Newsletters
Semiannual Project and Activity Review July through December 2012
Lewis Longmont Laboratory, Longmont, Colorado Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center, Haswell, Colorado Written by: Jamie Riggs The DSES is a unique organization. We are the proud owners of an 18m dish antenna in Haswell, Colorado, on which much progress toward commissioned operation has been made. We have members with interests in many aspects of space exploration, instrumentation, systems, and related sciences, some of which are represented on our new website. Most importantly, we are dedicated to the success of the DSES so we can enjoy our individual scientific and technological pursuits. Simon Shupp, DSES webmaster, has produced an outstanding functional DSES website (DSES.org). He took input from many of us, along with page prototypes from both Jeff Lichtman and Don Lewis, and constructed a representative gateway to the world. Included is active member communication capabilities for project updates, activity reports, and announcements. If you haven’t already, take a tour. The Kiowa County DSES members Delores Eikenberg, Rod Johnson, and Blake and Paul Stoker, with the help of Wayne Green, Gail and Michael Lowe, and Horace Martin, all orchestrated a DSES presence at the Eads Maine Street Bash and the Kiowa County Fair. Many Southeast Colorado residents visited the DSES booths, and provided support, and in some cases, became new members. These events were rewarding collaborations with Kiowa County representatives. Paul Berge and Peter Goldman went to the Plishner site in October to test the hardware and firmware that Peter built, along with the modified COSMOS antenna motion controller (from a CU engineering student project with Dennis Akos). Paul prepared the dish for operation with Peter’s system so all was ready for temporary installation. After connecting the various components to the two motor controllers and to the absolute encoders, with just a minor glitch or two, the tests were successful. The dish was moved at various speeds in both axes simultaneously while reading the Az and El positions with the encoders. COSMOS worked well in manual mode, allowing specific Az and El angles tracking motion. Peter is working on final packaging and versioning, and further tests are anticipated for the summer of 2013. Figure 2: Peter in the Plishner dish, Haswell, with his prototype motion control components preparing for testing. Photo courtesy of Don Lewis, 2012. Several of our members including Paul Berge, Adam Glazer, Don Lewis, Michael Lowe, Blake and Paul Stoker, and others, have given the Plishner site quite a facelift. The bunker generally is inhabitable, solar power with generator supplement supplies the electric, and the dish can be operated manually. A significant milestone was the installation of protective boots on the elevation jackscrews (see Figure 1). Rodney Howe, Jamie Riggs, Simon Shupp, and Blake Stoker are testing the operation of a Stanford University Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) system that is pushing data to our website (SID data). These data are available to all our members. This effort will be expanded with instructional material for use with educational institutions. Rodney Howe, Don Lewis, and Jamie Riggs are developing a 10.7cm antenna and receiver for solar monitoring. Paul Berge has contributed a feed horn, and Don is working on the dish mounting system. Rodney has been collecting data with an existing system so he can understand the details of pointing, calibration, data transfer, and data analysis. Interestingly, the Solar Flux Units (SFU) extracted from the 10.7cm wavelength data are closely related to sunspot numbers. See SFU for further details. Jamie Riggs is using American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) sunspot count data, supplied by Rodney Howe, to derive sunspot numbers (as apposed to counts) using modern statistical analysis. The modern statistics are not dependent upon classical statistical analytical methods used by other reporting agencies. The modern method results in sunspot numbers that are unbiased and have minimum variance. See Sunspots for detailed descriptions. DSES members attended conferences, gave presentations on DSES activities, and published papers. Jamie Riggs gave a presentation on Mars Crater Spatial Point Pattern Modeling to the University of Northern Colorado Applied Statistics and Research Methods Department in Greeley, Colorado (November 28, 2012). DSES Organizational Opportunities The DSES is an organization of amateur radio operators, astronomers, scientists, radio hobbyists and plain old "big equipment" nuts. Whether you like to help with organization and management, work on a keyboard, try to pull in the weak signals, want to try your hand at digital signal processing or just wonder "what is out there" and you want to see for yourself, the DSES has a place for you. We still need your help. The DSES wants to renew its relationship with its members and bring in some new ones as well. In addition to dish improvement projects, we are always looking for projects that use the capabilities of the dish such as radio astronomy, Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), satellite ground station uses, etc. Do you have something you think we should be adding to our abilities? Come and re-join us! Membership for a full voting member is $50/year and for an associate, non-voting member is $20/year. Thanks to all who have joined or renewed! Thank you for your interest in the Deep Space Exploration Society! For further information you can send email to the board members at inquire@dses.org or see our website at www.dses.org. Our newsletter and activity reports are available on this website. |
Semiannual Project and Activity Review January through June 2012
