Derelict wrote:

"Travis Jordan" wrote in message
...
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
I worked on the production line for an $80,000 (US) telemetry
receiver (RCB2000)and there were still a lot of adjustments to be
made
even though it had a dual DSP front end, massive FIR filtering,
digital signal combining and 12 microprocessors. I had a set of
ceramic alignment tools that cost a couple hundred dollars issued by
the test department. The replacement tips were around $45 and would
shatter if dropped to the floor the wrong way.

Classic government contracting stuff, eh?

Is Microdyne still around?


NASA sites still use some Microdyne receivers and a lot of Harris
Multifunction receivers (MFR) for telemetry.

Don't you have that backwards? The government was buying Microdyne
equipment to replace aging Harris systems. We built a turnkey system
for NOAA at Wallops Island to replace a Harris system they couldn't keep
up and running. We were allowed two weeks after delivery to get it to
meet specs. The engineers arrived a day early, uncrated the racks that
night and wired them together. The next morning the facility's manager
took one look and told our team they could go home, it was perfect.


We also built a turnkey system for the Italian space program,
including a portable system in a large trailer that was to be towed
behind a two ton truck, followed bu a diesel generator. We also built a
one of a kind modified 700 series KU band receiver for the International
Space Station. I was involved in all three projects, as well as
preparing the RCB-2000 for the production floor.

Most Microdyne products were built with the tech in mind because we
had to do so much custom work on every unit. There were pages of
options, and we were always adding new items that customers requested.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida