News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

April, 2024

In this issue:

• Quasonix is On the Moon
• Gen 4 Transmitters: Available in a Configuration for You
• ITC Highlight Reel
  • Papers and Awards
  • Products

Quasonix is On the Moon

Quasonix is proud to be an integral part of Intuitive Machines’ recent IM-1 mission Moon landing.

The mission was highly successful, overcoming many obstacles, including a difficult touchdown that resulted in the lander, named Odysseus, tipping mostly on its side. This unplanned orientation reduced the exposure of the lander’s solar panels to the sun, producing a fraction of the expected power. The lander’s attitude also pointed the high-gain antenna at the lunar surface instead of the earth. Because the high-gain antenna was unusable, four low-gain hemi antennas were used for data transmission.

Odysseus used a Quasonix transmitter to send science and engineering data to Earth, captured by a network of large radio astronomy dishes around the world. The transmitter used is part number QSX-VSR4-0101-25-80-04AB-CE-VP, a 25-watt S-band unit with SOQPSK and BPSK/QPSK/OQPSK modulations (use of OQPSK was planned for the mission), equipped with Convolutional Encoder (1/2 rate with K=7) and Variable Power (31 settings spanning 24 dB).

Despite the suboptimal antenna array and severe multipath, more than 1.7 gigabytes of science and engineering data was collected across all payloads. The available solar energy was initially considered insufficient to fully power the lander and the transmitter for the full mission. Nonetheless, our efficient transmitter was downloading data right up to lunar nightfall, concluding seven days of lunar surface operations.

Credit: Intuitive Machines

This was the first U.S. soft landing on the Moon in more than 50 years, but the mission is being hailed as a triumph for much more than that. In addition to successfully proving a number of technological breakthroughs, this was the first commercial Moon landing ever – a harbinger of costs an order of magnitude lower than government-operated programs.
 
The Quasonix transmitter used by Intuitive Machines fits neatly into that equation. It was an unmodified COTS product – the same as any other customer could buy. Read on to learn more about how we’ve got the right transmitter for your needs.

Gen 4 Transmitters:

Available in a Configuration for You

First introduced in 2021 in select units, Quasonix’s fourth generation of transmitters is now shipping across all configurations.

This new breed of transmitters builds on the unparalleled performance, value, and durability of our legacy units, adding numerous improvements like better DC-to-RF efficiency and reduced operating current draw, better BER at low and high bit rates, improved reliability and availability of components, support for bidirectional EVTM, and the extension of LDPC to include all six LDPC codes (versus one in the Gen 3 family). You can read more about the huge advantages of LDPC coding here.

Take your telemetry to the next level – even if that’s to the Moon. Contact Quasonix today to learn more.

ITC Highlight Reel

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost midway between last year’s ITC and the 2024 conference. While we’ve got a lot planned for the future, we want to take a few minutes to look back at some “greatest hits” from 2023.

This is the part of the newsletter where a lot of companies would show off the products that were popular at ITC. (Don’t worry, we’ll cover a couple of sensational new products for you in a minute.) But Reinventing Telemetry™ starts with great thinking.

Papers and Awards
Mark Geoghegan is no stranger to ITC, nor to accolades for his papers. This year, Mark scored his third “Best Paper” award for Data Quality Metric (DQM) – How Accurate Does it Need to Be? The paper “investigates the MLBD [Maximum Likelihood Bit Detection] performance loss caused by DQM estimation error. The objective is to gain insight into the sensitivity of the overall bit recovery system and to use the results to help establish tolerance levels in DQM test procedures. This relationship provides the means to guarantee that the DQM accuracy is sufficient to meet or exceed a specified level of system performance which is the goal of DQM testing.”

Sean Wilson, a product leader for Quasonix EVTM, was involved in two papers and presented Ethernet via Bidirectional Packet Based Telemetry – Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) vs. Time Division Duplex (TDD). This analysis, founded on in-depth lab testing, “identifie[s] some key tradeoff areas to be considered when selecting between two bidirectional telemetry link approaches.” Spoiler alert: There’s no single best solution. Sean (and Quasonix) are here to help you make the best decision for your particular situation.

Terry Hill, President of Quasonix, presented Meaningful G/T Measurements – Made at Night. “The conventional method of measuring G/T for directional antennas seems simple: measure received power while pointing the antenna at the sun, repeat the measurement while pointed at ‘cold sky’, and do a few simple calculations. This paper briefly summarizes the many sources of error in this technique and then presents an alternative approach using a calibrated signal source instead of the sun…. The proposed approach can be applied to any type of receiving system (including active antennas and multi-beam phased arrays) and yields G/T results that apply meaningfully to the link budget.”

Products
This year, Quasonix debuted our Maximum Likelihood Stream Combiner™ (MLSC™) and its sister product, our Best Source Selector Analyzer (BSSA).

The MLSC is a new approach to Best Source Selection that extracts optimal data from multiple received signals. Brought to you by the engineering team that developed the industry’s premier Best Channel Selector, the MLSC leverages an industry-leading implementation of Data Quality Encapsulation (DQE) plus Maximum Likelihood Bit Detection (MLBD) and proprietary Quasonix algorithms to improve your received data accuracy under the most challenging conditions.

MLBD is only optimal if all received data streams are able to participate in the combining process at all times. This requires seamlessly maintaining stream alignment at the bit level, while tracking signals through the deep fades that are typical of serial streaming telemetry channels, and almost instantly reacquiring and realigning those streams that lose lock. The resulting system can easily track Doppler rate differentials due to the fastest of targets, well above Mach 25.

Not only does the MLSC derive the lowest achievable output bit error rate possible, it also constructs accurate DQM for the output stream, which can be used in cascaded MLSC™ arrangements or by other downstream equipment.

The net result of using the Quasonix MLSC is huge performance gains – greater than 6 orders of magnitude in BER over the BER of the best single stream, given 8 streams with BERs between 10% and the best single stream.

“If Quasonix is going to build a source selector, we’re going to make sure it’s the best it can be. The BSSA is the equipment that makes that possible.”

