I don’t usually post updates about our work at SBRAC on this list,
mostly because progress at the observatory has been so very slow, owing
to having
zero budget to work with.
However, today, we achieved a significant milestone in our progress.
The feed platform is in-place, with all the RF cabling connected, and
brought down
to ground level. We didn’t have time to do any tests today, and I’m
exhausted, having worked for 2.5 hours in the bucket of a “SkyLift”
provided
by the Ottawa Fire Department.
Here’s a picture of the feed platform in-place, just before we got it
wired up:
http://www.sbrac.org/files/feed_in_place.jpg
Next week, we’ll be doing some preliminary testing, and maybe get some
of our “science” computers in place. The receivers are a mixture of
both RTLSDR devices, and USRPs. There’ll be a USRP doing the pulsar
work, and another one doing the precision hydrogen spectral work, and
an assortment of RTLSDR devices doing radiometry, and the “rough”
hydrogen spectral work.
We’ve been slowly “nibbling away” at this thing for several years, and
it’s gratifying to get to a point where you have obvious, visible,
progress…