[SEDXC] FW: [QRP-L] That HAARP - LWA moon bounce thing

[Robert Carroll]

-----Original Message-----
From: qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of na5n at zianet.com
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2008 10:05 PM
To: QRP-L
Cc: nmqrp at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [QRP-L] That HAARP - LWA moon bounce thing

Gang,
For those of you participating in the HAARP moon bounce experiment, or plan 
to tonight ... thanks.  You are participating in "History in the making." 

There has been no significant scientific investigations into our ionosphere 
since the 1960s ... not since most commercial communications moved to the 
higher frequencies.  Sure, we know the effects the sun has on our ionosphere

and propagation, but it does not explain all of the phenomenon.  For 
example, last week many of you reported great DX in spite of no sunspots.  
Why?  We simply don't know, because so little in known about our ionosphere.


Radio astronomy was an accidental discovery in the 1930s by Carl Jansky, a 
telephone engineer trying to determine the source of noise on HF circuits.  
This was done at 22 MHz.  Since then, radio telescopes operate at L-band 
(1-2 GHz for the hydrogen spectral line) to 40 GHz, and the millimeter radio

telescopes above that.  There has been very little investigations at 
frequencies below 1 GHz. 

The Long Wavelength Array (LWA) is being designed and built by the 
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and the Naval Research Lab (NRL) for

frequencies from about 5-88 MHz. The prototype array has been built at the 
Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico (where I work), giving 
them some assistance. 

The LWA will be built primarily for low frequency radio astronomy, such as 
plasma physics of our sun and galactic center.  However, the 2nd major 
science goal of LWA is to model our ionosphere, something that simply has 
not been done from a physics point of view.  One of the projects of LWA will

be to (hopefully) make 3D real time maps of our ionosphere, where the D, E 
and F layers are, their heights, and as a hopeful predictor of HF 
propagation. 

This will be done by HAARP regularly bouncing signals off the moon, which 
will illuminate the ionosphere.  This weekends test, plus some unadvertised 
tests in the past few months, is the first stages in testing the early 
stages of the LWA prototype array at the VLA, and the science in general. 

So far, results have been very encouraging. 

The point is ... this is the first time in our lifetimes that a major 
scientific instrument is being built to study our ionosphere.  When the LWA 
is completed and science begins, there will no doubt be significant changes 
to our understanding of the ionosphere.  There will probably even be a 
website somewhere where we, as hams, can see real time images of where the 
D, E, and F layers are, critical frequencies, etc.  Though a few years away,

this could well change how hams can predict HF propagation and use the 
bands. 

Our involvement (the ham radio community) into this is very important!!!
There are only a few instruments able to "listen" to the HAARP signals 
bouncing back from the moon.  This weekend's experiment is also to see what 
kind of response they get from the ham community.  If sufficient with some 
good quality reports, we as hams may become very involved in this new 
science in the years to come.  I can tell you first hand, the people 
involved in this project are very aware of the large pool of hams out there,

which could be put to use at this program develops. 

So if you monitor the HAARP/LWA tests yesterday or tonight, please report 
them.  Even if unsuccessful.  What is important here, in addition to the 
reports, is for HAARP/LWA to hear from us hams.  We need to let them know we

are out here and eager to help.  After all, we will likely be the largest 
body of users in a few years of their product.  Who else is using HF on an 
hourly and daily basis besides hams, the military, and a few others. 

I will try to get permission to get the plots of this test as recorded by 
the LWA at the VLA and post them on my work website.  They really are neat, 
as some of you have heard yourself. 

More on this later 

72, Paul NA5N 

PS - The timing on your reports is important.  HAARP is manipulating thier 
beam, bouncing off different areas of the moon, such that different parts of

the sky above our heads are being illuminated.  So if you don't hear the 
signals, keep listening, and they will eventually be illuminating the space 
above your head. 


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