The BSSA is a unique tool that emulates real-world channel conditions across all received signals in a range, allowing precise, repeatable BSS testing. This capability enabled rigorous analysis and honing of the MLSC throughout its development.

The BSSA makes it possible to evaluate the performance of different BSS units or settings, allowing you to compare results against theoretical best achievable performance. Its 12 independent data generators are capable of emulating a multitude of best source selection challenges such as channel delay, Doppler effects, variable bit error probability, receiver sync loss, and more. Twelve PCM I/O and twelve TMoIP I/O are independently configurable as input or output, with the ability to monitor and report results for up to four simultaneous channel groups. Tests are precisely repeatable down to the last bit, so it’s easy to make valid comparisons of any equipment across a wide variety of scenarios.

Contact Quasonix to learn more about one or both of these exciting new offerings.

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

October, 2022

In this issue:

• See what’s new at ITC!
• QBeam™ Digital Beamformer NEW 
• TMoIP Processor NEW 
• QSight™ Boresight System NEW 
• And that’s not all!

See what’s new at ITC!

It’s not just a tagline. We really are… Reinventing Telemetry™, with complete telemetry link solutions to fit your needs. Stop by Booth 700 for live demos of our latest advancements and newest product offerings! Here is just a taste of what awaits you.

QBeam™ Digital Beamformer

Get the most out of your antenna array, and solve problems you haven’t been able to – until now. 

The QBeam™ digital beamformer is an innovative technology that can automatically “point” receive antennas for best signal reception without physically moving any antenna element. No tracking signal or special arrangement of the antennas is needed – just mount them where they can see the target. This beamforming is accomplished using Digital Signal Processing modules that can accommodate up to 16 antenna inputs each and that can be cascaded to support larger antenna arrays.

The QBeam™ system typically includes a set of Quasonix RF Downconverters, each of which can be co-located with an antenna element; one or more Quasonix Digital Signal Processor modules, the heart of the QBeam™ system; and a Quasonix demodulator or RDMS™. These advanced components maximize system sensitivity, dramatically reduce adjacent-channel/adjacent-band interference, reject multipath, maximize antenna gain, and reliably demodulate the received signal to bits.

The QBeam™ DSP has enough horsepower for more than just beamforming. Optional advanced algorithms include high-precision real-time direction finding, which may have several applications, such as interference source identification, antenna platform positioning, and antenna array troubleshooting. 

TMoIP Processor

Reliable, simple, and accurate packetized telemetry transport in both a 1U form factor and as an upgrade for your existing RDMS™ receiver.

You’ve transmitted and received your telemetry data. Now how do you distribute it across your network?

The easy answer is the new Quasonix TMoIP Processor (QTP), which provides IRIG 218-20 compatible telemetry transport in both a bidirectional 12-channel 1U form factor (TMOIP-12) and a 3-channel integrated solution embedded in a 1U or 3U RDMS™ receiver (RDMS™ with the -IP2 option). The 1U standalone processor supports 6 or 12 channels of PCM input/output (field upgradable from 6 to 12). The RDMS™ integrated solution supports 3 channels of PCM input, 1 each for Channel 1, Channel 2, and Combiner, and is a factory upgrade for third-generation Quasonix receivers.

In addition to providing accurate, reliable transport of all received telemetry data streams from receivers to the range network, the Quasonix TMoIP Processor comes with a rich, highly configurable, and easy-to-use interface. With features like automatic bit-rate and clock edge detection and a BER Test Mode with Generator and Analyzer, you’ll have your system set up and running smoothly in next to no time.  You can also count on lifetime software updates from Quasonix to keep your systems up to date with the latest IRIG standards.

Get the quality, dependability, and usability you’ve come to expect from us. The TMoIP Processor is just the latest reason to make Quasonix your end-to-end telemetry supplier.

QSight™ Boresight System

Set your mission up for success with this simple, complete boresight solution.

The QSight™ system is a multi-band, high-powered, boresight RF test source that allows an operator to verify that the receive range telemetry system is properly configured and operating as expected prior to a mission.

The outdoor portion of the unit consists of a high-performance RF telemetry transmitter with a multi-band antenna packaged in a single radome enclosure. A companion two-axis positioner as well as a camera can be added to allow for convenient testing of multiple receive sites. The indoor portion of the system is a 2U, 19” rackmount unit that is controlled via an external web browser based GUI. A single cable connects the transmit assembly with the controller, ensuring easy setup and robust operation.

QSight™ supports a wide variety of IRIG-106 modulations and coding options. It can source either internally generated PN test patterns at a user specified data rate or externally supplied customer data via traditional RS-422 or TMOIP input. The power level is calibrated with a maximum output of 10 Watts EIRP and is controllable over an 80 dB range. This range of adjustment provides appropriate power levels for both short and long-distance test links.

In addition to flexible telemetry signal generation, the QSight™ system can also precisely control its output polarization to verify the RF operation of receive antenna systems. Polarization options include vertical, horizontal, or fixed-linear at any arbitrary angle, right-hand or left-hand circular, as well as a rotating linear polarization mode. These modes allow the operator to easily measure and verify the cross-polarization and axial ratio performance of the receive antenna system prior to live operation.

Ensure success for your next mission. Learn more about QSight™ today.

And that’s not all!​

Since opening for business in 2002, Quasonix has been proud to be a pioneer in the industry, with multiple innovations that have been incorporated in IRIG 106. We continue to advance the state of the art, and would love to show you what’s new and improved, including:

• HyperTrack™ Antennas
• EVTM – TDD mode
• Receiver Analyzer 3.0
• And the rest of our broad range of transmitters, receivers, antennas, and test equipment.

We hope to see you at ITC this year! If that’s not possible, contact us at sales@quasonix.com for expert product information, guidance, and support.

