2009005.05

200903.05

New page: VolksMeter CSP Averages

Here are two PSN stations run by Amateur Radio operators providing excellent seismic information and pictures:

John Cole's (W5AUH) Public Seismic Network Station - Pearland, Texas, USA
http://pages.prodigy.net/fxc/JC.html

Frank Cooper's (W5VID) Public Seismic Network Station - Friendswood, Texas, USA
http://pages.prodigy.net/fxc/

Updated page location for Alan L. Jones, where the following programs reside:

Seismic/Eruption: A program for the visualization of seismicity and volcanic activity in space and time.

Seismic Waves: A program for the visualization of wave propagation

AmaSeis: A program to obtain seismographs from the AS-1 Amateur Seismometer

Eqlocate: An interactive program to locate earthquakes using P-wave arrivals

200902.18

The weather has, at least for the moment, turned to Winter, giving me a little free time and I am working on how to reduce entry cost of adding an Amateur Radio Public Seismic Network to one's station.

Getting Started:

The least expensive entry for the Amateur Radio Operator is FREE, providing one has a VHF/UHF radio or scanner that covers: 162.000-174.000, 216.000-220.000, and 406.100-420.000 Mhz.

Seismic data transmissions can be identified by the listener by their continuous tone. Ground movement modulates the signal which changes the tone. As the spring loaded mass moves in one direction the tone increases pitch, movement in the other direction decreases the pitch of the tone. The analog data produced can be displayed on the rotating drum seismographs that we see on the 11 o'clock news after an earthquake. During an "event", this analog data is digitized at a rate of 100 samples per second and saved in the data processing center for analysis.

VHF and UHF frequencies used to transmit the data are usually found in the US Government frequency allocations. Occasionally you may find telemetry on frequencies licensed to universities. Transmitter output power is typically less than 1 watt. Many sites provide reliable data with only 100 milliwatts of output power. The signal is transmitted by horizontally polarized beam antennas and may be relayed several times before it reaches a processing site. Emissions are narrow band FM.

Routine monitoring of the voice channels of the USGS does not produce a "hot bed" of excitement. Voice traffic is normally between technicians testing equipment or making transmitter adjustments. Some traffic concerns the daily checks which are performed on all data channels to insure signal integrity. However, following a significant earthquake, traffic can be heard concerning epicenter location, evidence of surface ruptures, placement of sensors, microwave path alignment, and communication between scientist and engineers in the field.

http://www.seismicnet.com/info/telemtry.txt

There are California Telemetry Frequencies listed on the above page and when I have spare time, I will post some sample audio of the USGS frequency tone.

I Can Hear A Tone, What's Next?

If a "continous tone" is discovered, and one has a PC, there is a free demo program, "Demo Version of Program is Now Available- Runs on Windows 95 through XP. Install it and start monitoring nearby seismic telemetry stations today."

GeoTool Seismic (PC) Telemetry
Monitor Computer Program

Monitor Analog Telemetry Stations with Scanner
Rick - WA6JKH

Not just another seismograph program! It is a complete demodulator for monitoring tone modulated seismic telemetry stations! Using your scanner radio and the 16-bit sound card on your computer, GeoSeis is capable of 15 to 16 bit resolution with a good signal and quality receiver.

This exciting new computer program uses any good quality scanner radio to demodulate standard and non-standard telemetry frequencies. The sound card in your computer converts the telemetry tone to digital information. The program runs under Windows 98, and is anticipated to provide 12 to 16 bit data from the telemetry signal. We are truly excited about the breakthrough sound card programming technology provided by Silicon Pixels. The program not only yields excellent accuracy, but also true Digital Signal Processing noise reduction for those weak signals.

'GSP-Seis' is a new Seismic Telemetry Aquisition System for monitoring USGS seismic telemetry stations using audio from almost any scanner radio and antenna system. The program uses your computer's Sound Card as a 16-bit Analog-to-Digital converter. State of the art Digital Signal Processing (DSP) programming uses the processing power of your computer to pull weak signals out of the noise and provide usable data. Separates single tones from multi-tone systems such as those being used by the University of Washington at Mt. St. Helens. (Note that you must have a telemetry station within range of your monitoring point for the system to work. See below for information on how to find the location of seismic telemetry transmitters.)

Telemetry Transmitter Frequencies - http://www.geotool.com/TelmFreq.txt
Source: - http://www.geotool.com/geoseis.htm

I Have A Mac, Is There Anything For Me?

SeisMac 2.0
SeisMac 2.0 screenshot
http://www.suitable.com/images/seismac2Screen.jpg

SeisMac is a Mac OS X application that turns your MacBook or MacBook Pro into a seismograph. It access your laptop's Sudden Motion Sensor in order to display real-time, three-axis acceleration graphs. Version 2.0's enhancements make SeisMac an even more valuable tool for classroom demonstrations of seismic concepts and techniques.

The resizable, real-time scrolling display shows an enormous amount of acceleration information. Place your laptop on a table and see the seismic waves from tapping your toe on the floor. Lay your laptop on your chest and see your heartbeat. And of course, if there is a real earthquake, SeisMac will be displaying full seismic information while you drop, cover and hold-on.

Version 2.0 of SeisMac includes many new features:

When running on the MacBook or MacBook Pro, SeisMac has a range of plus or minus two gravities of acceleration, displaying 256 values per gravity, sampled up to five hundred times per second for each axis. SeisMac is also compatible with older Sudden Motion Sensor-equipped iBooks and PowerBooks.

For better accuracy, you can use SeisMaCalibrate to calibrate your laptop's Sudden Motion Sensors.

SeisMac is based on SMSLib, my open-source Sudden Motion Sensor access library.

SeisMac is freeware. You can download version 2.0 here (Mac OS X 10.4 or later). You can also view SeisMac's help files here.

If you'd like to be notified about future versions of SeisMac, sign up for our mailing list here.

SeisMac 2.0 was created with support from the National Science Foundation through the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology - Daniel Griscom

Source: http://www.suitable.com/tools/seismac.html

New pages:

VolksMeter FFT-CSP Display - Magnitude 7.2 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA

http://flyingsnail.com/AmateurRadio/Indonesia7-2-fft-csp.html

2009 January [Cobb [Mountain], CA - Animation - VolksMeter - Audio - January 28-31st, 2009]

2009 February [Cobb [Mountain], CA - Animation - VolksMeter]

2009 February [Redwood City, CA - PSN - Animation - VolksMeter]

2009 February [Macon, GA - SLAB - Animation - VolksMeter - February 1-14th, 2009]

2009 February [Macon, GA - PIER - Animation - VolksMeter]

2009 February [Comparison - Cobb, Macon Slab & Pier, Redwood City - Animation - VolksMeter]

VolksMeter FFT-CSP

A New Look at an Old Tool:
the Cumulative Spectral Power of Fast-Fourier Transform Analysis
Sheng-Chiang Lee and Randall D. Peters
Physics Department, Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207

http://www.flyingsnail.com/AmateurRadio/VolksMeter-FFT-CSP.html

VolksMeter and L15B SDR Settings [L15B images soon]

http://www.flyingsnail.com/AmateurRadio/VM-SDR.html

VolksMeter SDR Seisdata

http://www.flyingsnail.com/AmateurRadio/seisdata.html

A full, consecutive, progress log is available for viewing here: Progress Log: Complete

Seismic Shed: Re-Construction

Noise page

ARPSN-1 Alerts are intended to begin at >= 5.0 magnitude in our (as of now, undefined) local area and the VolksMeter will cover teleseismic and LFE (low-frequency earthquake) events.