zlacker

>>belter+(OP)
Are communications with voyager encrypted? Is it possible for someone to setup a big antenna in their backyard and take over the probe?

>>5d4140+Pb
It doesn't matter how big your antenna is if Voyager's antenna is no longer facing earth, as seems to have been accidentally induced here.

>>arbuge+Sc
Untrue, strictly speaking. So long as the combination of your transmitter's power and your antenna's directionality (aka 'gain') provide enough extra dB's of signal strength (to compensate for the dB's "lost" on Voyager's end, due to the off-axis antenna) it'll work fine.

OTOH, dB's are effectively a log scale, and NASA's "not good enough now" transmitter & antenna cost quite a few $million. What's your budget?

(Yeah - if the Arecibo radio telescope was still on operation, it might well have been capable of doing this.)