(meteorobs) The best Meteor detector on Earth

Mon Sep 17 23:20:30 EDT 2012

Hello James

My idea is to make a Pulse-Doppler RADAR, not a beacon. Each site will be
the source of DATA, not Forward Scatter receivers. As you know, with pulse
modulation, the average power is very low, on the order of a few watts, even
with a pulse of 1000 watts or more. Again my concern is that there may be
restrictions on the 6 meter band for Pulse-Doppler RADAR.

From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of James Beauchamp
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 12:14 PM
To: cheekygeek at gmail.com; Meteor science and meteor observing
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) The best Meteor detector on Earth

The new system is rumored to be X band, pulsed, with integrated array /
auto-track, so it will not be meteor useable. We are lucky to have Kickapoo
for meteor scatter as it is.

This doesn't mean that something could be worked at the research level with
NASA, Sandia, or other academic organization to support a dedicated meteor
emitter.

The problem will be the cost of equipment, maintenance, and facilities.  A
location, equipment, power budget, and maintenance staff would be required.

On the amateur radio side, a stable, CW emitter with periodic ID (modulated
on the carrier) would be well within the rules.  The challenge is the
required power.  You'll need lots of it to compensate for the wide pattern
required for decent sky coverage.  1 KW PEP won't suffice.

And it also has to be extremely frequency stable - something the average 6
meter amateur system doesn't normally have.

--- On Sun, 9/16/12, Jay Salsburg <jsalsburg at bellsouth.net> wrote:

From: Jay Salsburg <jsalsburg at bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) The best Meteor detector on Earth
To: cheekygeek at gmail.com, "'Meteor science and meteor observing'"
<meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Date: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 10:57 PM

Thank you 

My message did not express any suggestion that NAVSPASUR has no benefits to
National Security because that Faction is the operator. Since I now know
that NAVSPASUR is being decommissioned and replaced with a higher frequency
system, my efforts to take advantage of NAVSPASUR will be transferred to the
new system, which I suspect will operate at 432 MHz hopefully at the same
location as the Kickapoo Site. But that means waiting for something to
happen, which sucks. If anyone knows of helpful web links to help decide a
course of action please forward them.

My message to create a Proposal was a plea for action to this (meteorobs)
group.

From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of CheekyGeek
Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2012 8:20 AM
To: Meteor science and meteor observing
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) The best Meteor detector on Earth

It might be worth considering, in this age of budget cuts, whether your
laudable goals might have unintended consequences. You might put a system
that is on no "bean counter's" radar under scrutiny for shutdown,
particularly if you make your case that there is no ancillary National
Security benefits from the project.

You may be thinking of how NOAA freely shares much of its weather data as
the model for your NAVASPASUR data sharing plan. But weather has the general
public's interests and direct benefit on its side. Only a small fraction of
us care about meteor data.

Perhaps an intermediate step might be to try to get the government to share
the data with university research departments. It should be easier to get
university faculty members, department chairs, Deans, etc. to sign a
petition for such a data sharing initiative (or start with a "pilot
program". Nothing involving government/politics happens overnight ( except
violent overthrow). To achieve your goal I would recommend plotting out the
necessary " baby steps".

On Sunday, September 16, 2012, Jay Salsburg wrote:

Hello

My name is Jay Salsburg. I have been monitoring the NAVASPASUR SPACE RADAR
transmitter in Kickapoo Texas for many years. I am beginning to wonder why;
Why am I doing this? I get no benefits other than the unique direct
experience of hearing and seeing Doppler events caused by Objects moving in
Low Earth Orbit over North Texas, Southern Oklahoma, and Eastern New Mexico.

The point is that the US Government operates the best Meteor Detection
Network on the Planet but does not share the Data.

I CALL FOR ACTION: for the US Government to share the live DATA Stream and
any Archives of DATA of the NAVSPASUR Receiver array, in the name of
Science.

I imagine the best approach is to Draft a Proposal authored by the Meteor
Observation Community to be presented to Congress. Expecting opposition from
certain unfriendly US Government elements in the name of "National
Security," those who may oppose are actually not in charge of this
Instrumentality and its DATA. Protected by Congressional Acts, Congress is
in charge of this system and National Security is not the issue, Money is
the issue as it is always the issue.

Please provide comments, ideas, and suggestions.

Jay

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