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

June, 2022

In this issue:

• Twenty Years of… Reinventing Telemetry™
• Coming Soon: Receiver Analyzer 3.0
• Zen and the Art of Antenna Maintenance
• RDMS™ Release 19.3 Now Available
• Sneak Peek: PD900 Antenna

Twenty Years of…
Reinventing Telemetry™

Quasonix was founded in 2002 with the purpose of filling a void in the flight-test telemetry market for a company dedicated to the development and deployment of advanced telemetry products. Quasonix’s core tenet of exceeding customer expectations continues today with the development of products that push the envelope of spectral efficiency, power efficiency, size, packaging, and user-friendliness. Quasonix continually breaks new ground and stands apart as the market’s key innovator – elevating the performance of existing products, conceiving and developing new products to fill completely unmet needs, and advancing the industry as a whole through contributions to IRIG 106 standards.

In 2018, Terry Hill – owner and president of Quasonix and inventor of the SOQPSK waveform – was recognized with the ITC Pioneer Award for his broad array of contributions to telemetry. As he said during his acceptance: “The award has my name on it, and I’m immensely grateful and honored, but I have to say, I need to share it. Yes, I’ve had some good ideas over the years, but without the team that I work with – that’s the engineering team, manufacturing, testing, the sales team – everyone who takes those ideas and turns them into real products – well, they would just be ideas.”

As we celebrate our anniversary, we’re proud to look back on a few highlights from our Twenty Years Of… Reinventing Telemetry™.

2002       Quasonix opens for business
2004       First TIMTER transmitter ships
2007       First RDMS™ receiver ships
2013       LDPC Coding introduced
2014       STC introduced,
                First Receiver Analyzer ships
2015       DQE/DQM introduced,
                EVTM introduced,
                LDPC Coding added to IRIG 106-15,
                STC added to IRIG 106-15
2017       DQE/DQM added to IRIG 106-17,
                First Status Logger ships
2018       BCS introduced,
                First QTrack™ antenna ships
2019       All-digital antenna control protocol introduced
2021       First HyperTrack™ system installed
 
Though there may be laurels in our commemorative anniversary logo, we’ll never be satisfied resting on them. Here’s to our next twenty years of innovation and leadership, and to the ongoing contributions we will make for the flight-test telemetry community.

COMING SOON: Receiver Analyzer 3.0

Prepare to get more from your existing Receiver Analyzer with this free upgrade.

Quasonix’s Receiver Analyzer is your go-to tool for verifying your pre-flight receiver configuration. With a system-wide total of four signal sources and six channel path emulators, complex scenarios can be effectively modeled and tested, allowing you to “measure twice, launch once”.
 
The next generation of Receiver Analyzer is in development and will soon be available as a free upgrade. Version 3.0 unleashes even more of the hardware’s power and allows you far greater control in the setup of your testing. Here are just a few of the improvements you’ll see: 

• Vastly improved performance, with nearly real-time response. Whether you describe the enhancement as “stunningly better” or a “night and day difference”, we’re sure you’re bound to notice.
• A completely overhauled user interface that is highly configurable and flexible. Put what you want where you want it on the screen, optimizing the configuration for the tests you’re running.
• User-customizable integrated graphics to quickly assess the data you care about directly in the UI, plus a results export for aggregation and further analysis offline.
• The ability to extract DQM from DQE streams, enabling an array of new performance measurements and allowing for the calibration of DQM.
• More modular, adaptable, and automatable configuration of your tests. If the hardware can generate it, you can access it, now with virtually unlimited combinations.

Here are two examples of the integrated graphics – in this case, related to the calibration of DQM:

Additional information will become available closer to launch. In the meantime, contact us at sales@quasonix.com if you’re interested in learning more.

Zen and the Art of Antenna Maintenance

Protect your sound investment and gain peace of mind through periodic inspections and routine maintenance of your system.

Quasonix’s HyperTrack™ systems are gaining in popularity with our customers, in no small part due to their unrivaled performance in tracking speed, tracking accuracy, and data retrieval.

These cutting-edge systems combine the latest processing and network technologies with mechanical robustness descended from our proven legacy platform, with many systems in the field for over a decade and still performing flawlessly. Our confidence in this design is such that we now provide a new industry benchmark: a standard a three-year warranty on all our HyperTrack™ antenna systems. This is only possible by engineering and manufacturing to standards our competition would probably consider to be “overdesigned”.

Environmental challenges abound. Here are the most significant ones that antennas face and principal risk mitigations employed by Quasonix:

• Ultraviolet damage: The use of ultra-violet protective paint; UV resistant material coated cables; sun shields wherever possible
• Precipitation and humidity: Positive pressurization of all outdoor equipment; the use of O rings (not gaskets); integrated dehydrating pressurizer for all outdoor equipment
• Excessive wind and icing: Robust mechanical design; heaters and dehydrated positive pressure
• Corrosion, mold, and mildew: Use of industrial and military grade materials and hardware

But even the best systems need a little love. Most of the breakdowns we see in field could have been detected and fixed before they went from “nothing to be concerned with” to expensive and problematic, resulting in antenna downtime.

The solution is routine inspection.

Things to look out for:

• Paint peeling from weldments and radomes
• Visible metal corrosion (on the weldments and hardware etc.)
• Deterioration of cables and connectors including cracking and peeling 
• Cracking, defoliation, and discoloration of composites (radomes and reflectors)
• And most importantly: Dehydrator status alarms, or any signs of incorrect dehydrator operation

Three-year warranty:
Quasonix is dedicated to protecting our customers and their investment.

The three-year warranty on HyperTrack™ systems requires periodic inspection, which allows us to resolve issues before they become problems. Quasonix publishes a maintenance log/procedure with each HyperTrack™ system so that end users can protect the life of these systems.

If these HyperTrack™ systems are periodically checked, we anticipate they will perform well for at least twenty years – probably more.

RDMS™ Release 19.3 Now Available

Update your receiver’s software today and start taking advantage of the latest features. It’s free and can be done via network connection or by SD card.

Here are a few of the improvements you’ll see in Release 19.3:

• Software and firmware enhancements for the latest version of the RDMS Compact Receiver-Combiner (CRC)
• Continued enhancement and bug fixes of the STRCI interface implementation of the RDMS API
• Fix for issue introduced in R19.2 where an incorrect timestamp was applied when using a Status Logger

To receive release notes, update cards or packages, if you have any questions about this update, or if you have recommendations for future enhancements, please contact support@quasonix.com. 

