First light for an amateur radio astronomy observatory

The AJ4CO Observatory opened for business Monday night. There was no
fanfare, no Champagne, and--worst of all--no hours d'oeuvres.

Nonetheless, within a few minutes of operation, we--as in me and
nobody else--did manage to receive signals from Jupiter buried in the
noise; even got confirmation of the events from another observatory in
Virginia.

The setup consists of two half-wave dipoles phased to create a single
beam aimed south with a 45° elevation. As the Earth's rotation slews
the beam across the sky--and across Jupiter's position therein--you
can hear and record stuff.

The receiver is a narrow band, direct conversion affair operating at
20.1 MHz. The audio output from the receiver is sent to a computer
sound card, which is a great analog to digital converter. Some nifty
software made for the purpose records a strip chart and creates a wav
file.

Links to the recorded data and audio can be found he
http://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVE.htm

--
Dave

On Sep 25, 2:51*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
The AJ4CO Observatory opened for business Monday night. *There was no
fanfare, no Champagne, and--worst of all--no hours d'oeuvres.

Nonetheless, within a few minutes of operation, we--as in me and
nobody else--did manage to receive signals from Jupiter buried in the
noise; even got confirmation of the events from another observatory in
Virginia.

The setup consists of two half-wave dipoles phased to create a single
beam aimed south with a 45° elevation. *As the Earth's rotation slews
the beam across the sky--and across Jupiter's position therein--you
can hear and record stuff.

The receiver is a narrow band, direct conversion affair operating at
20.1 MHz. *The audio output from the receiver is sent to a computer
sound card, which is a great analog to digital converter. *Some nifty
software made for the purpose records a strip chart and creates a wav
file.

Links to the recorded data and audio can be found hehttp://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVE.htm

--
Dave

Great work Dave.

Enjoyed looking at your website.

TMT

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

Links to the recorded data and audio can be found he
http://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVE.htm

Great work Dave.

Enjoyed looking at your website.

Thanks! More data will post soon; another Io-A event will be visible
from the Western hemisphere tonight.

Which, come to think of it, really brings home how massive Jupiter is.
Io's orbit radius about Jupiter is 10% greater than the Moon's about
the Earth; but, due to Jupiter's strong gravitational field, Io makes
one orbit every 42½ hours instead of every 29½ days. In four hours of
observing, Io moves 34° along it's orbit.

Point is, Io moves so fast that events viewable in North America are
over and done with by the time Europe or Asia rotates into position to
see Jupiter.
--
Dave

On Sep 28, 9:09*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
Too_Many_Tools wrote:

Links to the recorded data and audio can be found he
http://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVE.htm

Great work Dave.

Enjoyed looking at your website.

Thanks! *More data will post soon; another Io-A event will be visible
from the Western hemisphere tonight.

Which, come to think of it, really brings home how massive Jupiter is.
Io's orbit radius about Jupiter is 10% greater than the Moon's about
the Earth; but, due to Jupiter's strong gravitational field, Io makes
one orbit every 42½ hours instead of every 29½ days. *In four hours of
observing, Io moves 34° along it's orbit.

Point is, Io moves so fast that events viewable in North America are
over and done with by the time Europe or Asia rotates into position to
see Jupiter.
--
Dave

I have just read 2010 Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke this past
weekend. What an adventure!

Jack wrote:

On Sep 28, 9:09*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:

Point is, Io moves so fast that events viewable in North America are
over and done with by the time Europe or Asia rotates into position to
see Jupiter.

I have just read 2010 Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke this past
weekend. What an adventure!

My God! It's full of RF!
--
Dave

On Sep 30, 9:44 pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
Jack wrote:

On Sep 28, 9:09 pm, Dave Typinski wrote:

Point is, Io moves so fast that events viewable in North America are
over and done with by the time Europe or Asia rotates into position to
see Jupiter.

I have just read 2010 Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke this past
weekend. What an adventure!

My God! It's full of RF!
Dave

How does weather - such as clould cover - affect radio astronomy?
I'm clouded tonite so visual is out.
Ken

"Ken S. Tucker" wrote:

How does weather - such as clould cover - affect radio astronomy?
I'm clouded tonite so visual is out.

Unless there's lightning, not much at all. That's why I decided to go
with radio instead of light: if you're limited to the narrow band of
the visual spectrum, there are precious few good observing days in
Central Florida. Longer wavelengths go right through clouds.

....of course, Florida is also the lightning capitol of the universe,
so in the summer the dipole antennas come down every afternoon.

Still, it's better than staring in frustration at cloud bottoms all
year.
--
Dave

On Sep 25, 1:51*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
The AJ4CO Observatory opened for business Monday night. *There was no
fanfare, no Champagne, and--worst of all--no hours d'oeuvres.
snip

Way to go Dave. How about a picture of the antenna setup? -
Canopus56

On Sep 28, 2:09*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
Too_Many_Tools wrote:

Links to the recorded data and audio can be found he
http://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVE.htm

Great work Dave.

Enjoyed looking at your website.

Thanks! *More data will post soon; another Io-A event will be visible
from the Western hemisphere tonight.

Which, come to think of it, really brings home how massive Jupiter is.
Io's orbit radius about Jupiter is 10% greater than the Moon's about
the Earth; but, due to Jupiter's strong gravitational field, Io makes
one orbit every 42½ hours instead of every 29½ days. *In four hours of
observing, Io moves 34° along it's orbit.

Point is, Io moves so fast that events viewable in North America are
over and done with by the time Europe or Asia rotates into position to
see Jupiter.
--
Dave

I will be watching for it.

Good job.

TMT

canopus56 wrote:

On Sep 25, 1:51*pm, Dave Typinski wrote:
The AJ4CO Observatory opened for business Monday night. *There was no
fanfare, no Champagne, and--worst of all--no hours d'oeuvres.
snip

Way to go Dave. How about a picture of the antenna setup? -

Here you go!
http://www.typnet.net/Essays/RadioJOVEpix.htm
--
Dave