Radio JOVE

Jupiter

THIS RADIO JOVE PAGE DESCRIBES A SCIENCE ACTIVITY YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN FROM YOUR OWN HOME OR SCHOOL

Radio JOVE volunteers build their own radio telescopes and listen to radio storms from Jupiter and much more. The following three levels of Radio JOVE participation are suggested for Radio JOVE observers. The suggestions are provided as a general guideline for standardization of Radio JOVE amateur observatories and science activities. Listening to radio storms requires patience, learning, and researching basic electronics and radio astronomy material from a variety of sources. It also involves tracking down radio frequency interference that is all around us every day. The hard work pays off when you are rewarded by detecting your first signals from outer space. This unique science activity can lead you to even more exciting radio astronomy adventures.

LEVEL ONE: Novice. This level pertains to individuals interested in learning more about Radio JOVE. Radio JOVE is all about an interest in radio signals received from Jupiter Radio Storms, solar flares, and other galactic sources. Other activities include, reading great books like "Listening To Jupiter", articles like "Where Do I Start?", the Radio JOVE Brochure , watching the Educational CD and asking questions. It is suggested the novice obtain a copy of Radio SkyPipeII software. You can enjoy invaluable training in learning its capabilities. Here are some Skypipe Frequently Asked Questions. Learn more about Jupiter science. When you decide to progress on to level two you will already be familiar with the software. See Skypipe chart video with sounds of Solar Bursts, Jupiter Bursts and more . For fun open Skypipe and start it while listening to one of the Jupiter/Sun files and you will see the graph on your Skypipe software. For an explanation of astronomy terms see this glossary . View a LIVE stream of an amateur radio telescope below. Yes it is possible you can build a similar telescope in your back yard or school ground. Just be aware that you need an electriclly quiet location to be succesful.

K4LED LIVE HF SPECTROGRAPH YOUTUBE STREAM

K4LED CHANNEL URL: https://youtube.com/channel/UCtawz3MnMBwjz9ShhSC0ygQ/live

LEVEL TWO: Intermediate. Building the standard RadioJove R1.1 RJR JOVE Receiver Manual and matching RJ1.2 RJA JOVE dual dipole Antenna Manual are available for ordering on another web site HERE. The Complete RJK Radio JOVE kit contains not only the receiver kit, a host of valuable software, and the antenna kit. You will need some basic soldering tools to compete the receiver kit. A basic autoranging digital multimeter is also handy for testing the receiver construction. Look here for a quick how to solder video. Or, here for a detailed soldering tutorial. Use only lead-free rosin core solder (Do not use acid core solder) and use a smaller size diameter like .031 or .020 is best. A pre-built tested receiver is also available separately if you prefer not to build the kit. The antenna kit contains all the wire and miscellaneous parts except the PVC pipe, tent pegs and guy rope. An RF-2080 Calibrator is absolutely essential for obtaining useful calibrated charts. Without calibration a chart indicates only relative signal strengths. A calibrated chart will indicate received Antenna Temperatures in Kelvin that is essential for scientific analysis. There is a built-in easy to use calibration routine in Skypipe. Construction of the Radio Jove receiver kit and antenna kit provides a multitude of learning new skills including soldering and basic electronics. It’s FUN!

LEVEL THREE: Advanced. Making long term galactic background observations, Jupiter storms and solar observations and uploading the results to the Radio JOVE Archive involves more advanced spectrographic equipment, a broadband antenna and more work. However, it must be noted that Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is a universal problem. Every site has at least some RFI at one time or another. RFI has many sources such as AC power lines, refrigerators, thermostats, other electronic equipment such as TV’s and Radios, and many external sources. Troubleshooting and reducing RFI takes much time and effort but is an essential task. The use of Ferrite Cores for RFI reduction on all cables is a starting point (See detailed order information here). One should not post observations on the internet until the RFI issue has been rectified to the best degree possible. Preparing and maintain engineering observation logs is a great habit to develop. Obtain and install a Terminated Folded Dipole (TFD) broadband antenna. Other science activities include observing, logging, and recording Jupiter and solar spectrographic events. At this level advanced radio astronomy work can be accomplished to provide NASA scientists information for their detailed investigative science work. Some of the investigations include observation of so called Tee Pees in 12 or 24 hour spectrographs, study of the effects of lightning on spectrographs, study of S and L bursts and their relationship to Io positions,CAS A scintillations and many more. Future advances in SDR technology will soon produce other choices of SDR receivers. An example of an Advanced Radio JOVE Observatory is provided.

ADDITIONAL ADVANCED LINKS: Jupiter, Study FAQ's, solar events, galactic hump , Spectrograph Users Group (SUG), Software Defined Receiver, SDRPlay , Installing and using Radio Sky Spectrograph software.