Keep the feedback coming! Your suggestions continue to have a significant impact on our development plans.

Sneak Peek: PD900 Antenna

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

January, 2022

Delivered:
Eleven HyperTrack™ Systems
in Seven Months

2021 saw the Quasonix engineering team complete the architecture for the long-awaited HyperTrack™ system. We tested and fine-tuned the product in house, then commenced an aggressive effort to start building and installing the much-anticipated “next generation” of telemetry tracking antennas.

In the second half of 2021, Quasonix committed to – and succeeded in delivering – at least one complete HyperTrack™ antenna system per month for five months. We overcame COVID-induced supply-chain disruptions to install and commission antennas with DoD customers, commercial US customers, and international customers.

The response has been extremely positive. In all cases, we have heard that HyperTrack™ not only exceeded their needs, but also their expectations.

What is HyperTrack™?

It’s not just one thing, or an incremental change. HyperTrack™ is a complete system that results in vastly superior telemetry antenna performance and usability.

The demands of telemetry engineers are not the same today as a decade ago. Faster targets, extreme dynamics, higher RF frequencies (with smaller beamwidths), and ever-encroaching sources of interference make clean data collection more challenging than ever. In particular, there’s a huge need for antenna tracking to be more accurate. Step one is a faster tracking loop – increasing the scan rate and reducing loop latency and variation.

HyperTrack™ addresses these challenges through improved hardware and software, covering the full telemetry frequency range (including C-Band and Tri-band). The bedrock of the system is the HyperTrack™ Antenna Controller (HTAC), where all real-time processing is done in FPGA hardware for faster response. This is where the “math magic” happens, dramatically improving tracking. HyperTrack™ also comprises a Feed Controller, which accommodates Conscan and SCM feeds; the HyperTrack™ Control Protocol, which delivers raw receiver data (including real-time signal strength and data quality) to the HTAC, with latency under 1.5 microseconds; and an ever-growing list of software features.

In addition to faster and more accurate tracking overall, the HyperTrack™ system improves rejection of interferers and incidental AM from target motion, and it improves tracking on intermittent downlinks (such as iNET and EVTM).

You want more than stellar performance? HyperTrack is designed to make your life easier. Here are just some of the highlights:

• Completely Ethernet-based control and feedback
• Dynamic, auto-adjusting tracking bandwidth
• Auto setup for feed control – no need to tweak and tune
• Expandable, modular design
• New safety system, aligned with systems standardized in most manufacturing facilities
• Standard assemblies, allowing easier maintenance and long-term part availability
• Expanded system status feedback (module temp, humidity, pressure sensing, current draw, power supply health, and more)

And we won’t stop there. Every aspect of HyperTrack™ has been engineered to allow future enhancements with minimal impact to existing installations. Read on to learn how all of this is just the beginning for HyperTrack™ customers.

Why choose Quasonix?

If you want the best there is today, and a promise of support and future improvements, then HyperTrack™ is the system for you.

Our commitment to our HyperTrack™ customers goes beyond providing the best product possible – beyond hardware and software – to lifetime support. All HyperTrack™ systems come with the following:

A lifetime software warranty:
Quasonix provides free updates to our software. Our upgrades are backward compatible and allow all calibration data to be kept. As more features and capabilities become available, we provide them to our customers free of charge.

A three-year hardware warranty:
All Quasonix HyperTrack™ antenna systems come with a comprehensive three-year warranty. Provided that our customers certify that visual inspections and servicing have been maintained per our written instructions, any hardware issues are covered free of charge.

Lifetime user support:
All Quasonix HyperTrack™ antenna systems come with phone support for technical assistance. Our legendary customer service is provided via our technical support staff in Ohio and California and through our extensive representative network. In addition to being available by phone, we can be contacted via our support portal at support@quasonix.com.

In short, we’re here for you. No wonder demand for HyperTrack™ is so strong, and growing. Why not work with the company that’s… Reinventing Telemetry™.

Contact us today at sales@quasonix.com to learn more!

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

November, 2021

Status Logger Steps it Up

Quasonix’s RDMS™ Status Logger was already the industry’s only dedicated solution for recording and analyzing receiver/demodulator mission dynamics. An upcoming software update will take this powerful tool to a whole new level.

Quasonix is pleased to announce that a new era of Status Logger software is nearing release!

This version is being completely overhauled to improve capability and usability. Additionally, R2 will bring browser access to the Status Logger, to complement the browser access offered by the RDMS™. This will provide control, observation, and file management functions in a standard browser. Finally, API access to control and status will be introduced with a RESTful interface, to allow users to develop applications that communicate with the Status Logger.

This is a free upgrade that will be available for all existing Status Loggers and will soon ship on new units.

Contact sales@quasonix.com to learn more about this monumental step forward and to see screen captures of the new features in action.

RDMS™ Release 19.2 Available

Update your receiver’s software today and start taking advantage of the latest features. It’s free and can be done via network connection (for receivers with R15 or later already installed) or by SD card.

Here are a few of the improvements you’ll see in Release 19.2:

Added the Reed-Solomon decoder and associated controls for Legacy *PSK modulations.

Added FEC Menu:

• Reed-Solomon controls are located here if available.
• LDPC and Viterbi controls moved here to better group Forward Error Correction actions.

Substantially improved combiner gain at low SNR for PSK.

Enhanced the RDMS API:

• Added support for multiple item queries in all branches.
• Implemented PCM Frame Detection controls and status.
• Improved responses for query and settings input errors.
• Enhanced the STRCI interface implementation to further improve compliance with version 4.3 of the standard.
• Added the FFC control for use with analog transmitters that exhibit disproportionate AC coupling.

Did you miss a release? No, R19 was limited in distribution to one customer. They needed Reed-Solomon functionality for a mission requirement earlier than this general availability release would allow. Therefore, R19 was created in order to provide that one deliverable to them. All of the functionality that was contained in R19 is included in R19.2.

