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Of the forty radio astronomy enthusiasts attending last summer's Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers conference at NRAO Green Bank, nearly half were SETI League members. We are pleased by the close cooperation between the two organizations. Start planning now to attend the 20th Anniversary SARA Conference, July 15 - 18, 2001 at NRAO Green Bank WV. More SARA pictures appear here. SETI League photo

30 December 2000

Microwave receiver guru Bill Lakatosh, who produces incredibly low-noise preamps for NRAO, gives away some of the tricks of the trade at the annual Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers conference last summer. More SARA pictures appear here. SETI League photo

23 December 2000

Regional Coordinator Tom Crowley observed Cygnus A at 1420 MHz, from the 40 foot drift-scan radio telescope at NRAO Green Bank, during the annual Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers conference last summer. During that meeting, Tom was elected President of SARA. More SARA pictures appear here. SETI League photo

16 December 2000

SETI, being highly interdisciplinary nature, allows us to speculate on the prevalence of intelligent life. Might trilobites, for example, have evolved consciousness and intelligence, had they not been destroyed in one of Earth's periodic mass extinctions? It appears that not only has this one discovered mathematics, he has derived the Drake Equation, and is contemplating the number of other intelligent species in the shale. SETI League photo

9 December 2000

The typical computer takes tens of hours to fully analyze a single SETI@home data block. Occasionally, wideband terrestrial interference obliterates any useful information. When that happens, the SETI@home clinet determines that no further analysis of that data block is possible, quickly terminates analysis of that particular file, and requests another one for analysis. SETI@home gave up on this file after just five minutes of attempted analysis. What we are seeing here is most likely receiver overload from a strong local signal. Follow this link for more interesting SETI@home signals. N6TX image

2 December 2000

Enthusiastic Brazilian physics student Carlos Eduardo, attending last month's International Astronautical Congress in Rio de Janeiro, met informally with SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch. "Cadu" is a SETI@home participant, and loves astronomy, saying it will be his future profession. Dr. Shuch's travels enable him to meet and motivate the next genaration of SETIzens. Cadu photo

25 November 2000

Australian member Leon Darcy (right) discusses microwave receiver design with executive director H. Paul Shuch, during the latter's visit Down Under two years ago. In addition to his technical contributions to our own Project Argus, Darcy has designed the photon counter for Project QUANTA, an Australian amateur Optical SETI effort. VK4AYW photo

18 November 2000

SETI League members were among the more than fifty friends of Big Ear who gathered in Ohio last weekend to help dedicate this Historical Marker memorializing the late, great radio telescope. Photos of the dedication ceremony appear here. SETI League photo

11 November 2000

Member Gerry Cavan is receiving interference from air traffic control radar at 1339.4 MHz, even off the back of his 10 foot diameter dish at Argus station EN92UX. The pulsed signals are quite loud, and extremely broadband, but are unlikely to be mistaken for intelligent signals of extra-terrestrial origin. Follow this link for other interesting SETI League detections. VE3EYR image

4 November 2000

Project Argus participant Gerry Cavan is successful in receiving terrestrial signals bounced off the moon at 1296 MHz, with his 10-foot dish. This SETIFox screen, recorded last week, shows several stations being received simultaneously. Follow this link for more EME signals, and other interesting SETI League detections. N6TX image

28 October 2000

Prof. Claudio Brasil, SETI League regional coordinator for Brazil, arranged for executive director H. Paul Shuch to make a public SETI presentation at the Planetario do Rio de Janeiro, during Paul's recent trip to Rio for the International Astronautical Federation meeting. Additional news from Rio may be found here. SETI League photo

21 October 2000

In July, Software Committee member RJ Fear unveiled Release 1.2 of the Radio Astronomy Observatory Operating System (RAOOS) at the annual Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers meeting in Green Bank, WV. A dozen copies of the CD-ROM were given away at the SARA meeting to eager SETIzens. The Windows-based suite of programs is being used to control many of our Project Argus radio telescopes. Additional SARA conference photos are available here. SETI League photo

14 October 2000

Executive Director H. Paul Shuch air-commutes from Argus Station FN11LH to the SETI League's New Jersey office every week or two (see Photo of the Week for 3 October 1998). Recognizing that the most dangerous part of flying is the drive to the airport, he tempts fate by riding there on his trophy-winning 1989 Honda PC-800 Pacific Coast motorcycle. N6TX photo

