2. September 2010 by admin.

* This looks reminiscent of the US NASA Apollo Space Program … with a space craft designed to drop back down from space and deploy parachutes for a water recovery landing.

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=886061620

Today SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) announced their Dragon spacecraft has successfully completed a high altitude drop test, meeting 100 percent of test objectives.  This is the last in a series of tests to validate parachute deployment systems and recovery operations before the craft’s first launch.

During the August 12th test, an Erikson S-64F Air-Crane helicopter dropped a test article of the Dragon spacecraft from a height of 14,000 feet, roughly nine miles off the coast of Morro Bay, California.  In a carefully timed sequence of events, dual redundant drogue parachutes deployed first to stabilize and gently slow the craft before three main parachutes, 116 feet in diameter, further slowed the craft to a picture perfect landing.  From there, recovery ships successfully returned the Dragon and parachutes to shore.

While Dragon will initially be used to transport cargo, the spacecraft was designed to transport crew and the parachute system validated during the test is the same system that would be used on a crew-carrying Dragon. 

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

2. September 2010 by admin.

* Satellite needs a reboot? A Windows Update? Well sort of … And you think your computer has problems? Imagine if it was out in space? and you couldn’t just call Alan Spicer to fix it!

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1593012507

The European Space Agency has reported the GOCe satellite has been troubled with such a difficulty since July. GOCe is designed to map the gravitational field of Earth, but has been unable to send its collected data to receiving stations. A patch is currently being worked on to correct the telemetry problem and the hopes are for a radio link to be installed by next month. GOCe has already completed two-thirds of its mission, with many of its science objectives already completed. The satellite was launched on March 17th in 2009.

The ESA describes GOCE as “the Formula 1″ of satellites due to its avant-garde design — it is a five-metre (16.25-feet) craft that is arrow-like in appearance, rather than the usual boxy dimensions. The satellite possesses stabilizing fins as it orbits Earth at an altitude of just 250 kilometres (156 miles) where there is still a lingering atmosphere. This is not the first difficulty for GOCe, which actually had a primary computer chip failure in February of this year. This required a switch over to the backup computer.

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/display_weekly.cgi

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

2. September 2010 by admin.

* More satellite steering problems … this time military …

 http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1978149695

[SatNews] The maneuvering plan for AEHF-1 may well have to be altered, after the AEHF-1’s propulsion system seems to have thrown a kink into the spatial works.

Launched on August 14th, this satellite experienced a problem when its thrusters were fired in order to boost the bird into its assigned testing orbit. All of the subsystems and the satellite itself are stable and up next is a plan by the engineers to perhaps rework the boosting process for the AEHF-1, which is the first of four such spacecraft. Set to replace Milstar, this Lockheed Martin Space System’s satellite is going to handle most of the extremely crucial communications for the U.S. military.

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/display_weekly.cgi

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

20. August 2010 by admin.

Big news for marine satcom users today: the mini-VSAT Broadband service got a 500% capacity expansion in N. America, the Gulf of Mexico, and Central America.

http://www.kvh.com/Press-Room/Press-Release-Library/2010/100819-mVBB-CONUS-Expansion.aspx?goback=%2Egde_3208547_member_27613574%2Egmp_3208547%2Egde_3208547_member_27582871

Alan Spicer Commented (on LinkedIn “Marine Telecom (Communications” Forum/Group):

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom • I’m a Kilobits-per-Second and Megabits-per-second kind of guy. Actually I should a Kibibit and Mebibit kind of guy - but that’s just being modern and proper … only the Linux guys or such would really kill me about that.Also a dollars for donuts kind of guy. Always fighting for the marine guys and gals out there on the streets. Actually out there on the waters So 500% “capacity” expansion. That’s a big number. Imagine your car going 500% faster or getting 500% better gas mileage. Just to put it in laymans terms.So what does that mean in laymans terms? In technical terms, to me, that just means that your network (satellite network) capacity increased.

“Circling around at 500 feet lifes imperfect … but down on the street it’s unforgiving”
(Paraphrasing that movie Blackhawk Down)

I don’t think this means that users on boats are going to get any faster Internet Service than what they’re already paying for, right? Just if there were “capacity” problems … say in the Gulf Region … due to Oil Cleanup marine vessel activity … then such capacity problems, if there were any (hypothetically here) that would be “cleaned up” now as well?

In a similar Telecom scenario … AT&T Wireless has capacity problems because of huge success of the iPhone exclusive arrangement. Let’s say AT&T were to increase their “capacity” in those ares. It would solve the capacity problems and restore normal service.

[end]

Durant: Where’s the rescue squad?
Shughart: We’re it.

