Research Log
- 14 APR 16: Thanks to everyone who donated to this experiment. As of today, we have reached our milestone goal of $10,000. We also made our first purchase. The original plan included the N-EQ6 SynScan equatorial mount with a payload of 35 pounds. We upgraded to the iOptron Pro iEQ45 German Equatorial Mount with a payload of 50 pounds. Therefore, we now have a better mount and larger payload. Here is an image of the Q45.
- 15 APR 16: Today we will research various piers/mounts which can support the radio telescope. Thus far, we are looking at the iOptron Tri-Pier, which has a payload of 220 pounds.
- 17 APR 16: Today we complete and submitted all the required documents for 501(c)(3) status. We will have everything back in 7 business days.
- 26 APR 16: We have had several professional and amateur radio astronomy organizations reach out to us wanting to support this effort. Right now we are collaborating with The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope. We will keep you posted.
- 27 APR 16: We decided to purchase a used Jeep Cherokee for $3900 to move the equipment. The vehicle will be used to move all equipment for the Wow! Experiment and transport personnel/volunteers to and from the Site B. We also purchased a Losmandy Saddle for the iOptron 45. Additionally, the SpectraCyber RAS-SC-1420 Receiver was ordered today from Radio Astronomy Supplies.
- 28 APR16: We have been given permission to use a 10-meter decommissioned NASA tracking station for the next two years. From this point forward, we will refer to this radio telescope as Site B. The equipment is fully functional. However, some cleaning and maintenance will be required; and we will have to switch out the feed horn and receiver. We are also allocating the remaining balance of the GoFundMe balance for Site B operations.
- 30 APR16: A special thanks to Animusoft LLC for donated new Toughbook laptops for the Wow! Experiment. These powerful computers are required to collect and analyze the astronomical data. For more information on Animusoft LLC visit www.alive.ai.
- 01 May 2016: Tested the iOptron mount with an OTA (payload 26 pounds). The purpose of the test was to determine if the mount and tri-pier can support a 30 pound dish. No issues were found.
- 04 May 2016: Spent some time up at Site-B with Dennis and Ed. We used a power washer to clean the 10-meter dish and the feed horn too. Next week we will work on the support structure.
- 24 May 2016: This week Dennis and I replaced 10 transistors on Site B. These are required to control the antenna. In addition to the antenna, we are looking at salvaging an old NASA tracking station/dome also on site.
- 07 July 2016: We spent most of June conducting maintenance at Site-B in preparation for priming and painting the antenna. We cleaned out the immediate area and continued to powerwash the antenna and the base. At the end of July, we will remove the rust on the base and prime/paint the base and antenna. We anticipate conducting initial experiments in August!
- 17 July 2016: The SpectraCyber Hydrogen Receiver arrived! We are going to install it mid-August. We anticipate testing it in September.
- 02 August 2016: We have acquired a former NASA/US Air Force Mobile Observatory and will spend the next 4 weeks refurbishing it. The mobile observatory will serve as base of operations for the 10-meter radio telescope and the 2017 Wow! Signal Experiment! Below is the before and after photos!
02 October 2016: We have finally completed refurbishing the dome. This week we are installing the spectrometer and feed-on on the 10-meter radio telescope and we will begin experimenting in just a few weeks. Thanks to everyone who helped with this project!
06 October 2016: FYI Hurricane Matthew is upon our doorsteps. We are going to have to wait a few more days until we begin with the final equipment installation.
10 October 2016: We have installed the feed horn and LNA on top of the radio antenna and also installed the spectra-cyber software on the laptops.The dome also needs a few last minute touch ups with primer. We anticipate the first phase of testing in two weeks.