To receive release notes, update cards or packages, if you have any questions about this update, or if you have recommendations for future enhancements, please contact support@quasonix.com. Keep the feedback coming. Your suggestions have a significant impact on our development plans.

Quasonix is proud to be a leader in the telemetry industry. One powerful adjunct has been our support of the annual International Telemetering Conference, where we have been a sponsor for more than a decade and the lead sponsor three years running. The symposium has been an opportunity for us to share a long list of innovations at the core of our company’s mission: Reinventing Telemetry™.

This year brings a “first” of a very different sort: Quasonix will not be presenting at ITC.

In May and June, the United States had all the weapons needed to deliver a knockout blow against COVID-19. New cases were as low as they had been since the beginning of the pandemic and trending down. Unfortunately, vaccination rates have been too low and too slow, and COVID cases are now rising dramatically, driven by the Delta variant:

We see at least three reasons not to participate in the upcoming conference:

1. First and foremost, the nationwide surge of the Delta variant is an elevated risk for our would-be ITC team. We would only send vaccinated personnel, but they could still carry the virus home to unvaccinated friends, families, and other contacts. This would be irresponsible.
2. Las Vegas has been singled out as a Delta hotspot, virtually eliminating international attendance.
3. We expect the risks – real and perceived – to drive overall ITC attendance lower. This reduces the value of the conference for everyone.

In short, while we regret the circumstances, we strongly believe the best course of action is to opt for safety. We will continue to provide our best-in-class sales support and training through contactless means.

To learn more about our any of our products, including our game-changing HyperTrack™ antenna systems, contact us at sales@quasonix.com.

We will certainly miss seeing our friends, customers, and colleagues this year, but we’re looking forward to seeing everyone again next year in Glendale. Stay safe!

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

April, 2021

Would you like to improve your telemetry link? How about your post-mission analysis? Or maybe you’d like to reduce the time, cost, and frustration of troubleshooting the link in the first place? If any of those are true, then Data Quality is your new best friend.

The Data Quality Metric is a measure of received signal quality. More specifically, it is an estimate of bit error probability (BEP). Quasonix RDMS™ displays a streamlined version of DQM known simply as “Q,” which ranges from zero to ten. A zero means there is no confidence that the bits have been received correctly; a ten indicates that the probability of bit errors is less than one in ten billion – essentially perfect data.

What’s “magical” about DQM is that it works all the time – with any data, even encrypted, and any data modulation. This is because determining the error probability of any given bit is done without knowing what the bit is supposed to be. DQM is calibrated and verified against a wide variety of signal impairments, making it not only highly accurate but also interoperable among equipment vendors.

Because it reliably indicates the real-time likelihood of an error for every bit received, DQM enables several key benefits:

• It is at the heart of the Best Channel Selector (BCS) built into our RDMS™.
• End-to-end mission performance can be evaluated using a recording of DQM from the Status Logger with no knowledge of the received data.
• DQM is a great diagnostic tool. For example, if you know the signal is clean (Q = 10) but your decomm still won’t sync, it’s very likely that your baseband encoding at the transmit end doesn’t match the decoding at the receiving end (randomizer, differential encoding, etc.).

To learn more about Data Quality and how it fits into troubleshooting your link setup, read our new guide, DQM and RDMS™ Troubleshooting.

A Better Two-Antenna Solution

Are you experiencing unexpected signal fades and data dropouts during testing? Your problem may be antenna self-interference. If so, Space-Time Coding (STC) can save the day.

Many aircraft use a single transmitter and split the output between a top and bottom antenna. Although this technique provides full RF spatial coverage, the two signals can constructively or destructively combine. This can result in deep signal fades of 20 dB or more.

STC was developed to transmit the same data in non-interfering streams. The signals are encoded so that they are orthogonal over the duration of a code block, meaning that the average net effect that they have on each other is zero. Both streams carry every data bit, so when only one transmit antenna is visible from the ground, no data is lost. Importantly, this coding wizardry happens with both streams at the same frequency, eliminating the need for two RF channel assignments, and it does so with almost no loss in power or bandwidth efficiency.

Implementing STC requires replacing the single-output transmitter and power splitter with an STC-capable model (with two RF outputs) and replacing the traditional receiver with one that is STC-capable. Benefits include simplified RF plumbing – which can easily save several dB of transmit losses that directly impact the communication link performance – and streamlined troubleshooting.

Is it worth it? Ask our customers. There are now more than 250 STC transmitters and over 1,000 STC-capable receivers in the field. They are used in every branch of the Department of Defense and by numerous commercial customers. And those who have started using STC equipment are coming back for more: So far, nearly 75% of first-time buyers of STC transmitters have made repeat purchases.

For additional details on STC, read our article in Aerospace Testing International or contact us at sales@quasonix.com.

SAVE on our Latest RDMS™ Features

Did you know that you can get a 15% discount by trading in an old Gen 2 receiver for a state-of-the art Gen 3?

Here are just a few reasons to upgrade to Gen 3:

• Field upgradable via SD card or network connection, so you can easily take advantage of ongoing updates and innovations.
• An improved Adaptive Equalizer, which uses decision-directed feedback to tackle harsh channels and provide cleaner results. The industry’s best weapon against multipath fading.
• Support for the HyperTrack™ digital ACU interface as well as the legacy AM/AGC ACU interface.
• Improved graphics, including much smoother constellation and eye pattern presentation, and a three-channel spectrum analyzer.
• Test Utilities. Use the built-in Noise Generator and Data Generator for system testing and to verify transmitter or receiver RF integrity.
• Extended Frequency Tuning, which allows for contiguous tuning from 200 MHz to 2500 MHz and from 4400 MHz to 5250 MHz, supporting applications that operate outside the normal telemetry bands.
• A new Combiner IF Output, which facilitates recording of that signal on standard IF recorders.
• An Enhanced RDMS™ API, giving you greater control, feedback, and flexibility.
• Remote control available via standard web browsers.
• All six IRIG variants of Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) decoding and improved sync time vs Gen 2’s single 4K block rate 2/3 code variant.
• Improved Space-Time Coding (STC). Gen 3 has both superior performance and UI status vs. Gen 2.
• Data Quality Metric (DQM) / Data Quality Encapsulation (DQE), and the Best Channel Selector (BCS), with all the benefits outlined in the lead article above, and more.

