Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-03 Thread Gisle Vanem

Glen Langston wrote:


Comments and improvements welcomed.

Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the DSPIRA web site.
https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro


Tried building it on Win-10 using MSVC/clang-cl.
But it fails on the use of 'clock_gettime()', 'CLOCK_REALTIME' etc.

--
--gv



Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Marcus D. Leech

On 02/05/2023 19:17, Glen Langston wrote:

Hi Marcus Leech (and Muller),

Well you beat me to it!

It’s great that you can pre-confirm my results.  I’ll have to look at the
rest of your memos.   Do you mind if we cross-post your memo CERRA memo,
as a LightWork memo too?  Maybe it will be better to just reference your memos
on the LightWork page.  Just thinking while typing…

You produced a beautiful spectrum of the Milky Way, if you love that kind of 
thing, like I do!
Calibrating, by looking at the Ground, is pretty reliable and easy.

Cheers

Glen


Wide-field spectra at milky-way transit near Cygnus are generally pretty 
nice.


Here's a kind of "extremal" of these types of horn antenna:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Kn49pWqQ3kiiZwTq8

We had that one built by a local sheet-metal/HVAC shop for under 
C$200.00.    The diameter at the exit is about 23"

  as I recall.

The plan was to use it to illuminate our sub-reflector at the 
observatory, but we had a change of heart after we realized
  that plan was going to require a LOT of "civil engineering".   So, we 
converted the 12.8m dish to prime focus, and that

  well-built (but kinda 'amateur') horn is just sitting there.







Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Marcus D. Leech

On 02/05/2023 19:17, Glen Langston wrote:

Hi Marcus Leech (and Muller),

Well you beat me to it!

It’s great that you can pre-confirm my results.  I’ll have to look at the
rest of your memos.   Do you mind if we cross-post your memo CERRA memo,
as a LightWork memo too?  Maybe it will be better to just reference your memos
on the LightWork page.  Just thinking while typing…
You can feel free to cross-post.  That was the original idea of our memo 
series.




You produced a beautiful spectrum of the Milky Way, if you love that kind of 
thing, like I do!
Calibrating, by looking at the Ground, is pretty reliable and easy.

Cheers

Glen



On May 2, 2023, at 7:03 PM, Marcus D. Leech  wrote:

On 02/05/2023 18:58, Marcus Müller wrote:

Hey Glen,

this is really cool stuff!

Tried to give this a bit of reach on Mastodon [1], but I'm far from the 
audience I used to have on twitter.

It's pretty cool that a galvanized pail does the job so well, would have 
thought zinc wouldn't be low-loss enough a surface coating, but was proven 
wrong by awesome results :) The best case of being wrong!

I especially like that this is a solution that needs so little "craftiness" and 
seems quite robust. Just drill a hole, watch (and then obviously like) a few videos and 
send Glen an email to get a free feed :D

If I had one complaint, it's that you promise a shopping list in the appendix – 
but there's no appendix!

I'd also state very early in the guide (maybe actually with a flashy yellow 
"sticker" on the title page?) that it comes with video documentation (30 min in 
total[2]). I think that's quite a relief to a teacher who doesn't want to risk building 
something new based on text only, especially when it involves mechanical work!

Cheers,
Marcus

PS: I think if you're really going to leave it out in the weather, maybe add a 
Polymeric Low-Absorption Small-Thickness Inherently Costefficient Best-fit 
Antenna enGulfing (PLASTICBAG) radome?


[1] https://mastodon.social/@funkylab/110301361379949802
[2] For those wondering: these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMYhHhJW1VDYESTcHJIiwNbRQXWpFlyF

On 02.05.23 16:53, Glen Langston wrote:

Hello Aficionados!

We’ve just released a marvelous summary of how to build a “Pail of Milky Way”
horn radio telescope.   This is described in LightWork memo 32.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/lightwork/blob/master/memos/LightWorkMemo032-PailOfMilkyWay-r5.pdf

The memo concludes with a plot of one day’s observations, showing
what you can see with a horn radio telescope.   The Doppler shifted
Cygnus and Perseus Spiral arms of the Milky Way are visible.

Comments and improvements welcomed.

Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the DSPIRA web site.
https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro

Thanks to Kevin Bandura at WVU and the Green Bank Observatory Staff.

Cheers

Glen





Some of this reminds me of the memo I published 1.5 years ago on a similar 
subject:

http://www.ccera.ca/files/memos/ccera-memo-0014.pdf








Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Glen Langston
Hi Marcus Leech (and Muller),

Well you beat me to it!

