Talk:Transit (satellite)

Untitled
One excellent source that I have found on this topic is: Seeber, G. (2003). Satellite Geodesy (2nd ed.). Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter.

The relevant sections can be found in a Google Books search for "satellite geodesy TRANSIT satellites" or follow this link:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MPTh9Muj1soC&pg=PA187&dq=satellite+geodesy+TRANSIT+satellites&sig=ubC-NYquhoLDWjcmRtu_AjxdeUA

ChrisTracy (talk) 23:52, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

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Is 'OSCAR' (see para 2 of History) correct?

OSCAR is an acronym for Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.115.114.203 (talk) 16:48, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

I believe I remember a satellite set called Oscar which was merely coincidental with respect to the amateur radio satellite. On Google near the location of this article is an article from the Applied Physics Laboratory describing the satellite system. I no reason to believe that this article is not correct. APL ran the Satellite Control Center when I was at Station 019 (and long before).

I would be interested in knowing who posted the photos of Station 019 as I was the undergraduate worker there in 1974. My partner/leader painted the Texas flag on the front of the satellite tracking station during the winter when the paint went on frozen and still dried. The Triad antenna was used to record magnetometer telemetry on magnetic tape from a satellite whose on board recorder failed and thus the satellite's telemetry had to be recorded in real time over the aurora oval. It could be RM who posted the photos or the crew after us. MF — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.166.67.173 (talk) 02:48, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Constant314 (talk) 03:30, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

==== OSCAR (all caps) is certainly incorrect and should be avoided. "Oscar" is correct.2A01:598:9984:66C4:A0AC:B119:3AEF:BD14 (talk) 13:42, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

Transit Usage Years
The article states that Transit was used by thousands of warships etc. until 1991. I had a Mars/Vigil Navsat unit on board my sailboat that I used to cross the North Pacfic from Japan to Vancouver Island in August, 1993. So, I know that it was still quite usable at that time. And perhaps it was so until 1996. Perhaps someone else can provide a more definitive date as to when the system was decommissioned. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.151.217 (talk) 20:03, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

spaceborne 'mailboxes'
the term "spaceborne 'mailboxes'" should be explained 109.65.227.34 (talk) 12:34, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Agreed! I can't find any viable reference online for the term.192.4.209.201 (talk) 19:58, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Demonstration
There is a demonstration of the field unit (in a field) on the 1978 TV series "Connections" with James Burke. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.91.224.152 (talk) 11:39, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

AN/UYK-1 Source
Found this as a possible source for a currently one sourced section "MICROELECTRONIC LOGIC IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE AN/UYK-1 COMPUTER" dtic.mil PDF. As the section was tagged as un-sourced I assumed it was, but it did already have one source. 220  of  Borg 15:47, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Transit 5B-5 - oldest active satellite
Wouldn't it be noteworthy that Transit 5B-5 (launched 1964) is the oldest active satellite in space? It never went into operation because the data up/download link system failed after deployment into LEO. But since that day it transmits its doppler carrier and marker signals on 136.650 MHz, of course the batteries failed many years ago and so the electronics only function when the satellite is in sunlight. But it still manages to boot up most days, after more than 50 years of operation, and can be received using simple handheld scanners. It's considered an admirable "space monument" by sat enthusiasts. 176.0.30.145 (talk) 18:36, 29 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Sure, if you have a reliable source. Constant314 (talk) 06:37, 30 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Hard to find highly official sources of course, it's just a "known fact" in the community. First off, let me correct myself.  Transit 5B-5 / Oscar-2 is still transmitting the PAM-encoded telemetry signal centered at ~136.650 MHz, the 2 navigational 150/400 MHz transmitters providing the carrier signals for positioning and time information stopped working after 19 days in orbit.  Apparently it also stopped reacting to control commands from the ground stations, which is the most likely reason why it was never turned off like its siblings.

That 5B-5 is still broadcasting was for the most part published by Maik Hermenau, owner of the German satellite website www.satellitenwelt.de - here: http://www.satellitenwelt.de/transit_5b-5.htm#Mitschnitte

This satellite frequency list confirms that 5B-5 was heard last on November 10th 2015: http://www.satellitenwelt.de/satfreq_vhf.htm Also this one: http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/emitters.html And this one: https://sdrsatellitesounds.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/transit-5b-5-observations-from-14-03-2015/

I'm afraid that's all we got.176.0.103.145 (talk) 08:38, 1 December 2015 (UTC)


 * The source doesn't have to be official, but it has to be reliable. Internet sources can be reliable, but some of them are junk.  Assuming your source is reliable, it sounds like you have enough to say that 5B-5 exists, was launched in 1964 and was still transmitting as of Nov 2015.  But the claim that it is the oldest still active probably needs a more explicit source.  Constant314 (talk) 10:53, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

TRANSIT or just Transit?
The intro says TRANSIT, but the name was never really capitalized except in old documents where project names were often capitalized for style reasons, just to help them stand out. Certainly Transit isn't an acronym or abbreviation for anything, as sources tend to confirm when they touch on the question at all, e.g. this book.

Does anyone have a reason for not knocking it down to just "Transit"? 71.197.166.72 (talk) 09:40, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * It seems reasonable at present, as the uppercase form only seems to be used once. You could change it, and probably footnote this, if you wish. Andy Dingley (talk) 11:00, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Failure
Why did Transit 1A and 5A-2 both fail to reach orbit? 50.64.119.38 (talk) 08:00, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

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