I read recently that a BPL trial is starting in my state. The trial is not
near my QTH, but it made me think I should document my current noise
environment before BPL moves into my community. What is a practical way to
get the documentation? I have a few ideas that require programming a
computer. I will present them hear in the hope that someone will develop the
software.
My first thought was to scan through all the HF bands with a camcorder set
to look at my transceiver. This way the audio and frequency would be
documented. By periodically tuning to WWV, the exact time and date would
also be documented. The biggest problem with this is the time required to
manually scan the radio. If the process could be automated, data could be
collected during all hours of the day, and my time at the radio can be spent
making QSO's.
Since my transceiver (Elecrftat K2) is computer controllable, the computer
could be used to slowly scan through the bands. The video would still be
used for the documentation. This level of automation would be easy to
implement.
Since I already have audio routed from the transceiver to the computer sound
card, why not let the computer record the data? This would be very helpful
to me since I do not have a camcorder of my own. Documenting audio is easy.
The only problem is selecting a compression algorithm that gets the audio to
a manageable size without losing needed information. Documenting the
frequency is a bigger problem. A file format that records both the audio and
frequency is needed.
It would also be nice if the program followed a strict schedule for the
scans. I can envision posts to newsgroups like "I captured a digital pulse
at 0335 on 3.146 MHz. Did anyone else catch this?"
A program that can both tune the radio and record the data would make
unattended data collection easy. With an easy way to take the data many hams
from across the country would likely make the measurements.
I do not think I have the programming skills to get a program like this
implemented in a timely manner. Perhaps someone else can take up the
project. It also maybe possible put together a system to do this with
existing software. I would like to hear ideas on how to do this.
Jeff Burns
AD9T
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