ASSA Radio Astronomy Group

Computers

Currently using a Pentium 4 processor 641 on an ASUS P5PL2-E motherboard with 2Gb of DDR2 SDRAM. Onboard data storage capacity is 2Tb, capable of holding about 6 months of raw data in .wav format. Additional data storage, processing power and memory capacity will be increased as required. The PC is mounted directly below the reflector in a 19" rack due to the 5 metre USB cable length limitation. Shielding techniques have been used extensively to minimise electromagnetic interference generated by the PC affecting reception.

The WinRadio Receiver software and WinRadio Advanced Digital Suite software require Micro$oft products be used (begrudgingly) for an operating system. Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 has been selected to allow use of several different software packages already developed and employed globally by weak signal amatuer radio enthusiasts/operators. Post processing of signal data can be carried out on notebooks and other PC's running Ubuntu Linux 10.04 O/S.