolerant just based on their clunky bulk.

Re: Old Satellites Never Die!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 8:47 pm
by choff
I remember my very first 6 transistor portable radio that could actually fit in my shirt pocket(a big deal at the time).