Signon Team

About our Project

The goal of SIGNON experiment is to use radio signals of opportunity, such as FM broadcast stations, DTTV stations and ADS-B signals transmitted by passing aircraft, to obtain navigation information during a stratospheric BEXUS flight. For this purpose software defined radio (SDR) receivers, tuned to these signals of opportunity, will be used. Post-processing by correlation with equivalent data gathered by a small set of reference stations in known locations allows computing distances between transmitting stations and the balloon and, consequently, obtain the balloon trajectory. Comparison with GPS data will provide an assessment on feasibility and accuracy for the use of these signals of opportunity for navigation at high altitude and for LEO satellites. The SIGNON experiment will also test the possibility of using DTTV signals for passive radar applications, measuring the signals scattered by the surrounding environment together with the direct signal from the transmitting stations. Combination of such measurements along the flight trajectory will enable to produce a scattering map of the vicinity of the flight trajectory.