Really Rocket Science

On Wednesday, Rocco scooped the world with the first photographs of the Lyngbox, which was officially unveiled today in Europe.

What makes the Lyngbox "officially cool" by Really Rocket Science standards is its database of worldwide satellite ladder charts, which essentially allows users to "plug and play" the Lyngbox anywhere in the world. Travelling from London to Capetown? Just bring your Lyngbox with you, plug it in, peruse the database, and within moments you’ll be watching the local satellite channels.

Of course, there has always been an alternative to purchasing cool gadgets — and that alternative is to Do It Yourself. This site has long offered instructions on Satellite for Caravans — how you can rig your RV (or car or "caravan") and stay connected to the world of satellite TV while on the road in Europe: 

You will not get a picture by simply waving the dish around; the digibox has to decode the signal before a picture can appear for the first time and that can take a couple of minutes or more. So if you just swing the dish around, you’ll have already moved it out of the signal again long before the picture has a chance to appear. Providing you know the technique however, it is fairly straightforward to tune in a digital system and once you’ve got the hang of it you would be very unlucky if it took longer than about 5 minutes. I’ve had people writing to say they got a signal within a few minutes, others took longer. For myself, it normally takes me only a minute or two these days. My own record is 10 seconds – pure fluke, I stuck the dish on its mast and obtained an immediate signal – just happened to point it in precisely the right direction first time!

You’ll need a satellite dish, a digibox, and a TV (don’t forget that) to catch signals while on the road from Astra or Sky:

 The Astra 2 system consists of 3 satellites close together in space so that your dish will ‘see’ all of them as if they were a single unit. All 3 transmit signals aimed at Europe but the coverage on the ground varies considerably. The 2 older satellites, 2A and 2B, can be thought of as flood lights, lighting up a huge area of Europe, whereas the newer Astra 2D is more like a spot light focused on the British Isles. For the sake of convenience the signals are referred to as the north beam, south beam and narrow beam (or more usually just the 2D beam).

If all of this is sounding confusing, the alternative to DIY is always to buy. Newsfactor magazine has a great article on gadgets available to bring you satellite content while in the fast lane, including some DIY tips for acquiring satellite radio in the U.S.:

Do-it-yourselfers have plenty of options too. There are two ways to go with DIY satellite radio: purchasing a car stereo with satellite radio built-in (requires professional installation) or purchasing a dashboard mounted controller that uses a vacant FM frequency to provide the satellite programming.

Dashboard-mounted models, such as the Delphi Roady XT ($79.99) or the Sirius Sportster Replay radio ($139.99), plug into the vehicle’s cigarette adapter and use a roof mounted magnetic antenna to capture the satellite signal. There is a caveat: as a vehicle travels over long distances an FM channel may no longer be unused and available for satellite signals, so the satellite signal will lose clarity as the FM signal gains strength. At that point, a new vacant FM frequency will have to be selected to improve satellite signal clarity. In spite of the limitations, these dash-mounted models provide a quick way to get satellite radio without having to install a compatible stereo system professionally.

So when it comes to acquiring satellite signals while on the road, the question is not whether or not you can receive them. The question is simply: DIY or buy?

Most “satellite people” are very familiar with the Lyngsat Web site. It could very well be the world’s most complete database of accurate satellite ladder charts. Pick a satellite and you can view all the channels available for viewing. For example, the AMC-4 satellite carries a number faith-based and international channels in North America. On another site, LyngSat Address, select a country and you can find out which satellites their channels are using for broadcasting – in their home market and internationally. TV Prima Romania, for instance, is using several satellites over Europe, Asia and the Atlantic.

Get ready for the LyngBox.

We were tipped off by a Polish Web site in February about a new project involving LyngSat for a “super receiver” based on the DVB-S2 standard, but also capable of receiving DVB-T and decoding HDTV:

Christian Lyngemark – właściciel legendarnego serwisu satelitarnego www.lyngsat.com – zamierza wprowadzić na rynek "superodbiornik" HD combo DVB-S/DVB-T.