Eversmann: Remember, we’re Rangers not some sorry-ass JROTC. We’re Elite. Let’s act like it out there. Hoo-ah?
Rangers: Hoo-ah!

///////////////////////////////////

Harry Ellis: Hey, business is business. You use a gun, I use a fountain pen what’s the difference? Let’s put it in my terms, you’re in a hostile takeover, you snatch us up for some green mail, but you’re not expecting some poison pill to be running around the building, am I right? Hans, *booby* I’m your white knight.

Hans Gruber: [Looking puzzled] I must have missed 60 Minutes. What are you saying?
(Die Hard (1988))

—
Alan SpicerDBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO) * Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale ** http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426

Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

20. August 2010 by admin.

Inmarsat Global Xpress Broadband Service Set For 2014 Cutover

http://www.cable360.net/ct/news/thewire/Inmarsat-Global-Xpress-Broadband-Service-Set-For-2014-Cutover_42777.html

Global mobile satellite giant Inmarsat will launch, in partnership with The Boeing Company, three state-of-the-art 702HP Ka-band satellites, commercializing them in 2014.

The Inmarsat-5 constellation will allow Inmarsat to market what it said will be “a unique, global, high-speed mobile broadband service offering” initially dubbed Global Xpress.

Global Xpress, which will target a $1.4 billion incremental market opportunity in VSAT services, will address “the established, growing markets for VSAT services in the maritime, energy and government sectors, with further growth potential in developing markets such as the aeronautical sector,” an Inmarsat statement continued. “Global Xpress will deliver seamless global coverage and unprecedented mobile broadband with speeds up to 50MB/s to customer terminals from 20-60cm in size.”

Inmarsat is estimating $500 million in annual Ka-band revenues five years after service launch. Under a separate arrangement, Boeing has agreed to become a distribution partner for both Inmarsat’s Ka- and L-band services; it also has contracted for capacity purchases representing more than 10 percent of Inmarsat’s target Ka-band revenues in that first five years.

Commented Inmarsat Chairman and CEO Andrew Sukawaty, “This is a new investment for new growth. With the Global Xpress network, we will be the first operator to offer global mobile broadband coverage, offering unparalleled speeds and bandwidth to customers in remote locations around the world. Global Xpress will be faster and less expensive than current Ku-band market offerings, delivered to smaller and cheaper terminals and be the first offered on a seamless, global, end to end basis with high quality of service. Picture 50MB/s services to a ship or aircraft and 10MB/s to an antenna the size of an iPad.”

He continued, “Inmarsat-5 will also complement our existing global L-band services, allowing us to offer unique hybrid packages using both networks, giving users unprecedented levels of resilience and reliability in remote and harsh environments.”

Explaining how the constellation will be financed, CFO Rick Medlock said, “We expect the Inmarsat-5 program to be largely funded from our internally generated cash flows and, with significant available liquidity today, we see no immediate financing needs. In connection with the Boeing contract, we are seeking Export Credit Agency financing support from the US Ex-Im Bank, which could provide an attractive source of long-term debt. Given the multi-year build phase and the strong free cash flow from our existing business, we believe the peak impact on our ratio of net debt to EBITDA will be less than 0.5.”

The operator also believes Inmarsat-5 will start the gradual replacement of its L-band network, resulting in a deferment of more than $500 million of its previously planned replacement spend during the next 11 years.

* Alan Spicer asks: So what will the current Inmarsat Fleet Broadband and BGAN customers need to do? If anything? Will they continue to be able to use their investments in their current satellite terminal gear? (This said “cutover” that generally means cutting off an old and cutting of or cutting in a new service.) Or will they be phased out and have to buy new gear and change their service? What will the Marine rates be?

* Global Xpress will be faster and less expensive than current Ku-band market offerings

Uhuh … what about marine? will the airtime be less expensive?

—
Alan Spicer

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426

Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

16. August 2010 by admin.

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1080934825

[SatNews] Satellite telecoms company Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT.L - news) is set to announce that it has ordered three new satellites from Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) in a $1bn (£630m) deal.

The fleet of advanced Ka-Band satellites will allow Inmarsat to offer its customers fast broadband services in even the most far-flung locations by the end of 2014. With operations expected to start in 2014, Inmarsat-5 will support a next generation global service, Global Xpress, which will target a $1.4bn incremental market opportunity in VSAT services.

Global Xpress will address the established, growing markets for VSAT services in the Maritime, Energy and Government sectors, with further growth potential in developing markets such as the Aeronautical sector. Global Xpress will deliver seamless global coverage and unprecedented mobile broadband with speeds up to 50MB/s, to customer terminals from 20-60cm in size.

“They will provide very high mobile broadband speeds on a global basis to serve high-end customers who have very high data needs,” a source said.

