Leonids 2010 - kinda unique "snapshot"

[adrenalynn]

I'm still working on how to best visualize this data. There are a lot of dimensions (and insane amounts of data)...

A result here is a little confusing to me, so I think I'll resist speculating until I consider how I'm visualizing it.

For anyone interested: scanning pulsed L-Band, 30 deg wide, 15deg tall. Data is down-converted then sampled at 120Khz/24bit, then strip plotted to build a single frame. That's saved, then the next is built. I've included an annotated version.

Meteor is traveling right to left, the plot is mirrored.

This is still very experimental, and temperamental at best.

Annotation:

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

Just happened to whip up an L band radar to observe meteors while the brownies were cooling ?

Was this done just for fun or some customers project ? I take that this is the result of a narrow beamwidth antenna scanned over the 30x15 area ? Was it intended to be a meteor catcher or were you just lucky ?

 

[adrenalynn]

Well, sorta. If brownies take ~six months to cool... Definite personal project though. Longer term plan for it is using the smaller active unit to paint NEOs, and the big ears to listen to the reflection.

Longer term it plays a role in my budding personal space program. But it's going to need to gain a LOT more maturity before then.

Yes, electrically scanning those dimensions, gathering the returns for each pulse, downsampling, feeding to the high end audio card, writing the raw data, visualizing the raw data, and strip-charting with FFTs in real time (CUDA-based).

I'm certainly not above reinventing the wheel with yard-sale junk and garage spare-parts. I always have at least half a dozen total mad scientist projects going on that leave friends just shaking their heads.

I did rush this first prototype to completion specifically for the shower. I'll learn from the little bit of data I gathered on this one to come back stronger and better for the Geminids in December. 300+ GB of data in just a few hours. It's amazing what we can do with our little puters these days, ya know?

 

[3488]

Well done adrenalynn,

I can see what you have done there. Great first attempt, it was successful. Regarding NEO's, are you going to just 'ping' them are are you going to get surface texture data or even images??

Great project you have there.

Andrew.

 

[adrenalynn]

Thanks!

Oh heavens no. I have no where near the budget or location to try to image them. It'll be a raving success if I can get distance, speed, direction of travel from the larger/nearer ones.

Still fun though.

 

[Testing]

Well it should not surprize to hear you are just having fun!

 

[adrenalynn]

No fun for me at the moment. Transmitting at 10Ghz and then downconverting is right out for tonight. Rain fade into nada.

 

[Testing]

No fun for me at the moment. Transmitting at 10Ghz and then downconverting is right out for tonight. Rain fade into nada.

Wait a moment. Brain disc access slowdown. Is this part of the search you told me about a couple years back? By the way, I miss our correspondence.

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

If you care feel free to post some details or a link to them. I'm curious (given my missile & radar background) as to what've you've implemented. Some years ago I started to conjure up a cheap collision warning radar for (night) boating. Then I got smarter and remembered the kind of litigious country we live in and dropped it. Still I find the idea of a home brewed radar [Spock_voice] interesting [/Spock_voice]. :lol: