Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) 2005 Conference

Jeffrey Lichtman, founder of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA), sends notice about the program and arrangements for the 2005 SARA Conference. The meeting will be held 19-22 June at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Green Bank, West Virginia. Attendees at the 2003 conference are shown in Fig. 1.

The SARA conference will feature tours of the NRAO radio telescopes, a flea market and presentations on a wide variety of topics. There will even be opportunities to use a 40-foot radio telescope.

Amateur radio astronomers take their craft seriously, as can be seen by this list of presentations scheduled for the 2005 SARA meeting:

40-Foot Radio Telescope Familiarization Workshop by Tom Crowley and Karen Jensen.

SpectraCyber 1.4 GHz Spectrometer Operation and Familiarization on the 40 Foot Radio Telescope by Carl Lyster.

A Remote Observatory by Chuck Forster.

A Software Asynchronous Complex Correlator by Paul L. Oxley.

Status of the Dual Frequency Radio Telescope and Future Plans by Jim Brown.

North Central Indiana Regional Observatory by Randy Fear.

Pulsar Research Results by Jim Van Prooyen.

Pulsar Extractor Radio Telescope by Carl Lyster.

PARI Update by Charles Osborne and Don Cline.

Radio Telescope Project by William S. Robotham, Jr.

Genesis Mobile Observatory by Dr. Mike Rudolph.

1420 Observations using the SpectraCyber by Eric Sauder.

1.42GHz helical antenna design & measured characteristics by Alfred Aburto Jr.

TPR1004 Total Power Radiometer by Kerry Smith.

IBT - Itty Bitty Telescope by Dr. Mike Rudolph.

Radio astronomy is a fascinating pursuit. An ideal way to become immersed in the field is to attend the 2005 SARA conference. Jeffrey Lichtman (Fig. 2) advises that registrations for the SARA meeting be submitted promptly. Registration details are here.

Forrest M. Mims III