HB9TMC

During a solar coronal mass ejection, the ejecta generates radio emissions as it plunges through the suns chromosphere and corona. These emissions can be received on earth. There are different types of radio emissions, shown in the spectrogram examples on this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_radio_emission#/media/File:Solar_Radio_Bursts_Types_I,_II,_and_III.jpg

Early in the year, I observed a noise pattern in my kiwisdrs spectrogram that coincidentally happened at the same time as a solar flare with CME. I was sceptical, so I haven't thought further about this.

On June 9th 2021, I saw the same pattern again, at the same time of a CME associated to a C3.8 LDE flare, with officially confirmed type-II radio emission.

I was still sceptical if it was really what I was seeing on my kiwisdr.

Here is a spectrogram of the event. Note that I have set the spectrogram very sensitive (low dynamic range) for the purpose of showing background noise. So DSL and PLC noise from more than 50 meters away can be seen. Also I have some LC filters installed, to prevent receiver saturation from strong broadcast stations. WF-rate 1 Hz. Suspected radio emission is circled red:

Below 5 MHz no emission was recorded (on a separate kiwisdr with different filters). But the signal would be attenuated by the ionospheric D-layer anyway, so it can't reach earth surface.

Now, today there was a powerful X1.59 flare. And my kiwisdr shows again this pattern. This time also with a distinctive radio blackout, as expected from a X-class flare.

73

My neighbors blinking/dimming LED lights are leaving a beautiful background pattern in my LF spectrum


Happy holidays and thanks to everybody who was/is involved in kiwi related projects.

73
Stefan

cat /dev/urandom >/dev/null
once per CPU thread

cat /dev/urandom >/dev/null
once per CPU thread

Here's an image that you can expect from a seek reveal pro.
The problem with small components is the minimum focus distance. If you go closer, the image just blurs out.

Here's an image that you can expect from a seek reveal pro.
The problem with small components is the minimum focus distance. If you go closer, the image just blurs out.

Here's an image that you can expect from a seek reveal pro.
The problem with small components is the minimum focus distance. If you go closer, the image just blurs out.

@Powernumpty Deleting the corresponding folder in wsprdaemon/signal_levels/ did the job for me.

Since a few other people also tried this, I thought it might be worth an extra thread to share experiences.

For inexperienced users: Updating the kernel might brick your kiwi. Don't try it without a reason.
The how-to for updating the kernel is found here: https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#Kernel_Upgrade

Kernel versions I found to be working:
LTS49: 4.9.147-ti-r121

Kernel versions which might cause problems:
LTS44: 4.4.155-ti-r155 (high system load prevents GPS from acquiring satellites, lagging webinterface, seems to be missing firmware)
LTS414: 4.14.108-ti-r108 (doesn't boot)
LTS419: 4.19.50-ti-r20 (does boot, but doesn't work with kiwid)

Adding a plausibility check might be also a good idea. Moving 1000s of km in a second is an unlikely thing to happen.

I have device with a commercial GPS timing receiver. After powering it up it runs a discovery mode where it is determining the location. Once this is done, it is assumed that the position is stationary. Apparently this helps to get better timing precision.