It’s great that you can pre-confirm my results.  I’ll have to look at the
rest of your memos.   Do you mind if we cross-post your memo CERRA memo,
as a LightWork memo too?  Maybe it will be better to just reference your memos
on the LightWork page.  Just thinking while typing…

You produced a beautiful spectrum of the Milky Way, if you love that kind of 
thing, like I do!
Calibrating, by looking at the Ground, is pretty reliable and easy.

Cheers

Glen


> On May 2, 2023, at 7:03 PM, Marcus D. Leech  wrote:
> 
> On 02/05/2023 18:58, Marcus Müller wrote:
>> Hey Glen,
>> 
>> this is really cool stuff!
>> 
>> Tried to give this a bit of reach on Mastodon [1], but I'm far from the 
>> audience I used to have on twitter.
>> 
>> It's pretty cool that a galvanized pail does the job so well, would have 
>> thought zinc wouldn't be low-loss enough a surface coating, but was proven 
>> wrong by awesome results :) The best case of being wrong!
>> 
>> I especially like that this is a solution that needs so little "craftiness" 
>> and seems quite robust. Just drill a hole, watch (and then obviously like) a 
>> few videos and send Glen an email to get a free feed :D
>> 
>> If I had one complaint, it's that you promise a shopping list in the 
>> appendix – but there's no appendix!
>> 
>> I'd also state very early in the guide (maybe actually with a flashy yellow 
>> "sticker" on the title page?) that it comes with video documentation (30 min 
>> in total[2]). I think that's quite a relief to a teacher who doesn't want to 
>> risk building something new based on text only, especially when it involves 
>> mechanical work!
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Marcus
>> 
>> PS: I think if you're really going to leave it out in the weather, maybe add 
>> a Polymeric Low-Absorption Small-Thickness Inherently Costefficient Best-fit 
>> Antenna enGulfing (PLASTICBAG) radome?
>> 
>> 
>> [1] https://mastodon.social/@funkylab/110301361379949802
>> [2] For those wondering: these videos:
>> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMYhHhJW1VDYESTcHJIiwNbRQXWpFlyF
>> 
>> On 02.05.23 16:53, Glen Langston wrote:
>>> Hello Aficionados!
>>> 
>>> We’ve just released a marvelous summary of how to build a “Pail of Milky 
>>> Way”
>>> horn radio telescope.   This is described in LightWork memo 32.
>>> 
>>> https://github.com/WVURAIL/lightwork/blob/master/memos/LightWorkMemo032-PailOfMilkyWay-r5.pdf
>>>  
>>> 
>>> The memo concludes with a plot of one day’s observations, showing
>>> what you can see with a horn radio telescope.   The Doppler shifted
>>> Cygnus and Perseus Spiral arms of the Milky Way are visible.
>>> 
>>> Comments and improvements welcomed.
>>> 
>>> Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the DSPIRA web 
>>> site.
>>> https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro
>>> 
>>> Thanks to Kevin Bandura at WVU and the Green Bank Observatory Staff.
>>> 
>>> Cheers
>>> 
>>> Glen
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> Some of this reminds me of the memo I published 1.5 years ago on a similar 
> subject:
> 
> http://www.ccera.ca/files/memos/ccera-memo-0014.pdf
> 
> 
> 




Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Marcus D. Leech

On 02/05/2023 18:58, Marcus Müller wrote:

Hey Glen,

this is really cool stuff!

Tried to give this a bit of reach on Mastodon [1], but I'm far from 
the audience I used to have on twitter.


It's pretty cool that a galvanized pail does the job so well, would 
have thought zinc wouldn't be low-loss enough a surface coating, but 
was proven wrong by awesome results :) The best case of being wrong!
You wouldn't want to make extended wave-guides out of zinc-plated 
steel.  But for small numbers of lambda, the loss is
  quite small.  I routinely make dish feeds for 21cm from 15cm (6") 
HVAC duct.   The spiral wound stuff is quite stiff and

  maintains its shape well...





Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Marcus D. Leech

On 02/05/2023 18:58, Marcus Müller wrote:

Hey Glen,

this is really cool stuff!

Tried to give this a bit of reach on Mastodon [1], but I'm far from 
the audience I used to have on twitter.


It's pretty cool that a galvanized pail does the job so well, would 
have thought zinc wouldn't be low-loss enough a surface coating, but 
was proven wrong by awesome results :) The best case of being wrong!