Posted on July 1, 2012 By Web Master Lewis Longmont Laboratory, Longmont, Colorado Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center, Haswell, Colorado DSES members hard and dedicated work in this first half of 2012 may have the dish at the Paul Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center operational by September! Much work is still in progress, however, so this is just a target. Electrical power at the site is still an issue, so continuous, lengthy observations will not be possible. However, under generator and solar power, we hope to begin beam characterization studies in late fall to early winter. In the meanwhile, there is still much work to be done, so jump in and get your hands dirty! Figure 1: Plishner dish, Haswell, under spacious skies, on fruited plains, rising to purple mountain majesties. Photo courtesy of Paul Berge, 2011. Plishner activity in March included Paul Berge and Adam Glazer seting up a HI radio and computer receiving system in the Operations Trailer. Paul installed the HI receiver and down converter at the feed. After getting everything ready to record data, they detected no signals. After deciding the pre-amp was compromised, attempts were made to acquire another. Don Lewis later picked up a FEDEX package in Haswell from John Ewan with a new preamp. Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem. Upon testing the receiving system back at the Lewis Lab, they discovered that the receiver problem was caused by low voltage to the down converter. All was not lost as much work went in to cleaning, repairing, manufacturing, and administering at Plishner. In May, Adam reported high winds of up to 60 MPH, as recorded on our Plishner anemometer. Along with the wind came a proportionate amount of dust that needed removing. Adam installed the Plishner sign at the entrance to the Plishner site. Paul and Adam removed the 3″ coax that was in danger of falling from the dish. Paul tipped the dish and installed a new DC power cable to the pre-amp. Paul Berge and Don Lewis reconfigured Rodney Howe’s dish antenna to allow elevation changes to more closely track the sun for a daily 10.7cm readings. There is evidence to suggest the fluctuations in 10.7cm power levels associate to corresponding fluctuations in sunspot numbers. The 2nd Sunspot NumberWorkshop attended by Rodney Howe and Jamie Riggs was sponsored by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), the National Solar Observatory (NSO), and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). While the first workshop in September, 2011, at Sunspot, New Mexico offered a panorama of all issues in the sunspot number series, the Brussels workshop focused on the progress and additional evidence addressing the key problems in understanding solar activity indices. Invited were additional European experts in the field of long-term tracers of solar activity. The goal was to make an archive of data, and progress in defining solar indices to define and update the action list in view of the next workshop, which will be in January 2013, Tucson Arizona. (a) AAVSO sunspot data collection and archiving.(b) Les Tourelles, lodging for conference attendees. Figure 2: Photos courtesy of Rodney Howe, 2012. Many talks were on how past and present observatories count sunspots and sunspot groups. Much of the archived data are of drawings and logs kept in university and observatory libraries. These need to be digitized and made available as has been done by the Royal Greenwich Observatory. There were questions about AAVSO’s current method for calculating the American Relative number. To some extent statistical processing for sunspot numbers is new. The AAVSO Ra has only been adjusted once during the mid-1990s mainly to correct for what was believed to be inflation in the yearly estimates of Observer’s K factors, which adjust sunspot counts for individual observer variance. Looking back with a 15 year perspective, we can see that corrections for the AAVSO Ra number have been shown to match the Solar Influences Data Center (SIDC) international index. DSES members attended conferences, gave presentations on DSES activities, and published papers. Rodney Howe presented on AAVSO sunspot data collection and archiving to the 2nd Sunspot Number Workshop, SIDC, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels. Jamie Riggs gave a (a) The solar dome at the Royal Observatory of Belgium.(b) A generalized linear mixed model for enumerated sunspots. Figure 3: Photos courtesy of Rodney Howe, 2012. presentation on the statistics of sunspot enumeration, A Generalized Linear Mixed Model for Enumerated Sunspots, first to the University of Northern Colorado Research Day in Greeley, Colorado (April 12, 2012), and then at the 2nd Sunspot Number Workshop, SIDC, Royal Observatory of Belgium, on May 22, 2012, Brussels. DSES Organizational Opportunities The DSES is an organization of amateur radio operators, astronomers, scientists, radio hobbyists and plain old “big equipment” nuts. Whether you like to help with organization and management, work on a keyboard, try to pull in the weak signals, want to try your hand at digital signal processing or just wonder “what is out there” and you want to see for yourself, the DSES has a place for you. We still need your help. The DSES wants to renew its relationship with its members and bring in some new ones as well. In addition to dish improvement projects, we are always looking for projects that use the capabilities of the dish such as radio astronomy, Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), satellite ground station uses, etc. Do you have something you think we should be adding to our abilities? Come and re-join us! Membership for a full voting member is $50/year and for an associate, non-voting member is $20/year. Thanks to all who have joined or renewed! Thank you for your interest in the Deep Space Exploration Society! For further information you can send email to the board members at inquire@dses.org or see our website at www.dses.org. Our newsletter and activity reports are available on this website. |