Projekt prowadzony jest przez firmę Lyngsat Media AB i Europejską Agencję Kosmiczną ESA. Najważniejsze cechy planowanego odbiornika to dwie głowice – satelitarna i naziemna, odbiór w nowym standardzie DVBS2, dekodowanie zarówno MPEG-2 jak i MPEG-4 oraz dysk do zgrywania programów.

Największą nowością ma być łączność przez internet z portalem www.lyngsat.com i automatyczne aktualizowanie listy programów satelitarnych.

The Swedish National Space Board found it interesting as well:

Lyngbox är ett av de företag som för första gången 2005 genomför projekt med Rymdstyrelsens stöd. Lyngbox utvecklar ett intressant koncept för att via en databas på Internet automatiskt ställa in kanalerna på satellit-TV-mottagare, oberoende av var I världen man befinner sig.

More than a little intrigued, we looked it up and found it: a European Space Agency (ESA) project, for a telecom application called “LyngBox.” They set out to build a satellite receiver last July that would be able to continuously update itself from data published on the Internet. Brilliant. The ESA and Hollycroft Associates got together with LyngSat to develop this new “super satcom box” and got into the development work last December. Could they be using some of the new chips introduced at CES? According to the Swedish patent filing (see PDF, page 26) from earlier this year, this receiver can do it all.

With the patent issued, Lyngbox is set to debut at the IBC show in Amsterdam on Friday, 8 September 2006. Along with a 160-gig drive, it has all the features you’d expect:

Features:
> Can store up to 50,000 channels
> Free access to all LyngSat Network services (LyngSat, LyngSat Guide and LyngSat Maps) with exclusivity to the LyngBox. No other receiver has access to these services
> Always corrects channel names, not relying on service names in the DVB stream
> Family user profiles and parental lock. Each user can have their own selection of channels based on countries, languages and genres which will be updated automatically
> HDTV support (720p and 1080i)
> Supports H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG-2
> Built-in tuners for both satellite TV (DVB-S/DVB-S2) and terrestrial TV (DVB-T)
> Internal slot system which makes it possible to install an additional tuner card
> 4:3 and 16:9 TV screen format support
> Teletext decoding
> Dual Common Interface slots for use with pay-TV channels
> PVR functionality with hard disk
> Possibilities to store recordings on an external DVD recorder connected with USB2
> DiSEqC 1.2 support for controlling LNB and motorised dish
> Remote control as standard and a wireless remote keyboard as accessories
> Channel selection by typing the name of the channel on the keyboard
> View images from a digital camera connected to the LyngBox

Interfaces:
> DVB-S2 input
> DVB-T input + output (pass-through)
> Expansion slot for additional tuner card
> 2 Common Interface slots
> HDMI-output.
> Component output
> Composite output
> SCART output (RGB and composite)
> S/PDIF optical output with AC-3 support
> Stereo audio (2 RCA)
> 4 USB 2.0 ports
> Ethernet connection (100BaseT)

While its use of the global positioning system or SatCom may be its only direct tie to satellites, the new Twin M hull vessel “Stiletto” was too cool to avoid mention here on RRS. In addition to looking really cool, the craft offers new advances in watercraft design, it’s twin M hull allowing the craft, according to M Ship Company’s (it’s maker) website, "[recapture] the bow wave using its energy to create an air cushion for more efficient planing."

Navy SEALs are already using the technology according to a navy website:

"The Stiletto’s patented M-shaped hull provides a stable, yet fast, platform for mounting electronic surveillance equipment or weapons, or for conducting special operations. The hull design does not require foils or lifting devices to achieve a smooth ride at high speeds in rough conditions. Its shallow draft means the M80 Stiletto can operate in riverine environments and potentially allows for beach landings."

Although tangential to a lot of what we cover on RRS, the Sitletto really shows the interesting work that is being done around the country in engineering. Awesome stuff!

I’ve been accused of being a crazy cat lady from time to time, and I can live with that. And I have a penchant for tech toys and all things geek. So it figures that I would come across this new product while surfing.

A company called Petsmobility, Inc. says they plan to release a GPS cell phone for dogs:

Measuring approximately 5 cms wide, 2.5 cms thick and 9.4 cms long, the PetsCell™ sets the standard for GPS tracking devices for pets. Unlike any other ‘Rush to Market’ products currently available. The PetsCell™ utilizes the new CDMA / GPS tracking technology, rather than the current GSM technology. This technology is so new, PetsMobility is the first company to be provisioned by network providers to use this technology in the (LBS) pet industry.