I especially like that this is a solution that needs so little 
"craftiness" and seems quite robust. Just drill a hole, watch (and 
then obviously like) a few videos and send Glen an email to get a free 
feed :D


If I had one complaint, it's that you promise a shopping list in the 
appendix – but there's no appendix!


I'd also state very early in the guide (maybe actually with a flashy 
yellow "sticker" on the title page?) that it comes with video 
documentation (30 min in total[2]). I think that's quite a relief to a 
teacher who doesn't want to risk building something new based on text 
only, especially when it involves mechanical work!


Cheers,
Marcus

PS: I think if you're really going to leave it out in the weather, 
maybe add a Polymeric Low-Absorption Small-Thickness Inherently 
Costefficient Best-fit Antenna enGulfing (PLASTICBAG) radome?



[1] https://mastodon.social/@funkylab/110301361379949802
[2] For those wondering: these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMYhHhJW1VDYESTcHJIiwNbRQXWpFlyF

On 02.05.23 16:53, Glen Langston wrote:

Hello Aficionados!

We’ve just released a marvelous summary of how to build a “Pail of 
Milky Way”

horn radio telescope.   This is described in LightWork memo 32.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/lightwork/blob/master/memos/LightWorkMemo032-PailOfMilkyWay-r5.pdf 



The memo concludes with a plot of one day’s observations, showing
what you can see with a horn radio telescope.   The Doppler shifted
Cygnus and Perseus Spiral arms of the Milky Way are visible.

Comments and improvements welcomed.

Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the 
DSPIRA web site.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro

Thanks to Kevin Bandura at WVU and the Green Bank Observatory Staff.

Cheers

Glen






Some of this reminds me of the memo I published 1.5 years ago on a 
similar subject:


http://www.ccera.ca/files/memos/ccera-memo-0014.pdf





Re: Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Marcus Müller

Hey Glen,

this is really cool stuff!

Tried to give this a bit of reach on Mastodon [1], but I'm far from the audience I used to 
have on twitter.


It's pretty cool that a galvanized pail does the job so well, would have thought zinc 
wouldn't be low-loss enough a surface coating, but was proven wrong by awesome results :) 
The best case of being wrong!


I especially like that this is a solution that needs so little "craftiness" and seems 
quite robust. Just drill a hole, watch (and then obviously like) a few videos and send 
Glen an email to get a free feed :D


If I had one complaint, it's that you promise a shopping list in the appendix – but 
there's no appendix!


I'd also state very early in the guide (maybe actually with a flashy yellow "sticker" on 
the title page?) that it comes with video documentation (30 min in total[2]). I think 
that's quite a relief to a teacher who doesn't want to risk building something new based 
on text only, especially when it involves mechanical work!


Cheers,
Marcus

PS: I think if you're really going to leave it out in the weather, maybe add a Polymeric 
Low-Absorption Small-Thickness Inherently Costefficient Best-fit Antenna enGulfing 
(PLASTICBAG) radome?



[1] https://mastodon.social/@funkylab/110301361379949802
[2] For those wondering: these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMYhHhJW1VDYESTcHJIiwNbRQXWpFlyF

On 02.05.23 16:53, Glen Langston wrote:

Hello Aficionados!

We’ve just released a marvelous summary of how to build a “Pail of Milky Way”
horn radio telescope.   This is described in LightWork memo 32.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/lightwork/blob/master/memos/LightWorkMemo032-PailOfMilkyWay-r5.pdf

The memo concludes with a plot of one day’s observations, showing
what you can see with a horn radio telescope.   The Doppler shifted
Cygnus and Perseus Spiral arms of the Milky Way are visible.

Comments and improvements welcomed.

Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the DSPIRA web site.
https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro

Thanks to Kevin Bandura at WVU and the Green Bank Observatory Staff.

Cheers

Glen








Pail of Milky Way Horn Radio Telescope

2023-05-02 Thread Glen Langston
Hello Aficionados!

We’ve just released a marvelous summary of how to build a “Pail of Milky Way”
horn radio telescope.   This is described in LightWork memo 32.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/lightwork/blob/master/memos/LightWorkMemo032-PailOfMilkyWay-r5.pdf

The memo concludes with a plot of one day’s observations, showing
what you can see with a horn radio telescope.   The Doppler shifted
Cygnus and Perseus Spiral arms of the Milky Way are visible.

Comments and improvements welcomed.

Data are all obtained using Gnuradio designs available from the DSPIRA web site.
https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro

Thanks to Kevin Bandura at WVU and the Green Bank Observatory Staff.

Cheers

Glen