Weak Interstellar Messages Pass us bY
a.k.a. Wussy Interception of Megahertz from Planets Yonder
Suggestions for an amateur, grasping-at-straws, cheap Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
The "waterhole" (between 1420 Mhz and 1721 Mhz) is a radio window theorized to attract water-based intelligent E.T. life-forms to possibly transmit a radio beacon. Researchers listen to frequencies near the natural Hydrogen (H) and Hydroxyl (OH) for radio emissions "near" 1420 through 1721 Mhz (they cannot easily listen effectively at exactly the frequencies of H and OH because H and OH make too much noise). Unfortunately, their research has become a time consuming/expensive task because they have to search millions of nearby frequencies (although this work is worthwhile and necessary). Some respected theorists have suggested that we listen to "harmonic" frequencies (i.e. the original frequency 1420 Mhz multiplied by some number, like 2 or 1/2) of H and OH. Some researchers have written that there is too much local interference from transmitters here on Earth to listen to the lower frequencies. Because the interference is intermittent, it seems that this might be an opportunity for amateurs.
One could use use free and easy to use software to analyze incoming signals at various frequencies and rely on their ears and eyes to dicriminate local voice transmissions and most local machine transmissions while listening for a chirp/whistle tone that gives a series of beeps. The beeps will hopefully have the progression:
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31 etc.,
which are prime numbers divisible by only 1 and themselves (this progression, it is presumed, could only be created by an intelligent life form, not result from other natural processes, and would be understood universally) and will sound like:
beep, beep-beep, beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep-beep etc.
or it might sound like the beeping of simple arithmetical sums, or most improbably, voice modulation. If they send any other type of message (which is highly possible) an amateur probably won't be able to discern its E.T. nature.
As a further barrier to communication there is much interference from local Earth transmissions. Hopefully the E.T. civilization or transmitter are very nearby. The probablility that a civilization would purposefully transmit a beacon directly at Earth with more energy than humans have ever transmitted into space seems unlikely, but if nobody listens, we won't know whether or not another civilization is making incredibly heroic attempts at communications.
W.I.M.P.Y. is formerly a listening project by the author of this page, however, I've stopped working on it because of insufficient equipment (W.I.M.P.Y was too wimpy!). I now listen intermittently to the frequencies. There are plenty of candidates, but I don't have the resources to do it properly.
Thanks for visiting! Jason H. at SETILink