7 October 2000

The seven dishes of the SETI Institute's Rapid Prototype Array provide a test bed for new technology to be used in their ambitious Paul Allen Array (formerly called the One Hectare Telescope). Technology sharing is allowing SETI League engineers to apply some of these concepts in the development of our own (somewhat more modest) Array2k design. More RPA photos are available here. SETI League photo

30 September 2000

Attendees at the Sixth International Bioastronomy Conference last year saw an impressive collection of optical and radio telescopes, at 4200 meters of altitude atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano. SETI League photo

23 September 2000

According to planet-hunter Geoff Marcy (seen here at last year's Bioastronomy '99 conference discussing the three-planet system orbiting Upsilon Andromedae), we now have evidence to suggest that perhaps four percent of all main-sequence stars have Jupiter-class planetary companions, and that as many as 95% of sunlike stars could be home to terrestrial planets. SETI League photo

16 September 2000

Nicolaas Heijblok, our volunteer Regional Coordinator for the Netherlands, built this beautiful dish as part of a hydrogen line meridian transit radio telescope. Nicolaas is a dentist by profession. His steady hand and precision craftsmanship are evident in the construction of his dish. DJ0BI photo

9 September 2000

The SETI League's newest member is the hon. Robert C. Byrd, United States Senator from West Virginia. He was honored at last week's dedication of the 100-meter diameter Green Bank Telescope (now known as the Robert Byrd Telescope), the world's largest fully steerable dish. More GBT dedication photos may be seen here. SETI League photo

2 September 2000

Laurance R. Doyle of the SETI Institute reports on the first search for terrestrial planets around eclipsing binaries, at the 6th International Bioastronomy Conference in Hawaii, just one year ago. SETI League photo

26 August 2000

The 100-meter diameter Green Bank Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in West Virginia, the world's largest fully steerable dish, is being dedicated on 25 August 2000, at 1300 hours EDT. Details on the upcoming ceremony (to which SETI League members are cordially invited) may be found here. SETI League image

19 August 2000

Both twenty-foot dishes (see last week's photo of the Week) form the new interferometer at the Bungonia Deep Space Research Centre in Australia. ETRC photo

12 August 2000

This is one of the two twenty-foot dishes which member Leon Darcy has set up at the Bungonia Deep Space Research Centre in Australia. ETRC photo

5 August 2000

Grote Reber (left), formerly Amateur Radio operator W9GFZ, is generally recognized as the father of the radio telescope (see this song.) He remains active in astrophysics from his home in Tasmania, Australia, more than sixty years after producing the first radio map of the Milky Way Galaxy. Grote is seen here with his neighbor Jim Davis, VK7NOW, in this December 1999 photo. VK7NOW photo

29 July 2000

As design work continues on our Array2k radio telescope project (see last week's featured photo), it is possible to add a bit more detail to our artist's conception. This new sketch by SETI League intern Aurore Simonnet provides a perspective view of the planned dish placement. See more of Aurore's work on her personal website. A. Simonnet image

22 July 2000

This wooded acerage in Warren County, NJ is future home toThe SETI League's planned Array2k radio telescope. Our experimental phased array will share the land with an ostrich farm. "This is compatible land use," points out SETI League president Richard Factor, "because ostriches emit no electromagnetic interference." The twin metaphor is not lost on us: ostriches represent the heads-in-the-sand attitude of those politicians who saw fit to terminate the NASA SETI program, whereas SETI League members have our heads planted firmly in the stars. SETI League photo

15 July 2000

At this year's Dayton Hamvention, executive director H. Paul Shuch met with NASA's Dr. Thomas A. Clark, W3IWI, to discuss Tom's ongoing progress in developing GPS-based time and frequency standards for Project Argus stations. The recent elimination by the US Department of Defense of Selective Availability on GPS signals has significantly improved their timing accuracy. N1RL photo

8 July 2000

Many SETI League members have been involved in the radio amateur satellite program over the years. In this archival photo from exactly 24 years ago (1 July 1976), H. Paul Shuch helps to dedicate the OSCAR 1 exhibit in the Hall of Satellites at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. Paul, now SETI League executive director, served over the years as member, technical volunteer, Director, Technical Director, and Chairman of the Board of Project OSCAR, Inc. More such historcial photos may be found on his personal website. N6TX photo

