Telescopes at Lichfield Radio Observatory

Updated 27/7/2025.

The main telescopes at Lichfield Radio Observatory are listed below:

LRO-CASA1 – Dell OptiPlex 3050 USFF (Win 11) (LRO-PC-14)
LRO-CASA2 – Dell OptiPlex 3050 USFF (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-17) – GUI
LRO-CASA2 – Dell OptiPlex 3050 USFF (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-17) – SSH
LRO-H1 – Ptarmigan Array H-Line 1420MHz (LRO-LAP-03)
LRO-H2 – Solar Cooker H-Line 1420MHz Radio Telescope (LRO-PC-08)
LRO-H3 – Alex Pettit Disc Yagi H-Line 1420MHz (LRO-PC-05)
LRO-H4 – ezRA H-Line 1420MHz Data Processing(LRO-PC-02)
LRO-INT1 – RSPDuo Interferometer–HP Prodesk 600 G3 mini (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-18) – GUI
LRO-INT1 – RSPDuo Interferometer–HP Prodesk 600 G3 mini (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-18) – SSH
LRO-INT2 – RSPDuo Interferometer–HP Prodesk 600 G3 mini (Win 11) (LRO-PC-16)
LRO-MAG1 – Magnetometer monitoring Earth’s magnetic field in Lichfield(LRO-PC-01)
LRO-MET1 – Meteor radio scatter experiment using UKRAA receiver at 143.049MHz (log cabin)(LRO-PC-04)
LRO-MU1 – Linux Ubuntu Grafana Dashboard Cosmic Watch Muon Detectors – LRO-M93p (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-09) – GUI
LRO-MU1 – Linux Ubuntu Grafana Dashboard Cosmic Watch Muon Detectors – LRO-M93p (Ubuntu) (LRO-PC-09) – SSH
LRO-MU2 – Cosmic Watch Muon Detectors MIT Software (Windows) (House)(LRO-PC-06)
LRO-MU3 – PicoMuon Pi (Raspberry Pi) – GUI
LRO-MU3 – PicoMuon Pi (Raspberry Pi) – SSH
LRO-SID1 – UKRAA Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) detector, monitoring solar flares, at 23.4 KHz (house)(LRO-PC-07)
LRO-SID2 – UKRAA Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) detector, monitoring solar flares, at 23.4 KHz (log cabin)(LRO-PC-03)
LRO-SID3 – SuperSID Windows 10 (Lenovo ThinkCentre M900) (LRO-PC-19)
LRO-SID4 – SuperSID Windows 11 (Lenovo ThinkCentre M900) (LRO-PC-12)

Other telescopes:

LRO-INP1 – INSPIRE Receiver for monitoring lightning in area of several hundred km around Lichfield – currently not in use.
LRO-JOV1 – Radio Jove – currently not in use.
LRO-JOV2 – Radio Jove – currently not in use.
LRO-SOL1 – Solar observation and photography using Daystar Quark Hydrogen Filter.
LRO-SOL2 – Solar observation and photography using Daystar Quark Calcium Filter.
LRO-SOL3 – Solar observation and photography using Daystar Quark Sodium Filter.
LRO-SOL4 – Solar observation and photography using Daystar Quark Magnesium Filter.
LRO-SOL5 – Solar observation and photography using Sol’Ex Spectrohelioscope mounted on Sky Watcher 72mm ED Pro telescope.
LRO-DSO1 – Deep sky astrophotography setup, with Sky Watcher Espirit 100mm OTA, Sky Watcher AZ-EQ6 mount, Atik 16200M mono camera.
LRO-DSO2 – Deep sky mobile astrophotography setup, with ZWO Seestar S50 automatic telescope.
LRO-DOB1 – Orion Optics 10″ Dobsonian Telescope.
LRO-DOB2 – 8″ David Lukehurst Dobsonian Telescope.

Currently unallocated computers:

Dell D10u (LRO-PC-15)
Dell Latitude 3400 Laptop (LRO-LAP-04)
HP Prodesk 600 G3 mini (LRO-PC-13)
HP Prodesk 600 G4 mini (LRO-PC-10)
HP Prodesk G4 mini 40S (LRO-PC-11)

RADIO FREQUENCY FILTERS AT LICHFIELD RADIO OBSERVATORY:

SAWB = Nooelec SAWBird H1 filter and duel cascaded amplifier.
1418-22MCav = 1418-1422 MHz WT Microwave Cavity Filter.
1420-7MCav = 1420-1427 MHz WT Microwave Cavity Filter.

DATA NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR LRO HYDROGEN TELESCOPES:

Where filters are listed, these are serial from the aerial on left to radio on right (hence LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)_1418-22MCav+SAWB_ indicates that LRO-H1 used 2 serial filters for this data file, order being aerial –> 1418-1422 MHz WT Microwave Filter –> SAWBird H1 LNA –> Radio –> Computer).

LRO-H2(SCRT)1420-7MCav+SAWB_
LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)_
LRO-H2(SCRT)_
LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)1418-22MCav+SAWB_
LRO-H2(SCRT)1418-22MCav+SAWB_
LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)SAWB_
LRO-H2(SCRT)SAWB_
LRO-H2(SCRT)_SDR#IFAV_1418-22MCav+SAWB_50OhmCalib_
LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)_SDR#IFAV_1418-22MCav+SAWB_50OhmCalib_

For each data file, elevation and azimuth are added. For example, with an elevation of 33.6 degrees and azimuth pointing direction of 163 degrees, data files might be as follows:

LRO-H2(SCRT)_SDR#IFAV_1418-22MCav+SAWB_50OhmCalib_El_78-3_Az_163
LRO-H1(Ptarmigan)_SDR#IFAV_1418-22MCav+SAWB_50OhmCalib_El_33-6_Az_163