https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maser
"During the early 1960s, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed a maser to provide ultra-low-noise amplification of S-band microwave signals received from deep space probes.
......
This gave such a low noise figure that the Mariner IV space probe could send still pictures from Mars back to the Earth even though the output power of its radio transmitter was only 15 watts, and hence the total signal power received was only -169 decibels with respect to a milliwatt (dBm)."

Do I understand maser can be used in radiocommunication amplifying the signal at the reception?
Can we do an experiment with such a maser? in radiocommunication.

 

Masers were used as a type of Parametric Amplifier before low noise solid state devices. In normal amplification the agent (the physical element of amplification using direct local power) has a noise resistance factor that fixed by the random movement of atomic particles (or holes) in the active device. Parametric amplifiers use the properties of EM fields (alternating local power) and varying electrical reactance ( nonresistive component of impedance in an AC circuit) as the 'agent' for a gain factor using modulation.

 

Motanache.....from what I can tell, from your links....they used the maser for a stable, low power, ultra clean local oscillator. The signal from the craft would beat against the local for an intermediate frequency.
This could be used......because they cooled the front end(ant,etc) with refrigeration.

The word amplifier is used in a different context to what a hobbyist would use. An oscillator is an amplifier. A maser is sorta like a crystal oscillator.......it only comes in set frequencies. One could possibly get harmonics.....but it can not be tuned like a vfo. An oscillator can be used in a regenerative and super-regenerative modes, for those set frequencies...i.e....cosmos chemistry.

My comments are only based your your links and known principles...I have not researched it.

I understand that they now have frequency generating techniques that can almost sweep from the microwave all up thru the terahertz to the infra-red. This will bring a revolution to materials research....not to mention a new sensor industry.

 

Masers were used as a type of Parametric Amplifier before low noise solid state devices.

Shall I understand this is an old version of what can be done today with semiconductors?
If so, I lost my interest in this.

 

Shall I understand this is an old version of what can be done today with semiconductors?
If so, I lost my interest in this.

If you were planning to build a deep space probe receiver I understand.
https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/monograph/series10/Reid_DESCANSO_sml-110804.pdf

The Noise Temperature of a liquid-helium cooled Ruby Maser amplifier is in the range of 1 or 2 K with 26 or more dB gain so it's still hard to beat even with modern devices. Today you can buy and modify an Ku-Band LNB with a higher Noise Temperature and cool it down with LN2 for a better noise figure.

http://www.marinesatellitesystems.com/index.php?page_id=888