Semiannual Project and Activity Review July through December 2011
Posted on January 1, 2012 By Web Master Lewis Longmont Laboratory, Longmont, Colorado |
Semiannual Project and Activity Review January through June 2011
Table Mountain Field Site, Longmont, Colorado Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center, Haswell, Colorado The verdict is in and DSES will be vacating Table Mountain in Boulder County near Longmont, Colorado. DSES submitted a proposal for use of Table Mountain, but due to the National Telecommunications Institute and Administration, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) decision to instigate a two-year site assessment, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement was declined. On the bright side, refurbishment of the facilities at the Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center in Kiowa County near Haswell, Colorado, is in full swing. Photograph by Don Lewis, 2011. DSES member trips to the Plishner site have resulted in facility clean-up and repairs of the dish. Michael Lowe has been working with the local Haswell electric cooperative to get power installed at the site. Paul Berge, Don Lewis, and Michael Lowe have spent several weekends at Plishner, and with the efforts of local residents, have made a rewarding collaboration between DSES and Kiowa County. The following is but a sample of the activities at Plishner. Steel door and a rectangular steel panel were welded in place on the dish tower. The tower was secured with a stout lock and keys are in the possession of Mike Lowe and Paul Berge. The door and panel were painted grey. A folding ladder was left in the tower to allow access to the upper decks. Other material was stored in the tower for future use such as wire, etc. Debris was removed from the ramp on the east of the underground structure to allow opening the door. Dimensions of the door were taken to facilitate replacement. A walk through survey was done of the underground structure to note problems and condition. Pictures were taken. OSB board was cut and used to cover some openings in the roof structure. The winds repeatedly bring enough tumbleweeds to completely obscure the entry door to the station. They can be cleared simply by throwing them upward at which point the wind takes them to the south fence in less than 20 seconds! Clean up of the station (underground) is about all that can be done during high winds, so its looking right tidy. There now is a very nice lab table with casters and slide out shelves that Don Lewis obtained. Paul Berge got lighting circuits activated for use with the generator. Michael Lowe and his wife routinely provide building materials, generators, tools, and, well, the list is very long. Plywood from the building material was used to cover the 4-foot opening at the southwest corner main skylight, ventilator, and fire exit door. Local residents removed most of the scrap metal, cleaned off the entry ramp into the station, and mowed the flora. The dish tower was cleaned out, a generator was installed, and a ladder was provided to access the upper reaches. Even as this newsletter is being written, motors and controllers are finding their way into the tower. Great work everyone! Rodney Howe (DSES) and John DuBois, Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA), are building a horn antenna and radio to monitor the Solar Flux Index (SFI). The Solar Flux Index is used to assist National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) modelers in predicting solar cycles. See Building a 10.7cm horn for monitortng the Solar Flux Index by R. Howe and J. DuBois for further details. Joint DSES/Front Range Community College (FRCC), Boulder campus public “astronomy night” continued successfully, even with cloudy nights. The astronomy night gatherings featured both radio and optical observing. DSES members assisted with the Small Radio Telescope (SRT), giving short presentations on what radio astronomy is, and demonstrating the operation of the SRT. As the FRCC facilities are undergoing renovation during the summer months, public astronomy night will resume in October of 2011. Adler Planetarium (http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/) astronomers and Jamie Riggs worked on understanding what column densities in star-forming regions lead to either intermediate mass stars or high mass stars. DSES members attended conferences, gave presentations on DSES activities, and published papers. Wayne Green attended the Society of Astronomical Sciences 30th Annual Symposium on Telescope Science May 25-28, 2011, in Big Bear, California. Jamie Riggs attended the 2011 USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting in Boulder, CO. Jamie gave talks to the University of Northern Colorado Applied Statistics and Research Methods Colloquium on February 3, 2011. The presentation was “Comparing the Distributions Resulting from Selected Additive Combinations of the Real and Imaginary Components of the Signal Spectral Density Function.” She also presented Intermediate-and High-Mass Star-Forming Regions: Making Stars at Mass Column Densities < 1g/cm2, at the University of Northern Colorado Research Day. Jamie Riggs attended the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Innovations in Data-Intensive Astronomy, Greenbank, West Virginia. Solar Flux feed (10.7 cm) for monitoing sunspot cycles. Photograph by Rodney Howe. DSES Organizational Opportunities The DSES is an organization of amateur radio operators, astronomers, scientists, radio hobbyists and plain old “big equipment” nuts. Whether you like to help with organization and management, work on a keyboard, try to pull in the weak signals, want to try your hand at digital signal processing or just wonder “what is out