1 July 2000

Software Committee chairman Dan Fox spent several months trying to figure out these occasional bursts of broadband interference. They are especially perplexing because they tend to rise and fall in amplitude in a manner consistent with an extraterrestrial source. In fact, Dan is now convinced he's seeing an intermittent gain variation in his Icom 7100 receiver, due to thermal instability. Such equipment malfunctions masquerading as signals underscore the importance of independent confirmation of all SETI candidates. KF9ET image

24 June 2000

Project Argus participant Mario Bertoa (our Regional Coordinator for Argentina) lives in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the world's southernmost city. His drift-scan coverage of the southern sky encompasses some of the most interesting astronomical objects, including the very nearest stars, both Magellanic Clouds, and the stars of Southern Cross. Click on the image fragment at right to see a star map of his station's sky coverage. Follow this link for more photos of Mario's station. LU5XPJ image

17 June 2000

Mike (K5CDA) and Flo (KC5PPL) Adams put their Argus station on the air in March, 2000, after several years of effort. Mike writes: "We have yet to detect ET. However, as Tommy Lee Jones said in the movie Men In Black, 'Five hundred years ago everyone knew the world was flat.' Personally, we believe that God did not plant this cosmos with the intention of leaving us alone." K5CDA photo

10 June 2000

Eleven SETI League supporters gathered for the third annual SETI Breakfast at last month's Dayton Hamvention. Plans are already underway to continue this tradition at the 2001 Hamvention. SETI League photo

3 June 2000

At the Dayton Hamvention and ARRL National Convention on 20 May 2000, executive director H. Paul Shuch accepted the Technical Excellence Award on behalf of The SETI League's nearly 1200 members in 59 countries. Read Dr. SETI's acceptance speech here. SETI League photo

27 May 2000

At last month's I-Con science fiction convention at the State University of New York, Stonybrook campus, executive director H. Paul Shuch shared the podium with James E. Gunn, author of the 1972 novel The Listeners. Shuch considers it to be one of the best works of SETI fiction ever published. Gunn and Shuch were both honored at the I-Con awards banquet. Muriel Hykes photo

20 May 2000

Bernie Wright, G4HWJ, is among a group of UK SETI League members attempting to restore one of the Cambridge University 18 meter dishes at Lord's Bridge, for possible SETI use. Seen here is his feedhorn modification to incorporate a concentric 1420 MHz dipole within the original 408 MHz feed, as well as the addition of circular polarization at the lower frequency. SETI League photo

13 May 2000

Our executive director, in his Dr. SETI ® persona, is introduced to last month's I-Con science fiction convention by notorious radio personality Dr. Demento. Paul was I-Con 2000's Filk Guest of Honor. Muriel Hykes photo

6 May 2000

SETI League president Richard Factor models his new chapeau (actually, the Gregorian feed assembly of the world's largest radio telescope). Factor visited the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico during last month's Project Phoenix observing run. Over half of the 1,000 nearby sun-like stars in the SETI Institute's candidate list have now been surveyed by this, the most sensitive targeted search to date. WA2IKL photo

29 April 2000

Seventeen SETI League members, two journalists and two guests attended The SETI League's Sixth Annual Meeting on 26 March, 2000. Follow this link for more Annual Meeting photos. Muriel Hykes photo

22 April 2000

Member Gerry Cavan reports that even though the commercial venture has gone bankrupt, interfering signals from the 66 Iridium communications satellites at 1622 MHz are still easily received on his 10 foot diameter dish at Argus station EN92UX. The Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites produce very rapid Doppler shift, as seen here. Current plans are to de-orbit these satellites (burn them up in the Earth's atmosphere) over a two to three year period. VE3EYR image

15 April 2000

Eight SETI League supporters (one of whom, the spouse of Regional Coordinator Allen Tough, hid behind the camera) met in Toronto four weeks ago, to chart the future of Canadian SETI League activities. Any member wishing to assist in setting up such Regional Meetings in his or her locale is encouraged to contact the nearest volunteer Regional Coordinator. SETI League photo

8 April 2000

Optical SETI pioneer Dr. Stuart Kingsley was presented with the Giordano Bruno Memorial Award, The SETI League's highest honor, at last week's Annual Meeting. Details may be found in this Press Release. COSETI photo

1 April 2000

The first of Leon Darcy's two twenty-foot dishes (see the last two photos of the Week) is seen here at its new home, the Bungonia Deep Space Research Centre, reassmebled and ready to go back on the air. One down (or rather, up), one to go. Gregg Gibbons photo

