A Solid-State Pulse-Modulated Radiosonde

The design and construction of a radiosonde utilizing solid-state devices and state-of-the-art techniques is discussed. The radiosonde is designed with the idea of obtaining data at a ground station in digital form. Pulse modulation is utilized to transmit the data from the radiosonde. The multiplexer is designed using MOS microtechnology and a prototype is given using discrete MOS integrated circuits. A computer simulation of the actual multiplexer design is performed. The modulator and transmitter are of complete solid-state design. Extensive testing of the overall system indicated satisfactory results and showed a substantial improvement over the present radiosonde. Modification of ground receiving systems to facilitate proper reception of information from the radiosonde is also discussed.