Just trying to read the old messages after the huge effort to purge the many
messages that are not relevant.
The article referenced below is still available - wonder-of-wonders. I
worked at Green Bank in the late 50s and it was very radio quiet. To make
sure that I did not cause a problem, I would drive over the next ridge to
operate my amateur radio station that I keep on the back seat of my 7
cylinder Chrysler. Eventually, it was found that I could operate on the
site without causing a problem. I ran a dipole between two trees that were
next to Reber's old antenna (used to make the first radio map of the sky).
He was a very interesting fellow. Sensitivities were not as good then as
they are now.
Sure a good place to listen and to see. The article is worth a read.
73 Mac
--
J. Mc Laughlin; Michigan U.S.A.
Home:
wrote in message
oups.com...
There's a nearby ski area, Snowshoe, that has to work closely with the
NRAO to keep from interfering with the deep space transmissions.
_Wired_ had a good article last year about the problems NRAO faces.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/quiet_pr.html
Issue 12.02 - February 2004
The Quiet Zone
Cell phones, pagers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth - the wireless revolution is
everywhere. Except here.
By John Geirland
....
The subjects of radio astronomy are astronomically large, but the
signals they produce are astronomically weak by the time they reach
Earth. These emissions are measured in Janskys, named for the father of
radio astronomy, Karl Jansky. A Jansky is based on
0.00000000000000000000000001 watts - and that's a big signal at Green
Bank. Even a musical greeting card playing at the base of the telescope
could produce anomalous spikes in the data of an unlucky astronomer
trying to study stellar gases. If the interference is strong enough,
the telescope's ultrasensitive first amplifier - cooled by liquid
helium to minimize internal noise - shuts down.
There was an article in the _WSJ_ two months ago as well.
http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/...reasing15nov04.
htm
Be Quiet. We're Listening.
Scientists in West Virginia are trying to hear what the universe has to
say.
But wireless devices are making it increasingly difficult.
MARCELO PRINCE / Wall Street Journal 15nov04
....
The task of preserving the Quiet Zone largely falls to Mr. Reynolds and
a team of scientists at Green Bank. The radio frequency interference
team spends hours every week driving around in a vehicle equipped with
sensitive antennas and special gear to pinpoint local sources of
interference, like a broken knot in an electric fence. They must also
monitor thousands of cellphone towers and broadcast antennas in the
zone to ensure they don't disrupt the telescope -- an increasingly
time-consuming and difficult task.