[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: (meteorobs) Recording/receiving equipment
On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Trond Erik Hillestad wrote:
> On Sun, 15 Sep, Wesley Stone <wstone@lclarkdot edu> wrote:
> >> Just curious to know what the die-hard meteor observers use [..]
> >> 1. Tape recorders [...]
> >> 2. WWV receiver [...]
>
> Do you really need all this technical stuff?
>
> Now I use a simple roll of paper that I write blindly on. I've never
> been more satisfied - oh, well, during meteor observations, at least.
>
This equipment isn't needed for meteor counts. However, I have used tape
in the past and really liked it. Also, it seems that time of appearance
of each meteor is becoming an almost required quantity for ALPO and NAMN
reporting.
However, tape recording voice and WWV data has the potential to reduce
dead time to zero while still allowing the recording of required
information such as limiting magnitude counts (and time of appearance for
each meteor). In addition, I plan to take up plotting during minor shower
periods, for which the IMO requires precise timing. The tape recorder
will allow me to concentrate on making an accurate plot.
I did record counts manually during the recent Perseid shower, but found
that I sometimes scrambled numbers during blind writing. I took to
recording meteors in groups of five, and reduced my dead time to a couple
of seconds per meteor, but felt a lot more comfortable with the tape
recorder. Also, it doesn't happen very often, but for the 1994 Perseids I
am certainly glad I had a tape recorder as I would have been hopelessly
lost in finding blank paper to record 179 Perseids and 12 other meteors
during my last hour of observing!
--
Wes Stone <wstone@lclarkdot edu> Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
SKYTOUR Amateur Astronomy Hypertext:
http://www.lclarkdot edu/~wstone/skytour/skytour.html
Follow-Ups:
References: