Wow@Home – Network of Amateur Radio Telescopes

Summary

This page presents a test of our first Wow@Home Radio Telescope hardware and software configuration (Figure 1). The system is tested for a network of small radio telescopes designed to emulate, as closely as possible, the observation protocol of the meridian radio telescope Big Ear used by the Ohio SETI project in the 1970s. As in the original setup, we use a 10 kHz channel width and a 12-second integration time. However, our system differs in several ways: it features 256 channels instead of 50, a much larger beam size, but significantly lower sensitivity.The telescope is fixed at a constant elevation, pointed south, and scans a specific celestial declination over the course of one or more days using a wide field of view of approximately 25° (HPBW or its beamwidth). As the Earth rotates, this configuration allows the telescope to capture a continuous 360° strip of the sky at that declination. After completing three or more full-sky passes, the telescope is adjusted to a new elevation to begin scanning a different declination, gradually building up full-sky coverage over time.While optimized for educational use, this configuration also yields valuable data on RFI near the H I line in urban environments, helping us assess the likelihood of RFI mimicking a Wow!-like signal. Additionally, it serves as a practical platform for a wide-field search for strong transient events, whether of astrophysical origin or potential technosignatures.For events that persist longer than a day, multiple observing passes can be used to validate their presence, detect weaker features, improve overall sensitivity, and help distinguish them from RFI. Additionally, simultaneous observations by two or more telescopes pointed at the same location can further aid in rejecting local interference and confirming the reality of signals that last less than 24 hours.The Wow@Home Radio Telescope operates autonomously, 24/7, as a meridian-style instrument, conducting a continuous all-sky survey for tra...