there” and you want to see for yourself, the DSES has a place for you. We still need your help. The DSES wants to renew its relationship with its members and bring in some new ones as well. In addition to dish improvement projects, we are always looking for projects that use the capabilities of the dish such as radio astronomy, Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), satellite ground station uses, etc. Do you have something you think we should be adding to our abilities? Come and re-join us! Membership for a full voting member is $50/year and for an associate, non-voting member is $20/year. Thanks to all who have joined or renewed! Thank you for your interest in the Deep Space Exploration Society! For further information you can send email to the board members at inquire@dses.org or see our website at www.dses.org. Our newsletter and activity reports are available on this website. Semiannual Project and Activity Review July through December 2010 Table Mountain Field Site, Longmont, Colorado Haswell Site, Haswell, Colorado The second half of 2010 was intriguing. The upper dish at T22 achieved tracking capabilities sufficient for both astronomical sources and many earth-obit satellites. The lower dish had manual control restored. Haswell restoration plans took on new life. However, as of the end of December 2010, DSES has not had a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Telecommunications Institute and Administration, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS). However, talks with ITS have been encouraging. Haswell. Photographed by Paul Berge, 2010. Joint DSES/FRCC first joint public “astronomy night” on 21 October 2010. As a result of discussions between John Minors, Science Chair of the Front Range Community College (FRCC) Boulder Campus, and Jamie Riggs, the first monthly joint FRCC/DSES Astronomy Night held on the FRCC Boulder Campus in Longmont, CO. DSES members assisting were Paul Berge, Wayne Green, Michael Lowe, John Minors, and Jamie Riggs. Wayne and Michael set up a Radio Jove system, John ran the FRCC optical observatory, and Paul and Jamie operated the FRCC SRT, a 2m dish. The size of the public attendance at the gathering was considered a success. The FRCC administration was quite pleased. Adler Planetarium ( http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/) astronomers and Jamie Riggs worked on understanding what column densities in star-forming regions lead to either intermediate mass stars or high mass stars. DSES trips to the Haswell site have resulted in preparations for refurbishing the Haswell dish. Michael Lowe has been working with the local Haswell electric cooperative to get power installed at the site. Much work by Michael and others is still needed to obtain an overall refurbishment plan. DSES acquired a US Government surplus trailer, built in 1959 as a mobile office. It contains equipment racks, heat, air-conditioning, power conditioning, carpet, sound reduction acoustic ceiling, etc. The tires are in reasonable shape. The undercarriage needs some work. Ownership paperwork needed. DSES currently has John Ewan’s license tag. Rex Craig has a desk, and work benches donated by Michael Lowe, now stored at T22, can be utilized. Paul Berge suggests hooking-up power and get systems working while the trailer is on Wayne Green’s property. The roof may leak. There is no plumbing. Jamie Riggs began tracking accuracy tests of the upper dish after celestial source track file generation was enabled on the upper dish controller by Sam Krenning. She and Dennis Akos have been using this controller for satellite tracking. Sam’s code for celestial sources works very well, and the tracking accuracy studies are well under way. Jamie began beam characterization studies to determine, initially, beam shape. DSES members attended conferences, gave presentations on DSES activities, and published papers. John Ewan, Rodney Howe, and Jamie Riggs attended the 2010 USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting in Boulder, CO. Jamie gave talks to the University of Northern Colorado Applied Statistics and Research Methods Colloquium on November 3, 2010. The presentation was Intermediate-and High-Mass Star-Forming Regions: Making Stars at Mass Column Densities < 1g /cm2. Jamie Riggs attended the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Twelfth Synthesis Imaging Workshop in Socorro, NM ( http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/events/synthesis/2010/ ). Her description of her experiences at the workshop may be found at http://dses.org/edu.shtml. DSES Organizational Opportunities The DSES is an organization of amateur radio operators, astronomers, scientists, radio hobbyists and plain old “big equipment” nuts. Whether you like to help with organization and management, work on a keyboard, try to pull in the weak signals, want to try your hand at digital signal processing or just wonder “what is out there” and you want to see for yourself, the DSES has a place for you. We still need your help. The DSES wants to renew its relationship with its members and bring in some new ones as well. In addition to dish improvement projects, we are always looking for projects that use the capabilities of the dish such as radio astronomy, Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), satellite ground station uses, etc. Do you have something you think we should be adding to our abilities? Come and re-join us! Membership for a full voting member is $50/year and for an associate, non-voting member is $20/year. Thanks to all who have joined or renewed! Thank you for your interest in the Deep Space Exploration Society! For further information you can send email to the board members at inquire@dses.org or see our website at http://dses.org. Our newsletter and activity reports are available on this website. |
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