The Seti @ Home Project
Ok I admit that this has absolutely nothing to do with satellites, analogue or otherwise. However, it is a fun, fascinating and I think worthwhile experiment. (Seti = Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The technical information below has mainly come from the Seti at Home web site.
What is Seti at Home then ?
Seti at Home is a scientific experiment
that harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet connected computers in the
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free
program that downloads and analyzes small packets of radio telescope data.
The SETI@home program is a special kind of screensaver. Like
other screensavers it starts up when you leave your computer unattended, and it shuts down
as soon as you return to work. What it does in the interim is unique. While you are
getting coffee, or having lunch or sleeping, your computer will be helping the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence by analyzing data specially captured by the world's largest
radio telescope at Aricebo.
What do I need to participate in Seti at Home?
For Windows systems (95/98/NT) you'll need a computer with at least 32 MB of RAM, the ability to display 8-bit graphics in 800x600 resolution, 10 MB of disk space, and an Internet connection (dialup is OK). For Mac systems you'll need the above, as well as a PowerPC processor and Mac OS 7.5.5 or later. You can use SETI@home on a laptop that is connected sporadically. They also support many versions of Unix, including Linux on various CPUs. There are no CPU speed or modem speed requirements. It doesn't matter where in the world you live.
Do I need to know anything about science, or SETI to take part ?
No. All you need to do is download the client programme and start crunching work units.
How long will it take to download the screensaver programme ?
About 5 minutes with a 28.8k modem connection. (The programme is about 800k).
Under the terms of the conditions of taking part in Seti at Home, I cannot host the client programme on this site. This is because the client has been hacked in the past, and the hacked version has then been distributed. This led to vast amounts of spurious data flooding the Seti@Home data servers. You can download the client from the link below. The file you are looking for is "setiathome_win_3_08" if you are running Win 95 or Win 98. I believe this one also runs under later versions of Windows, but I have no direct information about this. If you are running some other operating system, you will have to have a look on the downloads page for the correct client for your machine.
Please note, if the Berkeley servers are busy, it can take a while to connect. Things noticably slow down when the USA starts coming on line. Once you have downloaded the programme, run the exe file, which will set the client programme up on your computer. You need to set up an identity (email address) for the client, but its all pretty obvious what you have to do. The client resets your screensaver to seti at home, and you get lots of pretty graphics to look at. If you want to rack up as many work units as possible, then you don't want to be displaying the pictures. The calculations for them costs cpu time, and a workunit will take roughly twice as long if you display the graphics. (I run a simple screen saver instead which displays pictures of Australia - Dont run OpenGL screensavers, they are also very cpu intensive).
Groups
Once you are participating, you can join a group which gives a bit of friendly rivalry between participants.
Newsgroups
There are two main Seti at Home newsgroups:
alt.sci.seti
sci.astro.seti
Alt.sci.seti is the busiest, and most of the important information is cross posted to both groups anyway.
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The web site will not work properly if you dont.