pc-sat@cup.portal.com (08/16/88)
PRESS RELEASE August 15, 1988 PC-Satellite Communications! 1981 was the birth of the Personal Computer. 1988 is the birth date for the Personal Satellite Network. The independence which the Personal Computer promised is now possible through satellite communications. Video, audio and data reception technologies have been reduced to a single printed circuit board which can be mounted inside an IBM PC or compatible. Personal Teleconferencing is a reality! ISS Engineering, Inc. is announcing the development and release of a series of satellite receivers, transmitters and control cards. The cards and technology are trademarked and patented by ISS under the name PC-SAT. One or more satellite receiver and transmitter cards can be plugged into and controlled directly from an IBM PC or compatible computer's bus which allows for a cost effective and powerful evolutionary technology. Antennas as small as 1 meter may be used for point-to-point or broadcast applications. The units are C or KU Band compatible. The plug in PC-SAT cards are the same size as standard IBM PC expansion cards requiring one long slot. There are currently three models available: The RX-2 is an audio receive only (ARO) receiver with a built-in audio Wegener Panda I expander allowing stereo sound reception. The RX-3 receives standard NTSC audio and video TV reception and data. The FSK data receiver demodulates the data being sent and places the data on the computer's bus via a built -in RS-232 serial COM port. PC-SAT FAST 1 is a frequency agile subcarrier transmitter (FAST) that converts 300 to 19,200 baud serial data to a modulated FSK (frequency shift keyed) signal as well as transmitting video and audio. Alternately, the units can be run stand alone or in another OEM piece of equipment without an IBM computer, using the ISS SC-1 Controller Card. This allows tuning with rotary dip switches or an RS-232 serial port. Data is placed on a satellite transponder subcarrier located between 150 KHz to 8 MHz. Economically the most powerful use of this technology is in a broadcast mode. For example to send a message to 1,000 locations would require 1,000 phone calls using the phone system. With this technology it would require 1 phone call to an up-link transmitter. The 1,000 receivers would all receive the signal at once throughout North America. Unlike the Stargate system the data would not be restricted. The PC-SAT and computer allow for some interesting possibilities: 1. Teleconferencing to widely distributed offices, franchises or class rooms for management meetings, training seminars and college courses with full data support. 2. Facsimile and hard copy pictures to field offices: fingerprints to police departments, news pictures, medical information to doctors and hospitals, data to field offices, auto dealers, etc. 3. National Computer Bulliten Boards (BBS) for special interest groups, e.g. computer, hobbies, music or industry, etc. broadcast at specific times and stored on disk or printed with pertinent information archived and retrieved using key words. It can serve as a "daily magazine" and electronic clipping service. 4. Desktop Publishing applications for newspaper and magazine publication distribution. 5. Disaster Communications transmitting weather information pictures, medical supply inventories, logistical support, damage reports, casualty reports, emergency phone communications, etc. 6. Advertising and Marketing of products by updating video displays at airports, shopping centers, hotels and tourist sites. 7. Special electronic program guides with graphics to cable system headends or directly to the consumer complete with ability to control the VCR. 8. Interface with television and radio station automation equipment to allow for changing channels, dish position and video or audio tape recording at specified times without the need of an operator. 9. Off shore oil drilling platform or remote mining operation communications. 10. Marine communications to ships around the world. The above applications are just the tip of the iceburg and without too much effort the communications/computer professional or entrpreneur will be able to think of many cost-saving as well as profitable broadcast opportunities. Actual tuning of video channels, audio frequency and data frequency can be accomplished via the computer's keyboard with supplied software. Once the tuning has been set the computer is free for other use while the PC-SAT receivers continue to operate in the background. The tuning software can be integrated with other software packages as needed. Accessing and setup of the PC-SAT data communications receiver/transmitter can be accomplished with standard RS -232 compatible software such as Procomm using COM1 or COM2. Receive only mode can be accomplished without the use of asyncronous technology due to the low bit error rate of satellite communications - approx. 