Engineering topics

Sperber, Peter

Publications and source records attributed to Sperber, Peter.

5 records

NASA NTRS1993

Experience and results of the 1991 MTLRS-1 USSR campaign

The year 1991 was a special year for the mobile laser ranging systems. Due to the scheduled upgrades of the Modular Transportable Laser Ranging Systems, MTLRS#1 and MTLRS#2, neither a WEGENER MEDLAS nor a Crustal Dynamics Project campaign was carried out in 1991. After the successful upgrade of MTLRS#1 in the first half of 1991 the system departed from Wettzell in August to make measurements at two sites in the USSR. In Riga/Latvia, we operated close to the fixed SLR system. In Simeiz/Ucrainea, the place for MTLRS#1 pad was choosen to collocate the two fixed SLR stations in Simeiz (300 m distance to MTLRS#1) and Kazivelli (about 3 km distance).

Sperber, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1993

Results of the MTLRS-1 upgrade

In this report, the results of the upgrade of the German Modular Transportable Laser Ranging System MTLRS-1 are summarized. A short description of the new components and their influence on the system accuracy is given. It is shown, that the single shot accuracy of the MTLRS-1 has been improved from 5 cm to 1 cm.

Sperber, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1993

The new MTLRS-1 receiving system

In this report, we are giving a detailed description of the new receiving system of the German Modular Transportable Laser Ranging System MTLRS-1, consisting of a spectral time and field of view filter and a Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) as a single photon detector. The system gives full day and night ranging capability to all satellites with cm accuracy.

Sperber, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1993

The new MTLRS transmitting system

This paper presents a detailed description about the new transmitting system of the Modular Transportable Laser Ranging Systems MTLRS-1/2. A simplified theory of the Self Filtering Unstable Resonator (SFUR) is explained. Laser design details are discussed concerning the extreme environmental conditions in which these mobile systems are operating. Details are given concerning the new avalanche START detector. The new SFUR laser and START detector are necessary parts in order to bring both mobile systems towards 1 cm ranging accuracy.

Sperber, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1993

Transputer based control system for MTLRS

The Modular Transportable Laser Ranging Systems (MTLRS-1 and MTLRS-2) have been designed in the early eighties and have been in operation very successfully since 1984. The original design of the electronic control system was based on the philosophy of parallel processing, but these ideas could at that time only be implemented to a very limited extent. This present system utilizes two MOTOROLA 6800 8-bit processors slaved to a HP A-600 micro-computer. These processors support the telescope tracking system and the data-acquisition/formatting, respectively. Nevertheless, the overall design still is largely hardware oriented. Because the system is now some nine years old, aging of components increases the risk of malfunctioning and some components or units are outdated and not available anymore. The control system for MTLRS is now being re-designed completely, based on the original philosophy of parallel processing, making use of contemporary advanced electronics and processor technology. The new design aims at the requirements for Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) in the nineties, making use of the extensive operational experience obtained with the two transportable systems.

Vermaat, Erik↗