johnb

Hi I’m trying star trails and have followed a few tutorials but am getting really confused over settings I’m using a Cannon450d with an external intervalometer If set the Camera to Manual and the Shutter speed to 20 sec and then manually start the camera takes a 20 sec shot as expected So if I then set the camera to Bulb set the intervalometer Long- 20 Secs and the interval to 1 sec it simply seems to take a shot that’s 21 Seconds is Long +the interval Any pointers appreciated Kind regards John B

Hi How did you find out the thread size ? Kind Regards John

Hi I have an Skywatcher EQ6 Pro mount and tripod and need some spares for the tripod, specifically I need the long threaded screw that goes through the accessory tray and up through the tripod head which screws into the mount – my current long screw is bent and the two plastic knobs that are attached to the long threaded screw are broken, can anyone point me to a replacement (oh and maybe the correct names of the part) Kind Regards John B

Hi I would be interesting in hearing from anyone who has used the beacon with success, particularly if they are using Spectrum Lab Kind Regards John B

The Radio Astronomy Section, which is part of the British Astronomical Association (BAA) and supported by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and The Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society are pleased to announce that the UK Radio Astronomy Meteor Beacon - GB3MBA is now up and running. Beacon Status and Frequency can be found here - https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/Bstatus The next phase of the project will be looking at creating a standard receiver with custom software, however anyone who is interested can now use the Beacon to detect Meteors via Radio. If you want any more information please use the Contact Us form on the site - https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/ContactAdd or email us at Contact@ukmeteorbeacon.org Kind regards John B

Hi I’m currently leading on Science Objectives for the UK Beacon project and need your help. If you are not aware of the project the attached flyer gives some background The following lists potential scientific objectives for the UK Beacon. (these are Short-, Medium- and Long-Term Objectives) Accurate meteor counts to assist in identifying new meteor streams and detecting outbursts in current ones.(Show meteor rates of showers over subsequent years, Show meteor peaks of known showers hour by hour etc) Cross correlation of radio traces with BRAMs and Graves beacons. Comparing time, frequency, intensity, doppler shift, duration Cross correlation of radio traces with UKMON video camera observations Compute trajectories of meteoroids using data from multiple receiving stations determination of meteor stream orbits and potentially narrowing down the landing locations for meteorites Study the impact of high-altitude winds on the plasma trails D and E layer studies of the ionosphere HF/VHF emissions from meteors Studies of head echoes Fresnel diffraction patterns in trail, under and overdense events, matching radio to video events, Estimation of the mass index of a meteor shower Calculate meteor fluxes Insights into meteoroid fragmentation processes Each objective needs to be realistic and achievable and if possible, backed up by calculations and/or estimates to demonstrate feasibility of the objective and what data will be required This exercise feeds into the receiver side of the project so we do need to start looking at them. If anyone is interested in collaboration and or leading on a particular objective please do get in touch, if you have any suggestions for more objectives please let me know Kind Regards John Berman UK Beacon Flyer.pdf

I get the error you mention - "ValueError: time data 'x x.000' does not match format '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f'" How did you solve it ? Regards John B

so Gav, contributions are indeed welcome, have you read https://radiometeordetection.org/radioproject - PM me and I will send more info Kind Regards John B

Hi so we are attempting to match Video \ Radio events and its not quite as simple as you would think, to aid us we are mapping the radio sky using known ISS passes (and correcting for location and altitude) If you look at this map https://radiometeordetection.org/radiomap you will see we are making progress, when we have more data we will then look for video events in our area of interest and see if we have any corresponding radio events for more info do have a look here: https://radiometeordetection.org/radioproject Kind Regards John B

Hi I have compressed 3 hours worth into a short clip Kind Regards John B

Hi Some of you may be aware of the Radio Meteor Detection collaboration Project which is a group of contributors who submit their monthly log files after which do a number of things with the data see here for more info: https://radiometeordetection.org/about Our latest exciting project is to see if we can successfully match Radio and Video events to aid our understanding of meteor phenomena, so we are now starting to Map Radio Meteor Altitudes for GRAVES. The attached PDF gives a full description of this project The project brief and maps can be found here: https://radiometeordetection.org If you want any more information or feel you can help in any way, please do get in touch Kind Regards John Berman Mapping Radar Meteor Altitudes for GRAVES.pdf

Gav how is it going, are you making progress ? Regards John B

Hi I should know but need direction to an IOS app for the forum - i did try TapaTalk but failed - pointers appreciated Regards John B

interesting - do you run a 24x7 setup ? John

Hi im sure its just settings etc, there is no reason why you should not get get GRAVES all the time its transmitting, I collaborate with others and some are on the south coast like yourself and they have no issues John B

check my file as i set the Log_Threshold - the minimum duration of a meteor event that will be logged (in seconds) to quite a high number as im interested in longer events

Hi Gav Sorry for the slow response - seem like things are progressing I have attached the script im using which is from this thread I have made some changes but its east to follow - and there is an option to record sounds which works quite well Have a listed to this Sporadic E induced event that I managed to record If i can help in any way to get in touch John jberman.USR

Its so rewarding once it al comes together, im no expert but happy to help if you need it, spent a lot of time perfecting my own setup - nut when it works John

Hi A compilation of some of the longer radio events from the Perseid Peak Regards John B Perseids_Clips.mp4

@SteveNickolls It would be good to compare - maybe you would be interested in contributing to the Radio Meteor Detection Collaboration Project There are quite a few of us doing this PM me if interested John

So for the Perseids I will be Livestreaming from 18:00 UTC 12 August through to 18:00 UTC on the 13 August - Live stream will be found here on You Tube I tend to stream most days but will always stream over Meteor Peaks We managed to capture an event at 18:10 UTC on 29 May 2020 which coincided with the extensive Sporadic-E at that time the video is on the Channel Regards John Berman

Arietids are nearly upon us, they run from May 22 to July 2 and peaks on the 7th June, with my Forward Scatter setup I will be live streaming from 18:00 UTC 06 June through to 18:00 UTC on the 7 June - Live stream will be found here on YouTube You will see when I am Live Streaming, if you subscribe you will also be emailed when ever Live Streaming Starts Any questions please ask away Regards John B

Hi I managed to record the event (Video with Sound) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzJc6yRHdEU Regards John B

So more success after tweaking the offset and display buttons I now have capture I can see, so can I enhance the captures in anyway ideally can I zoom in Suggestions appreciated Regards John B

So thinking a little more I need to tweak the offset and display buttons a little more to move it further down the screen as the captures are right at the top of the screen. Maybe then I can reduce the SP to zoom in on the captures. John B