Contact us today at sales@quasonix.com to order yours!

News from the company that’s…

Reinventing Telemetry™

December, 2020

COVID-19 Can’t Slow Us Down

Despite a challenging year, we’ve kept staff safe, continued to deliver for our customers, and set the stage for future growth and innovation.

2020 has been a difficult year for nearly everyone. At Quasonix, we’re proud that through determination and ingenuity, we have been able to continue business unabated. Our sales this calendar year are set to meet or even exceed prior-year sales, and, for the most part, deliveries have been on time.

To continue to provide the training and support we’re known for, we have ramped up “telesupport” using GoToMeeting and other teleconferencing tools. One especially noteworthy effort is the development of a “virtual ITC booth,” starting with a live, interactive, video-based demonstration of our Ethernet Via Telemetry (EVTM) products and capabilities. The team has done a fantastic job of setting this up so that the experience simulates an in-person demonstration and open discussion. So far, we’ve been doing these for one customer at a time. Although it takes more time on our part, we think the ability to tailor the presentation to the customer’s application makes it worthwhile. That said, we plan to produce generic demos to post to our website at some time in the future.

One other significant accomplishment this year has been doubling our antenna production capacity. Infrastructure for manufacturing and testing of auto-tracking antennas is now in place in both our Moorpark and West Chester facilities.

It’s clear that the months ahead will be challenging as well. We expect to continue to “rise above” but will notify customers immediately if there is any breakdown in the supply chain that affects our ability to deliver.

RDMS™ Software Update

Our third-generation RDMS™ has taken another leap forward with this software/firmware release, available immediately.

Here are a few of the improvements you’ll see in Release 18:

Enhanced AQPSK demodulation, including improved demodulator acquisition, tracking, and sensitivity performance across all bit rate and power ratios for AQPSK, AUQPSK, and UQPSK.

Added basic EVTM uplink controls for the integrated transmitter in receivers that have such option installed, improved the accessibility of settings, and added an RF Output indicator.

Improved System Information with expanded version info (to include more programming subsystems), more detailed hardware information, and reorganized and consolidated Front Panel and Browser Interface presentation of System Information.

Added ability to Auto-start updates that are performed using the Network Update functionality.

Enhanced the RDMS API, with more support for specific queries in all branches, EVTM integrated transmitter control and status, DQM output for all channels, BCS quality output as well as the Combiner quality output, ability to set the RDMS Alias, and ongoing enhancements to the STRCI interface implementation to improve compliance with version 4.2 of the standard.

Please note that the Release 15 update is a ‘gatekeeper’ release and must be performed via SD card prior to updating to Release 18. Once R15 has been installed, future updates can be performed via SD card or network connection.

To receive release notes, update cards or packages, if you have any questions about this update, or if you have recommendations for future enhancements, please contact support@quasonix.com. Keep the feedback coming. Your suggestions have a significant impact on our development plans.

STEP Models, Pinouts, and More

Did you know that you’ve got product models, drawings, user manuals, and more – right at your fingertips?

Over the past two years, we’ve added hundreds of files to our website to make it easier for you to find the information you need to do your job. This includes: 

• STEP models and mechanical drawings for most of our transmitters and receivers
• Transmitter pinout diagrams
• Datasheets, catalogs, and other “pre-sale” literature
• Operating manuals, technical guides, and downloadable software

These are all located at https://www.quasonix.com/resources/. The icons at the top of that page show the categories of information available. Just click on the relevant icon to go to that section, filter to find the file you want, and click on its link.

Most sections can be filtered categorically or by text search. The “STEP Models, Drawings, and Pinout Diagrams” section also includes instructions on searching for specific products.

As always, we’re happy to provide personal support for any issue you may have. But if you just need quick and easy access to reference information, the Resources page is there for you.

(Last updated April 7, 2020)

To all our customers, suppliers, employees, and contractors:

Quasonix remains dedicated to meeting the needs of our customers and ensuring the welfare of everyone we work with. Recognizing that the unprecedented global situation impacts every facet of our lives and our businesses, this status update is meant to share some insights, with the limited visibility we have today.

• The safety and long-term well-being of our employees is our first priority, and we will take steps to achieve that even if it delays our deliveries. In adhering to guidance provided by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we are encouraging anyone who can work from home to do so, and we are providing relevant information and reminding employees to take all reasonable precautions to avoid spreading infection, whether inside or outside the office.
• Our labor force is currently at full strength, but the inefficiency of working in isolation (either working from home, or physically separated at the office) has begun to take its toll on our delivery schedules (details below).
• We are taking steps to minimize delays. Quasonix keeps safety stock on long-lead items and high-use parts, which allows us to maintain relatively short lead times to our customers. Despite this, isolated shortages have begun to appear, and this will undoubtedly continue through the next several months. We are actively developing alternate sources for any item where inventory levels are falling or expected to do so.
• Our production schedules are being monitored on a daily basis. The impact of personnel working in isolation and material shortages falls into roughly three groups:
  • Small products (items carried in one hand). Our small products, such as transmitters, are generally ushered through manufacturing and test by no more than two or three people. Working in isolation from each other has a minimal impact on our production throughput, so we can sustain our typical production schedule, so long as material continues to be available. We currently have 492 transmitters on order, of which 8 are late on delivery. The 72 units due in April are low risk, but the risk of late delivery rises in the summer months, as material inventory may dwindle.
  • Medium products (items carried in two hands). Receivers are a good example in this category. The manufacturing and test flow for these items involves 6 to 8 people, so working in isolation has significantly impacted our deliveries. We currently have 104 receivers, receiver analyzers, and status loggers on order, of which 21 are past due. Some of the 45 units due in April are at high risk and we are working with the customers for those units to arrange partial deliveries. If material holds up and our team stays healthy, we expect to be nearly back on schedule by mid-summer.
  • Large systems (items we ship by freight carriers). Antenna systems are a good example in this category. Assembling and testing these large systems requires 20 to 30 people, all of whom need material at several levels of sub-assembly. The combination of material shortages and the inefficiency of working in isolation conditions virtually assures that all these systems will be delivered late. Of the 29 antenna systems currently on order, 16 are due this year. Nearly all of those will be late, probably by 3 to 4 months. We are exploring every avenue to improve the delivery schedules, but we will not put our people at risk by pretending that a group of 20 or more people is somehow “isolated.” We apologize in advance for any inconvenience caused by these late deliveries, but human resources are irreplaceable.
• We will continue to keep you informed. This report will be updated as there is additional information to share.

