Having examined the system architecture and hardware components in parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, the time has come to apply power to this fifty year old bit of microwave magic and see what comes out: a signal from a spacecraft or irreplaceable magic smoke.
With a bench full of test equipment, including an original Motorola Apollo radio test set, the transponder, central component of the Apollo S band communication system, is carefully powered up and its behaviour analysed.