1 x 10(-7) bits without forward error correction techniques. All PC-SATs feature high resolution tuning. The synthesizer steps in 200 KHz increments for video, 1 KHz for audio and data subcarriers. Subcarrier tuning from less than 100 KHz to more than 8 MHz can be achieved while utilizing the popular 950-1450 MHz IF (Intermediate Frequency). With the RX-3 version data rates from 1200 to 9600 BPS are standard. Reliable satellite receiving terminals utilizing dishes as small as 1 meter offer great cost advantages - typically less than $1,000 per terminal. Dedicated 24-hour data uplink services which illuminate the U.S., Canada, and Mexico on KU Band run about $3700/month for 2400 baud to $4750/month for 9600 Baud. Prices are slightly cheaper on C Band transponders. It should be noted that these are broadcast rates not merely point-to-point. These prices are subject to change. A provider service will be set up to assist users in the purchase and installation of their networks. The provider service will assist, facilitate and educate users in network requirements analysis, common carrier agreements, hardware compatibility, software requirements, teleconferencing production and up-link agreements, dish installation and network management. A test and demonstration network will be established for network data testing. We will be starting a PC-SAT conference on Portal Communications in the near future.
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (08/17/88)
Does the price include launch services for your personal satellite? What orbital parameters are available? What about insurance in case an overzealous starwarrior shoots your satellite down again? Bet the thing says "Made in Japan..." -- -- bob,mon (bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu) -- "Aristotle was not Belgian..." - Wanda
dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) (08/17/88)
In article <11708@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> bobmon@iuvax.UUCP (RAMontante) writes: >Does the price include launch services for your personal satellite? Actually, many people don't realize that ham radio operators have been doing communications via satellite for years. There used to be a ham satellite in orbit (may still be, I'm not current) and it contained a transponder that basically relayed everything it received back down. I see no reason why one couldn't transmit data this way. -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee,uunet}!bsu-cs!dhesi
brb@akgua.ATT.COM (Brian R. Bainter) (08/17/88)
From article <3669@bsu-cs.UUCP>, by dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi): > In article <11708@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> bobmon@iuvax.UUCP (RAMontante) writes: >>Does the price include launch services for your personal satellite? > > Actually, many people don't realize that ham radio operators have > been doing communications via satellite for years. There used > to be a ham satellite in orbit (may still be, I'm not current) > and it contained a transponder that basically relayed everything > it received back down. I see no reason why one couldn't transmit > data this way. > -- > Rahul Dhesi UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee,uunet}!bsu-cs!dhesi There are many ham satellites flying right now, and there are I think four or maybe five more to be launched at the end of this year or beginning of next year. The newer ones even act as digipeaters and work with packet communications. There are some even more interresting things going on in the amatuer radio community with satellites and digital communications. I am not aware of all of them and not even up completely on this one, but by virtue of being a ham, I like to "listen" to all of the talk going on in such groups as rec.ham-radio and rec.ham-radio.packet. A lot of those people are pretty sharp in those areas. -- Brian R. Bainter KA7TXA AT&T Technologies Atlanta Works {cbosgd, gatech, ihnp4, moss, mtune, ulysses}akgua!brb
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (08/18/88)
In article <3669@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes: >Actually, many people don't realize that ham radio operators have >been doing communications via satellite for years. There used >to be a ham satellite in orbit (may still be, I'm not current) >and it contained a transponder that basically relayed everything >it received back down. I see no reason why one couldn't transmit >data this way. Could be done. Of course, you can't use the ham satellites (there are several, actually) unless you're a ham, since only hams are allowed to transmit in those bands. And you can't use the ham bands for anything even vaguely commercial; that is an utter and total no-no. Transponders that simply echo back everything they hear are the normal equipment for communications satellites. There are now the bare beginnings of proposals for smarter satellites (well, the hams are already doing things like that, but the commercial satellites aren't, yet). -- Intel CPUs are not defective, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology they just act that way. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu