The Jodrell Plank Observatory

The Yagi aerial fixed to the Jodrell Plank Observatory

Apologies to my regular readers for the paucity of posts on this blog over the last week or so.

I have been beavering away in the Cabine constructing the LVST or Lowestoft Very Small radio Telescope.

After days of feverish activity involving; copper pipes, assorted lengths of timber, screws and washers of various sizes, cables, cable connectors, cable ties, saws, screw drivers, creosote and a brush; and with the Yagi aerial fixed to my small shed, I was almost ready to go.

For two days I awaited the delivery of technological heart of the beast; 'The FunCube Dongle Pro+'.

Software defined radio is a hobby in itself although not as rewarding as proper radio according to my pal Jon.

Tension mounted and then got off again!
And finally the great day arrived.

The FunCube Dongle dropped through my letterbox courtesy of Howard at Halincrest and our Royal Mail postman, I could hardly restrain my excitement (clearly I don't get out enough).

I built the LVST to monitor and track meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. The way it works is quite interesting.  There is a powerful radar installation, the GRAVES transmitter near Dijon in France that generates an unmodulated signal at 143.05 MHz.  From Lowestoft, Dijon is below the horizon  and consequently the signal cannot be received directly.  When friction with the upper atmosphere heats a meteroid it ionises particles and creates a plasma that acts as a mirror to the signal from GRAVES. As long as the LVST is tuned appropriately,the reflected signal is then receiveable at Jodrell Plank.

So much for the theory.  Would it actually work?

Well after a lot of fiddling about with a BNC aerial connector from Maplins (most difficult bit of the whole DIY project - no instructions for fitting one to the RG58 coax cable Mr M!). It worked, I netted my first meteors and duly managed a couple of screen captures to prove it!

I like this nice big spike on the 3d graph

Apparently I can do all sorts of nerdy stuff with the recorded data but first I need to save up for a second hand computer that I can leave turned on to monitor the heavens 24/7. So still some more work and expletives to deliver before Jodrell Plank becomes self aware and goes fully operational.

For more information regarding the LVST at the Jodrell Plank Observatory -  follow the link to my new website:

http://missbissuk.wix.com/lvst

Credits: Freeware Spectrum Lab, FCD+Frequency Control Programme  and SDRSharp. Paul Hyde coordinator of the BAA's radio astronomy group, Howard at Halincrest Ltd and the Sky at Night Magazine.

Selene full on

The full moon riding the clouds and skimming the hedge at the bottom of our garden

If you live at a higher latitude than the 'Tropic of Cancer' or lower than the 'Tropic of Capricorn', have you noticed that in summer, when during the day the Sun rides high in the sky, the moon by night hugs the horizon? In winter there is a reversal of fortunes and by day it is the sun that hangs low in the sky whilst by night the moon sails high and serene above.

For the last two nights the moon as viewed from our backyard has hugged the tree tops. It has also looked significantly redder than usual.  The light from our sun reflected by the surface of the moon has had to travel through more of our atmosphere ( a low moon implies the light rays pass more obliquely through the thin layer of air that surrounds our planet). Light in the blue wavelengths is scattered and extinguished more effectively by the earth's atmosphere than red light and as a consequence the moon when low in the sky looks redder than usual. It is also the reason why the sky appears blue.

Peeking

Selene lost in the foliage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Cancer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Capricorn

Mutton rides again

Mutton the profoundly deaf sheep has been clipping her hooves around the cobbled streets of Prague.  Mutton wants all Europe to know she is proud to be a European Sheep! She may have been born on the salt water marshes of Kent but wishes to live out her life as a member of the E-ewe. 

Mutton has a very low opinion of ewe-kippers, xenophobes, fascists and mint sauce.



The sheep and her entourage were very impressed with the wonderful city of Prague.  The city is very beautiful and its citizens are warm and friendly.

It is a little known fact, (does not appear in the Wikipedia listing), that the Romney Marsh breed of sheep are particularly fond of  architecture in the Art Nouveau style.  In fact Mutton was almost inconsolable at the recent loss, through fire, of the library at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art. 

Prague boasts many fine Art Nouveau buildings, interior designs, sculptures, stained glass, ceramic tiles, ceramic faced bricks and ironmongery.

In particular,Villa Bilek, a house designed  in 1911 by the Czech sculptor and architect, Frantisek Bilek, is a real Art Nouveau gem in the 'Egyptian Style'.  The building, which served as home and studio to the artist and his wife, contains original furniture and works by Frantisek.  The villa is in the Prague Castle area where there is much to see and do, so it is both easy to visit and easy to overlook.

Villa Bilek

Prague by day or night is a vibrant city with much to see and visit.  In the four days we were there it was impossible to sample all that was available.

Some of the things we did and thoroughly enjoyed were:

a short cruise on the river Vltava

a ride on the Petrin Funicular

Bilek's Studio

laughing our way around the Petrin Mirror Maze

looking through the telescopes at the Stefanik 

Observatory

watching the astronomical clock striking the hour

eating the best vegetarian lunch at the 'Clear Head' restaurant (no lamb cutlets here!)

looking at 'bloke stuff' in the Technical Museum

The works of Frantisek Bilek

looking at old masters in the National Gallery at the Sternberg Palace

 strolling in the sunshine along the Golden Lane

enjoying the high Gothic architecture of St Vitus Cathedral

loving the Romanesque architecture of St George's
Basilica

visiting the Old Jewish Cemetary and Museum 

climbing the Petrin Observation Tower

strolling across the Charles Bridge

trying but failing to find Tycho Brahe's tomb

drinking lots of excellent beer

eating great 'mash' at 'Cestr' restaurant

enjoying a leisurely and excellent breakfast at the very comfortable Jurys Inn
 
 For more information follow the links:

http://www.praguewelcome.cz/en/

http://www.lehkahlava.cz/en_jidelni.htm

http://cestr.ambi.cz/cz/

The Stefanik Observatory Prague

Have just returned from a brilliant holiday in Prague.

We enjoyed visiting the Stefanik Observatory which is open to the public for viewing the Sun during the day and the moon and planets at night.

Toot, Jude, Jon and I were lucky to observe the Sun in both white light and hydrogen alpha light.

It was a great thrill to see a mighty prominence soaring above the solar limb through the eyepiece.

We also visited the western dome and looked through the 370mm Maksutov Cassegrain telescope. Really dwarfed my 90mm mak!
I suffered a bad case of telescope envy!

Main Dome

Western Dome

For more Stefanik Observatory information follow the link :
http://www.observatory.cz/english.html

Framlingham Castle

When the sun shines on Suffolk its a great place to be and in particular a visit to Framlingham Castle is well worth the journey.

From the beginning of April to the end of September the Castle is open to visitors - 10.00am. to 6.00pm.  Access to the castle is free to members of English Heritage otherwise there is a charge.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/framlingham-castle/

Every so often there is an organised and themed event at Framlingham Castle. On our last visit English Heritage staged displays by 'Men at Arms'.

Our grandchildren really enjoyed the knights in armour bashing each other with a variety of swords, pikes and daggers.  As our Felix rightly pointed out. "Papa, that knight just knifed him up the straps".

When we visit the Castle we have lunch at the Castle Inn.  Nothing fancy, but excellent value for money, great beer and tasty home cooked food provided by friendly staff and landlord. Children are made welcome and being right next to the Castle car park, there is no long walk when they are tired and hungry after running around the the castle grounds. 

http://www.castleinnframlingham.co.uk/