The new satellites will offer broadband at speeds up to 20 times faster than Inmarsat’s current, ageing, L-band fleet, which operates at the opposite end of the spectrum. The investment, expected to be confirmed today, will be the biggest investment by the British company in a decade. Inmarsat will continue to use its 11 existing L-Band satellites, which provide voice and data services to ships and planes as well as those working in disaster areas or war zones.

Andrew Sukawaty, CEO of Inmarsat said: “This is a new investment for new growth. With the Global Xpress network, we will be the first operator to offer global mobile broadband coverage, offering unparalleled speeds and bandwidth to customers in remote locations around the world. Global Xpress will be faster and less expensive than current Ku-band market offerings, delivered to smaller and cheaper terminals and be the first offered on a seamless, global, end to end basis with high quality of service. Picture 50MB/s services to a ship or aircraft and 10MB/s to an antenna the size of an iPad (20cm).




—
Alan Spicer

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426

Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

16. August 2010 by admin.

Zombie Satellite Turns Disruptive In Rural Alaska
Image credit: Orbital Sciences/Intelsat 18 rendering[SatNews] The wayward satellite, nicknamed 'zombie' satellite by some because of its non response to directions and signals, may create some periodic loss of long-distance telephone and Internet service later this week for up to 35,000 people in rural Alaska.The Galaxy 15 is operated by Intelsat a European company. The satellite malfunctioned in April and has been wandering toward other satellites, interfering with their signals, hence the moniker.According to a General Communications Inc. spokesman David Morris the outages are expected to start Wednesday morning and continue until Saturday, and will last from 90 minutes to more than five hours. GCI estimates 4,000 residents and 1,000 businesses could briefly lose communications, meaning that ATMs will be offline and stores won't be able to process credit cards during the outages.

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

9. August 2010 by admin.

 The Maritime Satellite Market: Poised for Growth (July - August 2010 Satellite Executive Briefing - Satellite Markets and Research) http://www.satellitemarkets.com/pdf/aug10.pdf - See Page #9.

aug10.pdf

—
Alan Spicer

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426

Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

21. July 2010 by admin.

http://www.satellitetoday.com/via/features/34566.html

Security breeches in the satellite world occur far more frequently than one is led to believe. They are discussed in hushed whispers and don’t generate the sensational news coverage that happened when Captain Midnight overrode HBO’s cable programming from a teleport in Florida in 1986. Perhaps if they did, security would be a higher priority.
August 1, 2010 | Via Satellite | By Greg Berlocher
Regardless of whether data is transmitted via radio wave, fiber optic strand or copper cable, if the network the data rides on interconnects with the Internet, the data is at risk. For many years, satellite networks were isolated, private affairs enjoying security through obscurity, but that all changed with the advent of IP-based networking gear, VPN backhauls and broadband ISPs. Network security should be the top priority of every hardware manufacturer and satellite service provider, but unfortunately, many satellite networks are not subjected to the same rigor as terrestrial-based networks. In short, security is an afterthought.

(more at the article link above…)

Alan Spicers Comments: I saw the Captain Midnight event live on TV when it occurred.

I looked the guy up and he is still around. He really got lucky on the legal side with that one. I traded a few emails with him about this. http://www.macdougallelect.com/bio.html this is his Bio Page from his current web site.

What could worry some people is just how easily he did that back then, and wondering how easily such a thing could be done nowadays? Many technologies, such as satellite, can use Security by Obscurity, rather than any real security. Everything has inputs and outputs … uplinks and downlinks … transmit sides and receive sides. Often it’s just a matter of having the right equipment (either yours, borrowed, or as in the case of Captain Midnight - in the course of your employment somewhere) to be able to “hit” the input. Things have offsets - transmit and receive frequencies that are different. Often they are industry standard (e.g. 5 Mhz in UHF two way radio) but sometimes they are what they call an “Odd Split” and do not follow the industry standard. There are also other protections such as PL (CTCSS) Tone Encode and Decode and Digital versions of the same idea.

What I’m saying is that often “Systems” (Infrastructure as Homeland Security would call it) often work on a “Trusted” basis. They trust that noone else would have the equipment and would transmit *there* (wherever that would be) besides the authorized or “Trusted” station(s).

I don’t claim to know how Satellite TV uplink and downlink security is done these days, nor how broadband Internet Satellite does it either. But this article seems to be raising some kind of concern. So, … it was interesting!

So there you have it!

—

Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Telecom / Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net - http://www.wifiyacht.net

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

+1 954-683-3426

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet | No Comments »

21. March 2010 by admin.

Inmarsat FleetBroadband Case Study - Maltese Falcon

—

Alan Spicer Telecom / Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426

Posted in Satellite Voice and Internet, Uncategorized | No Comments »