Best regards,

Terrance J. Hill, President

For over a decade, Quasonix has been proud to sponsor the industry’s premier annual event – the International Telemetering Conference (ITC) – at the highest levels. And for the third year in a row, Quasonix was “all in” as the conference’s sole Diamond Sponsor at this year’s convention in Las Vegas.

It’s always a pleasure to meet and collaborate with customers, scientists, and future leaders in the field; to have a chance to discuss our products and the way they are reshaping telemetry; to do classroom training and technical presentations to help advance the state of the art. We hope you had a chance to participate.

Here are a few moments and memories from the show. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us at info@quasonix.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Chester, OH – Quasonix has been awarded a $21.7 million contract for the delivery of telemetry transmitters over the next five years. The customized best-value solution consists of 37 different transmitter part numbers including single- and dual-RF configurations with power up to 10 watts. Many will include technology uniquely optimized by Quasonix that extends the range and reliability of their transmission, such as Low-Density Parity Check and Space-Time Coding.

The U.S. Army announced the firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. The transmitters will be built, tested, and shipped from Quasonix headquarters located in West Chester, Ohio.

As noted by Terry Hill, President, “Quasonix has been a proud supplier to the U. S. Army almost since our inception, and this contract ensures that our long-standing relationship continues through 2024.”

ABOUT QUASONIX, INC.

Quasonix designs, develops, and manufactures high-performance aeronautical telemetry systems and is a recognized industry leader for spectrally efficient modulations such as SOQPSK and Multi-h CPM. Quasonix’s advanced product line extends from the air to the ground and includes antennas, transmitters, receivers, and demodulators with integral bit synchronizers. Quasonix is… Reinventing Telemetry™, offering greater capabilities at lower cost.

For more information, please contact Terry Hill at sales@quasonix.com or 513-942-1287.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Chester, OH – Eglin Air Force Base has selected Quasonix based on performance and capabilities demonstrated in their third round of SEGR (Spectrum Efficient Ground Receiver) procurement. This year, testing was even more stringent than in the past. Only Quasonix met requirements in all categories and qualified as the “Best Value” to the Air Force.

Quasonix will be delivering 100 RDMS™ receivers with enhanced features such as Adaptive Equalization, STC, LDPC, DQM, DQE, and STRCI. This technology helps Quasonix receivers excel in edge cases – maintaining telemetry lock, minimizing dropouts, and ensuring better data quality in the most brutal range and testing dynamics.

“This award reaffirms that the RDMS™ is simply the head of the class in telemetry receivers. The US Air Force performed exhaustive testing on the sample units, and we have shown – again – that we outperform all the competition,” said Terry Hill, President of Quasonix.

ABOUT QUASONIX, INC.

Quasonix designs, develops, and manufactures high-performance aeronautical telemetry systems and is a recognized industry leader for spectrally efficient modulations such as SOQPSK and Multi-h CPM. Quasonix’s advanced product line extends from the air to the ground and includes antennas, transmitters, receivers, and demodulators with integral bit synchronizers. Quasonix is… Reinventing Telemetry™, offering greater capabilities at lower cost.

For more information, please contact Terry Hill at sales@quasonix.com or 513-942-1287.

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QUASONIX CONNECTION Volume 2, Issue 2

Quasonix is on the move – literally, as we head to Las Vegas for this year’s International Telemetering Conference, and figuratively as we continue to advance the state of the art in telemetry.

In this issue:

• Come see us at ITC
• Quasonix wins Eglin contract for 100 receivers
• Our sales growth, in pictures
• 3rd-Generation RDMS™ Release 17 available
• Moorpark facility receives ISO certification
• New website launched

Come see us at ITC

Learn more about how Quasonix is… Reinventing Telemetry™

Quasonix will once again be the lead sponsor of ITC, the world’s premier telemetry conference, held this year from October 21-24 at Bally’s Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas. 

As the only company in the industry offering complete RF telemetry link solutions, we’ve got plenty to show off. Here are just a few highlights from this year’s exhibits.

Beamforming Antenna Kit

How do you follow a moving target with a fixed antenna? The answer is beamforming with automated tracking.

While combining multiple antenna elements (four, in this case) increases signal strength, it also results in very directional array gain:

By altering phase alignment across elements, it’s possible to direct the primary lobe to a different angle. That’s beamforming. But how do you know where to direct the beam? Our solution is to use one dual-channel receiver to combine two of the elements, another dual-channel receiver to combine the other two elements, and a third receiver to combine the signals from the first two receivers, thereby automatically steering the beam and maximizing the signal level, which also maximizes data quality from the test article. The increase in off-axis gain (shown in the yellow area below) is substantial:

But don’t take our word for it. Come get all the details and see a live demo of automated tracking and the vast improvement in signal strength that’s possible with automatic beamforming.

Adaptive Equalization

In recent years, adaptive equalizers have begun to appear in receivers in an effort to combat multipath distortion. As it turns out, not all equalizers are created,… well… equal. Stop by for a demonstration of an automated adaptive equalizer test showing the effects of no equalization, ordinary equalization, and Quasonix equalization. Spoiler alert: there really is a difference.

