Description of the maritime telecommunications experiment using the ATS 6 satellite /March 1976/

ESA designed a maritime communications experiment using ATS 6, with the goal of examining the ability of a low performance ship station to transmit data in conjunction with a ground station via the satellite. Emphasis was on: (1) quality of transmission with an omnidirectional nonstabilized antenna and with a low-directivity antenna partially stabilized by an inertial system, (2) the quality of several data transmission rates (50, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800 b/s in DPSK modulation), (3) the effects of the metallic superstructure of the ship on transmission, (4) multipath over-the-sea effects on transmission, and (5) telex transmission, point to point, between a ship and a ground station via the satellite.