Radio Astronomy for the Amateur
IEEE Southeastern Michigan: Chapter VIII (EMC)
adio Astronomy for the Amateur with Ren Redcap, Tom Hagen and Jim Abshier.
Southeastern Michigan IEEE EMC Chapter technical meeting.
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- Date: 20 Jul 2017
- Time: 05:30 PM to 07:30 PM
- All times are (GMT-05:00) US/Michigan
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- Starts 27 June 2017 12:00 AM
- Ends 20 July 2017 05:00 PM
- All times are (GMT-05:00) US/Michigan
- 8 in-person spaces left!
- No Admission Charge
- Menu: Regular, Vegetarian, None
Speakers
Tom Hagen
Radio Astronomy for the Amateur
Amateurs have a number of opportunities to pursue radio astronomy as a hobby in the Hz to GHz frequency range. This presentation describes projects that you as an amateur can do to get involved with radio astronomy. At the lowest frequencies, radio frequency (RF) energy in the audio frequency range (wavelengths of hundreds of miles) can be detected with a natural radio receiver comprising a whip antenna and a high input impedance audio amplifier. Moving into the higher frequencies, ionospheric solar disturbance monitoring may be done with a computer sound card and a simple pre-amplifier in the 15-48 kHz range. Radiated disturbances from the planet Jupiter can be heard on shortwave receivers around 20 MHz. Other bands centered on 38, 408, and 611 MHz and other frequencies are available too. One of the most important bands is the 21 cm neutral hydrogen HI emission line at 1.42 GHz. Many amateurs use re-purposed C-band satellite dishes to make observations and even complete RF contour maps of the sky at this wavelength. Jim Abshier of Farmington Hills will describe a backyard interferometer he uses to detect quasars that are billions of light years away. Finally, a surplus Ku band TV satellite dish (Dish Net or Direct TV dish) can be made into an “Itty Bitty Telescope” (IBT) to demonstrate the principles of thermal emission from bodies at room temperature, such as trees, cars, humans, and so on at the operating frequency of around 12 GHz. And last if not least, join the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers and you get the opportunity to use a 40 foot diameter dish at Green Bank, WV, to do observations on 21 cm!
Biography:
Tom Hagen lives in Rochester MI and is an electrical engineer working for an automotive supplier, specializing in electromagnetic compatibility. Tom has a BS degree in electrical engineering from Purdue-Ft. Wayne and an MS degree in electrical Eng. from Oakland U. (Rochester MI)and is married with 3 cats. Tom is a member of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers and two other astronomical organizations: Oakland Astronomy Club (Oakland County, MI) and the McMath-Hulbert Astronomical Society. Tom's ham call is NE9Y.
Email:
Address:Michigan, United States
Ken Redcap, Ken Abshier
Amateur Radio Astronomy in Novi Michigan
Starting in 1995, various radio telescope syAmateur Radio Astronomy in Novi Michiganstems have been operated locally in Novi, Michigan. These systems have included both total power and radio interferometer systems. The first system was a total power radio telescope that used a helical antenna and modified TV receiver operating on about 470 MHz. This system was able to detect the Sun and the Galactic Plane. Many of the radio telescopes have been 400 MHz interferometers that were used for earth rotation aperture synthesis. Experiments have also been performed with X and Ku band microwave equipment. The present system now operational in Novi is a 1420 MHz radio interferometer that uses two 3 meter parabolic antennas. The primary topic of this presentation is a description of this system.
Biography:
Jim Abshier is a retired radar engineer who has been involved in amateur radio astronomy since 1995. His activities have included both total power systems and radio interferometers. He has performed earth rotation aperture synthesis experiments with 400 MHz interferometers. His current radio telescope is a 1420 MHz interferometer. Prior to retirement, he worked primarily on metric exploitation of synthetic aperture radar for the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) and it's successor organizations. Before joining ERIM, he worked for Bendix Research Laboratories where he participated in the development of automated photogrammetric instruments. He has a BSEE degree from the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and an MSEE degree from Wayne State University. He has held amateur radio license W8QOP continuously since 1955.
Ken Redcap lives in Rochester, MI and is an electrical engineer working in the industrial engineering field for an automotive supplier (tier one). Spent five (5) years in Greenville, SC. Ken has a bachelors in electrical engineering and chemistry (Lawrence Institute of Technology) and a masters in electrical engineering (Oakland University). His interests include anything in the Information Technology (IT) or Industrial Engineering (IE) field. He is is also interested in anything found in the electromagnetic spectrum. Many years ago he used to be WD8OJW and has started work to obtain his HAM radio license again. He belongs to Oakland Astronomy Club, McMath Hulbert Astronomical Society, Lake Angelus, MI and SARA. Currently helping Brandon High School (Ortonville, MI) which has a team active in First Robotics Competition.
Tom Hagen
Radio Astronomy for the Amateur
Biography:
Email:
Address:Michigan, United States
Ken Redcap, Ken Abshier
Amateur Radio Astronomy in Novi Michigan
Biography:
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