I don’t know if I like this idea or not. I guess it can work but…calling my pet’s cell phone? Using GPS to track where my dog has been all day?

An article in today’s issue of the Financial Times, says that flights on discount airline, RyanAir, are going to make use of mobile telephones available on their entire fleet of Boeing 737-800s over the next two years. AirFrance will launch the first trial of the same system, which uses technology developed by OnAir, in February, while RyanAir hopes to have obnoxious ringtones going off at 35,000 feet starting in July. BMI British Midlands and TAP Air Portugal will also be testing the OnAir system in Q2 2007.

For those that are worried about the inevitable volume increase the addition of mobile phone service to airliners will cause, Ryan Air’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary tells customers to expect nothing less from his airline.

"If you want a quiet flight, use another airline. Ryanair is noisy, full and we are always trying to sell you something."

Nonetheless, there is some hope that airlines without Ryanair’s brashness will limit the calling to some degree: According to the Financial Times piece, pilots can control the service and are likely to switch to "silent" mode on night flights, blocking calls but allowing text messages.

I’m picturing a sky filled with flying robots. Believe me, I’m not being paranoid here. I know I keep going on and on and on about them, but they seem to be everywhere lately. Everyone’s using them for something, and building better versions of them every day.

Remember that competition in Europe? Remember that European robotics contest back in May, that featured flying robots (a/k/a UAVs)? Turns out there was one that took place stateside back in July, in Fort Benning, GA: the International Aerial Robotics Competition.

The winners were a team of students from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. And this after losing their primary remote-controlled helicopter. Luckily they waited a few hours after the final competition to crash their back-up device.

Long days and sleepless nights paid off for a team of students at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology that finished first in the International Aerial Robotics Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., July 24-27.

The team rebounded from the loss of its primary remote-controlled helicopter only to crash its backup helicopter within hours of the final round of competition.

“Not many of us slept before it (the competition),” team manager D.J. Kjar of Custer said. He said some team members worked 43 consecutive hours, slept for five to six hours … and then went back at it.”

…After crashing the primary helicopter two weeks before the event, the team’s backup helicopter was wrecked during a practice flight when its engine failed the day before the flight competition.

Tech learned at a banquet the night before the flight contest that it was leading with firsts in best paper, best presentation and best team T-shirt design.

“That really renewed everybody’s strength,” Kjar said. The team worked all night to rebuild the helicopter.

Tech and the University of Alabama had the only vehicles that successfully completed the flight course.

The South Dakota team has website featuring photos and videos of their robots in flight.

One of the South Dakota students quoted in the article above mentioned that this technology might have potential for military use. Um, yeah. Turns out the Army already has one — called the Shadow 200 TUAV — zipping around the skies above Alaska.

There’s photos and videos of that one in action too.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a buzzing I keep hearing outside my window and I must investigate…

More UAV posting. Have you ever watched a movie or even a television commercial and asked "How’d they get that shot?" I know I have, and I usually find myself wondering just how they maneuvered a helicopter to get that shot. Until now I thought that maybe it was due some pilots with very steady hands. Now it turns out there aren’t any pilots at all.

Companies like 1 Advanced Technologies employ UAVs (those flying robots that haunt my dreams) to get some of the best shots in film and television. But some of these shots would be impossible with a helicopter. (Where’s the wind?) That’s where this little thing comes in.

I don’t know what it’s called, but it gets into some tight spots that no manned aerial vehicle could, to produce the kinds of visual shots that we pretty much take for granted. And I won’t even get into the maneuvers it makes possible. I’m not sure how it all happens, but the company has a video demo on its "Film Industry" page that shows this flying robot in action, making movie and commercial magic (OK, "commercial magic is probably a stretch) you might have seen before.

This is one I couldn’t quite believe, especially after World Jump Day, but apparently the Finns have come up with a special day for every frustrated mobile phone user who’s ever wanted to toss the darn thing.

