Bob Gough has spent over 35 years travelling the world in the satellite communications business and has experience in most aspects of satcoms. This includes 7 years with the European Space Agency (ESA) in a number of roles:
- End-to-end communication system design at Ku-Band for FDMA ,TDMA and FM TV systems; notably the European ECS satellite system (later Eutelsat)
- L-Band and Ku-Band satellite transponder design
- Computer simulation and measurement of FDMA , TDMA and FM TV transmission through non-linear TWTAs and SSPAs, for both spacecraft and earth station amplifiers at data rates up to 180Mbit’s
- Design, development and execution of the in-orbit testing (IOT) of ESA’s OTS Ku-Band satellite
- Earth station design, development, refurbishment and calibration for IOT purposes – much more stringent requirements than traffic stations
- Development of the IOT programme for the ECS satellites, and negotiation of their handover from ESA to Eutelsat
- Work on the OLYMPUS Ku-Band and Ka-Band satellite, incorporating steerable spotbeams. Production of “The OLYMPUS Satellite User Guide”
Upon leaving ESA Bob was one of the first 6 staff members of Filtronic Components, which specialised in the critical microwave subsystems for airborne and naval EW applications. Bob became Marketing & Sales Director and was instrumental in opening up the company’s US market. Filtronic ultimately grew to be a multi-billion dollar public company.
Bob founded a successful satellite communications equipment manufacturing company, Communication Systems Research (CSR), which had an international customer base. The company specialised in antenna tracking systems, UPPC systems, digital modems, spread spectrum & CDMA systems, VSAT systems and earth stations operating up to Ka-Band. Its consultancy division specialised in software applications, development projects and training for Government, Telcos and Industry.
That company was acquired by a major US Defence contractor and Bob ran it as CEO for three years. In parallel, Bob was marketing, sales & commercial manager for the Communications Systems Division of the parent company, and was a member of the executive board. The 400-person division was a leader in civil and military satellite communications, naval C3I systems and air defence data networks.
Bob Gough founded Carrick Communications Ltd in 1990 and the company specialises in consultancy, training and software applications for satellite communications. Most projects come via word-of-mouth and most customers are Government agencies.
Also in 1990 Bob co-founded a software company which became the leading provider of operational planning and timetabling systems to railways on every continent. That company was acquired by a major German engineering company in 1999.
Bob spent 6 years at University and obtained a BSc (Hons) in electronic engineering/telecommunications and a PhD in electromagnetics/solid state physics/microwave engineering. He’s a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (MIET).
Bob is also a Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) at which he’s the Chair of the Media Relations Subcommittee of the AIAA’s Communications Systems Technical Committee (CMSTC).
Bob lives in Australia and holds dual British and Australian citizenship.
Much more detail about Bob’s specific satcoms experience can be found on the “Experience” pages of this website.
