ASSA Radio Astronomy Group

One of the most popular RA projects available to the amateur RA enthusiast is listening to the emissions of the Jovian planetary system in the high frequency (HF) Band. Reception equipment is often already available or inexpensive to buy in the form of shortwave radio receivers.

Recording equipment can be as simple as a tape recorder or a PC based sound recorder. There is plenty of free or inexpensive software available to carry out measurements and determine the characteristics of the received signals. By now you should have at least a soft copy of “Listening to Jupiter, 2nd Edition”. This book is an excellent resource for this activity and caters for beginners though to some advanced techniques.

The ASSA Library has a copy of the book available for members to borrow and read at their leisure. Please read the notes below on Solar Radio Noise as well.

Here are some interesting websites for more information:

• Nasa Radio Jove Project
• CSIRO Radio Observations of Jupiter
• Silicon Chip Magazine Radio Kit