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Expand community references: Mike Stewart, Apollo Comms playlist, Ken Shirriff posts

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Link Mike Stewart's GitHub (thewonderidiot), add the full Apollo
Comms YouTube playlist, and reference Ken Shirriff's PMP and FM
radio posts that directly relate to gr-apollo's block architecture.
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Ryan Malloy 2026-02-24 11:08:18 -07:00
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docs/src/content/docs/explanation/virtual-agc.mdx
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@ -286,6 +286,8 @@ The GNU Radio wrapper (`agc_bridge` block) exposes three message ports: `uplink_
## Hardware restoration
While gr-apollo works with the Virtual AGC *emulator*, others have gotten the real hardware running. [CuriousMarc (Marc Verdiell)](https://www.curiousmarc.com/space), along with Mike Stewart, [Ken Shirriff](https://www.righto.com/search/label/Apollo), and a team of volunteers, have restored actual Apollo Guidance Computers and S-Band telecommunications equipment to operational status. Their work provides invaluable validation that the specifications gr-apollo implements match the behavior of real flight hardware.
While gr-apollo works with the Virtual AGC *emulator*, others have gotten the real hardware running. [CuriousMarc (Marc Verdiell)](https://www.curiousmarc.com/space/apollo-s-band-communications), along with [Mike Stewart](https://github.com/thewonderidiot), [Ken Shirriff](https://www.righto.com/search/label/Apollo), and a team of volunteers, have restored actual Apollo Guidance Computers and S-Band telecommunications equipment to operational status. Their work provides invaluable validation that the specifications gr-apollo implements match the behavior of real flight hardware.
Of particular interest: [Building an Apollo transmit station with Keysight instruments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctNmYFfxI7w) shows modern Keysight signal generators and analyzers driving the same S-Band uplink chain that gr-apollo models in software. [Inside the WILD Lab of CuriousMarc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwocVH3_1Eo) is a Keysight-produced tour of the lab where the restoration work happens.
The full [Apollo Comms video series](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-_93BVApb58SXL-BCv4rVHL-8GuC2WGb) on the [CuriousMarc YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@CuriousMarc) covers the restoration from opening the S-Band transponder through achieving lock and live telemetry. Of particular interest: [Building an Apollo transmit station with Keysight instruments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctNmYFfxI7w) shows modern signal generators driving the same uplink chain that gr-apollo models in software. [Inside the WILD Lab of CuriousMarc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwocVH3_1Eo) is a Keysight-produced tour of the lab.
Ken Shirriff's companion blog posts provide deep technical detail on the hardware gr-apollo emulates: [Inside Apollo's premodulation processor](https://www.righto.com/2022/05/talking-with-moon-inside-apollos.html) covers the PMP that combines voice, data, and telemetry for transmission, and [Reverse-engineering the Apollo spacecraft's FM radio](https://www.righto.com/2022/07/reverse-engineering-apollo-spacecrafts.html) describes the FM voice detector module — the physical hardware counterpart to gr-apollo's `fm_demod` and `voice_subcarrier_demod` blocks.

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gr-apollo is based on these primary sources:
- [NAA Telecommunication Systems Study Guide (Course A-624, 1965)](https://archive.org/details/apollo-telecommunications) -- the original North American Aviation training manual for the Apollo USB system. Defines all frequencies, modulation parameters, frame formats, and SCO specifications used in gr-apollo.
- [Virtual AGC Project](https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/) -- Ron Burkey's Apollo Guidance Computer emulator and document archive. The AGC bridge protocol and downlink list decoding are based on the [yaAGC source code](https://github.com/virtualagc/virtualagc).
- [Virtual AGC Project](https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/) -- Ron Burkey's Apollo Guidance Computer emulator and document archive. The AGC bridge protocol and downlink list decoding are based on the [yaAGC source code](https://github.com/virtualagc/virtualagc). [Mike Stewart](https://github.com/thewonderidiot) contributed the hardware-based AGC simulator, core-rope dumps, and Verilog models that validate the emulator against real flight hardware.
- [NASA Technical Reports Server](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/) -- primary source for Apollo spacecraft telecommunications system descriptions and MSFN ground station specifications.
### Community
- [CuriousMarc (Marc Verdiell)](https://www.curiousmarc.com/space) — Marc and his team (Mike Stewart, Ken Shirriff, and others) have been restoring and operating original Apollo S-Band flight hardware. Their [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@CuriousMarc) documents the restoration process in detail — see [Building an Apollo transmit station with Keysight instruments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctNmYFfxI7w) for a look at how modern test equipment talks to 1960s flight hardware.
- [Ken Shirriff's Blog](https://www.righto.com/search/label/Apollo) — detailed reverse-engineering posts on Apollo-era hardware, from AGC core rope memory to the USB signal processing chains.
- [CuriousMarc (Marc Verdiell)](https://www.curiousmarc.com/space/apollo-s-band-communications) — Marc and his team ([Mike Stewart](https://github.com/thewonderidiot), [Ken Shirriff](https://www.righto.com/search/label/Apollo), and others) have been restoring and operating original Apollo S-Band flight hardware. The full [Apollo Comms video series](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-_93BVApb58SXL-BCv4rVHL-8GuC2WGb) on the [CuriousMarc YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@CuriousMarc) documents the restoration from first power-on to live telemetry — see [Building an Apollo transmit station with Keysight instruments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctNmYFfxI7w) for a look at how modern test equipment talks to 1960s flight hardware.
- [Ken Shirriff's Blog](https://www.righto.com/search/label/Apollo) — detailed reverse-engineering posts on Apollo-era hardware, including [Inside Apollo's premodulation processor](https://www.righto.com/2022/05/talking-with-moon-inside-apollos.html) and [Reverse-engineering the Apollo spacecraft's FM radio](https://www.righto.com/2022/07/reverse-engineering-apollo-spacecrafts.html) (directly relevant to gr-apollo's FM downlink mode).
## Next step