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David Schneider has developed a method of detecting photo voltaic flares and gamma-ray bursts on a off-the-shelf laptop computer utilizing not more than $100 in {hardware} — by connecting a coil antenna on to an inexpensive USB sound card.
Impressed by the true story of the inadvertent recording of very-low frequency (VLF) radio indicators from a close-by authorities radio station, meant for army submarines, onto the industrial launch of Mike Oldfield’s basic Tubular Bells, Schneider set about doing a lot the identical factor — solely intentionally, and concentrating on sign sources significantly additional away.
An inexpensive coil antenna, a USB sound card, and a few intelligent software program is sufficient to monitor area climate. (📷: Kaito)
“This inadvertent recording aptly demonstrates that VLF transmissions aren’t in any respect onerous to select up,” Schneider explains. “And these indicators can reveal extra than simply the presence of a strong radio transmitter close by. The appliance I had in thoughts was to make use of adjustments in VLF-signal energy to watch area climate.”
Whereas most radio astronomy initiatives require costly tools, Schneider’s whole setup price properly beneath $100 – excluding the laptop computer, required to run the sign detection software program. “A coil antenna and exterior ‘sound card,’ which connects to a laptop computer pc,” Schneider writes of his purchases. “Tuning the coil antenna to an applicable frequency additionally required a sign generator, a protoboard, and an oscilloscope.”
Regardless of its low price, the setup proved able to detecting photo voltaic flares — as long as the solar was up. (📷: James Provost/IEEE Spectrum)
“The primary few days of utilizing this gear captured the anticipated sample of every day variation within the sign from NAA, with sharp transitions when the solar rises and units. Inside per week, the solar turned unusually lively, producing three good-size flares in at some point — as documented by NASA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, which measure X-ray flux in geosynchronous orbit.
“Two of these flares occurred when the East Coast was in darkness,” Schneider notes, “so they’d no impact on the related portion of the ionosphere or the sign energy I used to be monitoring. However the third, which occurred at about 11 a.m. native time, confirmed up properly.”
Schneider’s full write-up is now accessible on IEEE Spectrum.
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