While you’re there, get a sneak preview of the next generation of our Receiver Analyzer – which, among other upgrades, will be more flexible, allowing you to run configurations that aren’t possible today. (Due for release in 2020)

And Much More

We’ll also have interactive displays showing

• Status Logger, including new features
• RDMS™ Release 17 – stop by to get your update card!
• RDMS™ Best Channel Selector
• Space-Time Coding
• Our full range of single and dual transmitters
• Ethernet via Telemetry
• Antennas and the Antenna Control Unit (ACU)

Come see us in booth 201!

We’ll have detailed information on all our products, and our most knowledgeable staff will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.

Quasonix wins Eglin contract for 100 receivers

Recognition of advanced features and highest value

If you were responsible for testing the world’s most complex and advanced fighter jets and missiles, what equipment would you use? Only the best!

In the Air Force’s 3rd year and 3rd round SEGR (Spectrum Efficient Ground Receiver) procurement, Eglin AFB refined their requirements and thoroughly tested receivers to a new and even more stringent level. Only one vendor met requirements in all categories and qualified as the “Best Value” to the Air Force.

That’s right – Quasonix RDMS™ receivers have been selected again. Another 100 units are lining up for production in Ohio with enhanced features such as Adaptive Equalization, STC, LDPC, DQM, DQE, and STRCI, all performing flawlessly in required modulations and at all data rates to 46Mbps. This array of new technologies helps Quasonix RDMS™ receivers perform like no other, excelling during edge cases – maintaining telemetry lock, minimizing dropouts, and ensuring better data quality in the most brutal range and testing dynamics, far beyond traditional telemetry receivers from even a few years ago. Quasonix truly is Reinventing Telemetry™.

Our sales growth, in pictures

Thirteen-thousand units can’t be wrong

3rd-Generation RDMS™ Release 17 available

New features and refinements, driven by our customers

Our third-generation RDMS™ takes another big step forward with this software/firmware release, available this Wednesday, October 16. Here are just some of the improvements you’ll see:

HyperTrack™
Enhanced antenna tracking capability with all-digital antenna control protocol, using existing AM outputs and cables (requires HyperTrack™-compatible ACU).

Enhanced Best-Channel Selector display
Added display of the Combiner’s Quality in addition to the Best Channel Selector’s Quality for better indication of signal environment.

Automatic Phase Noise Compensation (PNC)
When enabled, eliminates guesswork surrounding “Should I enable PNC?” Dynamically detects degenerate transmit signals (e.g., high phase noise), enables PNC to improve performance when needed, and disables PNC for maximum trellis demodulator performance when not needed.

Front Panel and Browser Interface include Bit Error Rate Tester (BERT)
Front Panel provides BERT setup controls. Browser Interface introduces a new expanded Test Utilities page (accessible from Configure) for BERT setup controls, as well as BERT status monitoring.

Improved Browser Interface
Better feedback of receiver operation, and enhanced Configure page functionality.

Enhanced RDMS™ API
Improved feedback, including indication that PUT is not processed if RDMS™ is busy when received, and device ready status indication; BERT controls, as well as status fields; receiver graphics available as bitmap download.

-CS1 Cyber-Security option
Support for customer generated certificates. Adds HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) to instruct browser to use HTTPS.

And much more!

Please note that the Release 15 update is a ‘gatekeeper’ release and must be performed via SD card prior to update to Release 17. Once R15 has been installed, future updates can be performed via SD card or network connection.

To receive release notes, update cards or packages, if you have any questions about this update, or if you have suggestions for future enhancements, please contact support@quasonix.com. Keep the feedback coming, and we’ll keep making the best even better.

Moorpark facility receives ISO certification

Quasonix reaffirms its customer commitment

On September 18, 2019, Quasonix, Inc. announced receipt of ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Moorpark, CA facility, which is focused on antenna development and production. ISO 9001 is a quality management standard recognized around the world with the objective of improving product quality and customer focus through process improvement.

Terry Hill, president of Quasonix, stated that, “Quasonix has always used design, manufacturing, and test procedures that ensured our customers got the quality they expected and needed. The upgrade to ISO 9001:2015 at our Antenna Division increases customer focus and puts additional emphasis on sensitivity to the markets we serve. It tells our customers that we’re committed to attaining even higher levels of quality and performance.”

New website launched

Another investment in our customers

We have launched a re-design of the www.quasonix.com website. At first glance, you’ll notice a little more color and a little bit cleaner look. But the changes go much deeper.

One of our key goals in this upgrade has been to make it easier for customers to find the information they need. In the new site, you’ll see:

• Additional content, both about our products and for product support
• Some re-organization of the site’s content to make navigation easier
• An improved site search function
• Dedicated libraries for product information, transmitter drawings, and receiver manuals
• Comprehensive contact information, including geographic filtering to connect with the sales support for your region

And while the old site was mobile responsive, the new site should look better and be more functional on any device.

We’re not about to rest on our laurels. This re-design lays the foundation for future improvements and new features. In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy the upgrades. If there’s anything we can do to make the website more useful to you, don’t hesitate to contact us – either through the site itself, or by writing to webmaster@quasonix.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Moorpark, CA – Quasonix, Inc. announced receipt of ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Moorpark facility. ISO 9001 is a quality management standard recognized around the world with the objective of improving product quality and customer focus through process improvement.

Terry Hill, president of Quasonix, stated that: “Quasonix has always used design, manufacturing, and test procedures that ensured our customers got the quality they expected and needed. The upgrade to ISO 9001:2015 at our Antenna Division increases customer focus and puts additional emphasis on sensitivity to the markets we serve. It tells our customers that we’re committed to attaining even higher levels of quality and performance.”

ABOUT QUASONIX, INC.

Quasonix designs, develops, and manufactures high performance aeronautical telemetry systems and is a recognized industry leader for spectrally efficient modulations such as SOQPSK and Multi-h CPM. Quasonix’ advanced product line extends from the air to the ground and includes antennas, transmitters, receivers, and demodulators with integral bit synchronizers. Quasonix is… Reinventing Telemetry™, offering greater capabilities at lower cost.

For more information, please contact Terry Hill at sales@quasonix.com or 513-942-1287.