IEICE technical committee meeting of Space and Navigation Electronics at Electronic Navigation Research Institute, Chofu Head Office
Electronic Navigation Research Institute (ENRI) Chofu Head Office
The January technical committee meeting of Space and Navigation Electronics (SANE-ken) of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) was held on December 20, 2024, at the headquarters of the Electronic Navigation Research Institute, National Research and Development Agency, National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology.
The Electronic Navigation Research Institute (ENRI) is a national research institute that conducts research on aviation and space-related electronic devices. In January 2024, I visited the Iwanuma branch in Sendai City. This time, I had the opportunity to visit the main facility in Chofu City, Tokyo.
From the main gate of ENRI, you can see the large radar antenna that catches radio waves from aircraft. It’s very exciting.
After receiving your admission pass, I participated in the SANE committee meeting in December.
I am grateful to be able to attend meetings in such wonderful venues. I arrived early, so there were still seats available.
The title of my presentation was “Mobile Reception Experiment of Quasi-Zenith Satellite Michibiki L1S Signals,” and it was about receiving radio waves broadcast by positioning satellites.
At the end of the SANE-ken, we had the opportunity to tour the ENRI facilities. The first facility we were shown was related to drones. It was a large indoor space where drones could be flown to their heart’s content, and it is expected to be used for automatic inspection of Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPIs) located beside runways. Footage captured by the drone’s onboard camera was automatically classified by PC.
The next facility we were introduced was monitors aircraft radio waves captured by a radar outside. It sends out interrogation radiowaves to aircraft and plots the response radiowaves from the aircraft. It was interesting to be able to observe aircraft moving moment by moment. The research topics also includes Software-defined radios.
JAXA Chofu Aerospace Center Exhibition
Next to the ENRI Chofu Main Office is the Chofu Aerospace Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). During the SANE-ken lunch break, I went to the exhibition room. Admission is free. I received an admission pass at the main entrance and went to the exhibition room.
It may not have been a large exhibition room, but there were some interesting exhibits on airplanes and rockets. It was a short tour during the lunch break, but I enjoyed it.
NTT History Center of Technologies
The day before the SANE-ken, I went to the NTT History Center of Technologies, which is also located in Chofu City. It is open Thursdays and Fridays from 1pm to 5pm. I had always wanted to go, and this time the SANE-ken was held on a Friday, so I was able to visit for the first time. Admission is free.
I was very impressed by the actual crossbar switching system, D60 and D70 digital switching system, ISM (ISDN Service Module), the New Nodes, DIPS (a computer researched and developed by NTT), CAPTAIN (a cutting-edge user terminal at the time that could transmit graphic information and kanji characters in color, long before the Internet became widespread), and DEMOS-E (scientific and technical calculation) terminals.
If you make a reservation in advance at a certain time, a former NTT researcher will guide you around the facility. Tours are also held irregularly.
I lived in Yokohama until I graduated from university, and when I was in elementary school, I was able to freely see the latest communication equipment at the time at the Yokohama Youth Center (which no longer exists), the NTT Technology Exhibition Hall in the Marinade underground mall, the Posts and Telecommunications Museum in Tokyo, and the Telecommunications Science Museum.
Nowadays, there are very few such museums for enthusiasts, but it felt like all of that communication equipment was gathered here. I’d like to visit again at my leisure next time.