Ever heard of the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship? It was held in Finland this weekend. Old phones were supplied for contestants who were allowed to pick which kind of phone they wanted to throw.

The men’s winner threw his phone 292 feet. The women’s winner tossed her phone 167 feet, a new world record according to the organizers. She said she has tossed a cell phone a time or two before.

Apparently, it’s real. And there’s even video.

I suppose it makes for a convenient excuse to upgrade your phone. I just hope all those tossed phones were properly recycled afterwards.

I don’t mean to go on about those flying robots. You know, the ones with the tentacles? In Europe? Yeah, those. I don’t mean to go on about them, but they always seem to be in the news.

This time they’re going by a different name: Stratellites. And they’re taking up a new function: wi-fi.

Bob Jones has a lofty idea for improving communications around the world: Strategically float robotic airships above Earth as an alternative to unsightly telecom towers on the ground and expensive satellites in space.

Jones, a former NASA manager, envisions a fleet of unmanned “Stratellites” hovering in the atmosphere and blanketing large swaths of territory with wireless access for high-speed data and voice communications.

…Jones believes his solar-powered, helium-filled Stratellites _ so named because they would hang in the stratosphere — could replace unsightly cell towers and cost less than satellites. Because of the airship’s altitude according to Jones, its radio equipment can cover an area the size of Texas.

Cell towers are hampered by line-of-sight limitations and limited range. Geostationary satellites suffer from the quarter-second it takes a signal to travel out 22,300 miles and back — insignificant in one-way TV transmissions, but terrible for two-way Internet computer communications.

The idea bubbled up and popped around the same time as the dot.com bust, yet it may be an idea whose time has come again. If so, Jones might want to consider some alternative fuels for getting his stratellites aloft.

For example, he might look into fuel cells. These guys at the Georgia Institute of Technology got their flying robot aloft using a hydrogen fuel cell. And if hydrogen is cost prohibitive, Boing Boing says this company has build a machine that generates free energy.

Then again, if the comments and tags on that Google video are right, maybe not.

I gotta admit, there are times when I’m just not feeling the DIY vibe. One of them is when I have a satellite dish that needs installing. The last couple of times I’ve moved, I’ve had someone some an install the dish for me, but apparently there are some folks out there who just want to do it themselves. And I salute them. After all, better them than me.

They may just be better at it than I am. Or more creative. I’m just a "bolt-it-to-the-side-of-the-house-and-call-it-a-day" kind of guy. Who knew there’s a better way to do it? Well, some people do.

For example, can you spot the dish in this picture?

The author goes into some detail on just how an apartment dweller can achieve an aesthetically pleasing satellite installation.

So as we all know, to use satellite TV, I needed to install a dish. I elected for the Dish500 dish, which is slightly larger than your normal 18-inch DBS dish, but it can also lock on to 2 satellites at once, giving me a wider channel range. The real difficulty was going to be where to install the dish, and would the apartment complex let me. The second problem was solved by the FCC last year. They issued a resolution that says that no one, not an HOA, locality, or my landlord, can prevent me from installing a dish of less than 36 inches in diameter somewhere that I have exclusive access to (like my balcony). However, in the interest of keeping up good relations, I told my landlord before I started the install. They wanted me to sign a lease addendum, which I did because it didn’t have any significant language in it. Having done that, I proceeded to the question of how to install the dish securely on the balcony.

I elected to go with the concrete bucket install described by a couple people on some of the DBS message boards. Basically, I mounted a piece of metal conduit in a bucket full of concrete, mounted the dish on top of the conduit, and bungeed the whole assembly to the rails of my balcony. It provides a very stable installation. I haven’t had any problems with the dish so far, and we’ve gotten some really high winds for the area since I got it set up.

It actually looks like quite an effective setup, and easier than drilling holes in an external wall.

There’s some pretty good advice for householders too, such as painting it the same color(s) as your house, in order to camouflage it.

There are also some other suggestions, like hiding it under an artificial rock or in the attic, in front a conveniently-placed window (which would be great in the winter, because you don’t have to go out and brush the snow off the dish to get your picture back.)

Me? I’ll stick to calling the guys with the tools, to come bolt it to the wall. Unless someone else has another idea.