25 March 2000

Dr. Ragbir Bhathal helps to rejoin the halves of one of Leon Darcy's two twenty-foot diameter dishes (see last week's photo of the Week) before it is hauled onto its mount. The project was completed in late January, in the heat of the Australian summer. ETRC photo

18 March 2000

How do you transport two twenty foot diameter parabolic reflectors hundreds of miles over narrow roads? Member Leon Darcy, assisted by SETI enthusiasts Gregg Gibbons and Alex Hamill (seen here), cut them in half and stacked the pieces on a trailer. The Australian threesome next had to figure out how to put the dishes back together! ETRC photo

11 March 2000

SETI League member and space artist Lynette Cook has created many beautiful illustrations with SETI themes, and has graciously allowed The SETI League to use some of them in our educational presentations. In 1992 The SETI Institute commissioned her to do this illustration of the radio telescope at Goldstone, California, for the launch of NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey (sadly, terminated just one year later). This painting is part of the SETI Institute's permanent collection. You are invited to see more of these images on Lynette's personal website. image © 1992 Lynette Cook

4 March 2000

Dr. SETI ® enjoys his largest audience to date, at his Tech-à-Tete lecture last month as part of Techfest 2000 at the India Institute of Technology, Bombay. He looks forward to introducing more audiences worldwide to the work of The SETI League, and welcomes additional bookings. SETI League photo

26 February 2000

Prof. Govind Swarup, the father of Indian radio astronomy, addressed quEsT, the SETI workshop at Techfest 2000 in Bombay last month. Afterward, Dr. Swarup met with SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch to critique design details of the Array2k SETI antenna. This current initiative is based in part on an array Swarup designed with Prof. Ron Bracewell at Stanford University forty years ago. It is documented by them in "The Stanford Microwave Spectroheliograph Antenna: A Microsteradian Pencil Beam Interferometer," IRE Trans Ant Prop vol AP-9 pp 22-30, January 1961. SETI League photo

19 February 2000

Executive Director H. Paul Shuch met in Sri Lanka two weeks ago with Advisory Committee member Sir Arthur C. Clarke, to discuss the design of our Array2k SETI antenna. Though well known as a novelist, Clarke has an impressive engineering background, and is considered the father of communications satellites (as celebrated in song). SETI League photo

12 February 2000

When SETI League Hawaii coordinator and Project Argus pioneer Dr. Rachel Tortolini moved from Oahu to the Big Island nearly two years ago, her ten-meter dish was disassembled, crated, and shipped. Here it sits, awaiting reassembly. Rachel is very much in need of volunteer labor to get her Project Argus station back on the air. Interested parties are invited to email her their offers of assistance. SETI League photo

5 February 2000

Executive Director H. Paul Shuch was the guest speaker at the Central Arizona DX Association's annual Awards Banquet two weeks ago. This week he is in India, addressing TechFest 2000. Follow this link to learn how to schedule 'Dr. SETI' for your next event. CADXA photo

29 January 2000

Since the earliest days of the Project Argus search, our members have been discussing technologies required to combine multiple small dishes into a meaningful SETI array. SETI League member and noted space artist Jon Lomberg has contributed this artist's conception of Array2k, the next-generation radio telescope now in preliminary design phase at SETI League headquarters. Jon Lomberg image

22 January 2000

Last summer our Executive Director hosted Jodrell Bank's Prof. Ian Morison and his son David, when they came to the States for the SARA conference at Green Bank WV. Here they pose in front of Paul's Project Argus dish, admittedly somewhat smaller than Ian's own dish (depicted in the image of the Week for 26 June 1999). SETI League photo

15 January 2000

Christian Monstein, SETI League Regional Coordinator for Switzerland, caught the solar flare of 17 November 1999 on the Ricken-Sued ten meter radio telescope, at 210 MHz. Click here to see other interesting signals received by our members. HB9SCT image

8 January 2000

SETI@home's 1.5 million users continue to see occasional anomalies such as this one, observed by our Executive Director last week. Members sometimes call or email The SETI League, requesting that we check out such signals (most of which turn out to be terrestrial interference). Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do from here to analyze these detections, since all verification is performed by the SETI@home team at Berkeley CA. Be sure to uploaded your analysis files to them, and rest assured that they will indeed follow-up on all interesting candidate signals, and inform you if yours is The One. Follow this link for more interesting SETI@home signals. N6TX image

1 January 2000

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