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Ku-Band Intensity Interferometer |
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Other Interests |
1. Development of Small Radio Telescopes
suitable for student-oriented research at the undergraduate level. A 'book'
entitled "Radio Astronomy Projects" is available from Radio-Sky
Publishing
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The photograph shows a small radio telescope using a 0.7 metre dish. An LNB (Low Noise Block Converter) is mounted at the focal point. The output from the LNB goes to a wideband I.F. (Intermediate Frequency) amplifier mounted on the rear surface of the di sh. The bandwidth of the system is about 500 MHz. The output of the I.F. amplifier is rectified, using a semiconductor diode, and the resulting D.C. (direct current) voltage is fed to a sensitive voltmeter. The system is equivalent to a 1-pixel imager. Th e telescope gives a very clear indication of microwave emission from the Sun, as well as microwave emission from the human body. Microwave emission from the human body comes as a surprise to most of us. |
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2. The Galileo Case; what actually
happened?. The most plausible (in my view) account of the 'case' is given in a
recent book (published in 1994) by Annibale Fantoli with the title
"Galileo: For Copernicanism and For the Church". The book is
available from The University of Notre Dame Press, ISBN 0-268-01029-3. For some
thoughs on the Galileo event that are somewhat iconolastic and somewhat
plausible, see Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher's site.
3. "Understanding the understanding of
Physics". Somewhat decoded, there could be a question like
this: "What am I doing when I am understanding Physics?" Or, perhaps,
"What am I doing when I am understanding Thermodynami cs?" The
question is being approached from a point of view developed in Bernard
Lonergan's INSIGHT.
4. Development of research projects for
undergraduates and the publishing thereof. Some of the projects
would be of interest to high-school seniors as well. Currently, there are
several projects under development:
(a). Monitoring background gammas at ground-level for
several months for possible correlation with solar activity.
(b). Monitoring the terrestrial magnetic field at ground-level for several
months for possibly interesting changes, including possible correlations with
solar activity.
(c). Monitoring VLF (Very Low Frequency) terrestrial radio propagation for
possible correlation with solar disturbances.
5. Amateur radio as an experimental
environment; I hold VE1WPL
6. Development of VERY user-friendly tutorials
for IRAF: Image Reduction Analysis Facility. This is a very
comprehensive image-processing and analysis software package available from
NOAO in
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Email: |
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List of Publications
Please
look at my book Radio Astronomy Projects (First
Edition) (table of contents, comments
& reviews, errata, purchasing, etc.)
Please
look at the second edition of my book Radio Astronomy Projects (Second
Edition) (released in 2003)
The 3rd edition of Radio
Astronomy Projects (Third Edition), updated and expanded, will be ready by the end of 2005. Check with
the publisher for
further details.
Some links to sites useful
to amateur radio astronomers.
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Some amateur radio astronomy projects |
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Radio Astronomy Web Ring [ Previous 5 Sites | Skip Previous | Previous | Next ] [ Skip Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site ] [ List Sites | Join ] |
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