@proceedings {1057, title = {The DASI2 HamSCI Whistler Catcher VLF Reception System}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, abstract = {

The Whistler Catcher VLF Reception System is a very low frequency software defined radio (VLF SDR) system. It utilizes an open hardware, open software, and open data design and philosophy to facilitate and promote citizen science in the study of VLF phenomena; including the Earth{\textquoteright}s natural radio emissions, VLF amateur radio transmissions in the 8270 Hz and 5710 Hz bands, and lightning stroke location. The system consists of both hardware and software. The hardware consists of VLF Active Antenna along with a VLF interface box to supply power and interface the signal; a GNSS interface box to provide a pulse per second (PPS) signal for the purposes of frequency calibration and timestamping; a Behringer UMC202HD USB audio interface for data acquisition, and a thin client PC with serial port. The designs of the VLF Active Antenna, VLF Interface Box, and GNSS Interface Box are all open hardware. The software includes vlfrx-tools, an open source software toolkit primarily for the application of VLF signal capturing, calibration, timestamping, filtering, storage, live listening, retrieval, visualization, EbNaut amateur mode decoding, and other signal processing functions in over 30 individual program utilities. It was written by Paul Nicholson G8LMD [SK], a passionate VLF enthusiast to whom the Whistler Catcher VLF Reception System is dedicated.

}, author = {Jonathan Rizzo and Nathaniel Frissell} } @proceedings {1061, title = {Development of a Contesting and DXing Dashboard for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, abstract = {

This project aims to develop a dashboard display specifically for amateur radio HF contesting, DXing, and general operations using data from the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station as well as potentially adding other local and remote real time data. The HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station is a multi-instrument system designed to measure space weather for both scientific research and amateur radio operations. The core of the PSWS is the RX-888/KA9Q-radio WSPRDaemon-Grape High Frequency (HF) software-defined radio (SDR), capable of capturing and analyzing signals across the 0.3-30 MHz range. While most PSWS development efforts thus far have focused on strictly scientific objectives, this project will aim to make the data available and useful in real time for Ham Radio Operators. The dashboard has a goal of enhancing real-time HF propagation assessments for amateur radio operators. By decoding WSPR, FT8, and FT4 spots and integrating with external space weather observations, this dashboard will provide propagation insights on an individual station basis through both an interactive map view and a regional band-opening table. A working prototype of the dashboard is currently operational, demonstrating real-time spot visualization. The dashboard will also contribute to a larger understanding of both localized and global HF conditions. This should allow amateur radio operators to optimize their transmissions based on real-time ionospheric conditions, which can help improve contesting efficiency and DXing success. This project will involve the HamSCI Community, the Frankford Radio Club, and W3USR. This project aims to advance amateur radio capabilities and strengthen science contributions to space weather research.

}, author = {Owen Ruzanski and Liam Miller and Nathaniel Frissell and Ray Sokola and Bud Trench} } @proceedings {1033, title = {Development of a low-cost magnetometer system for a coordinated space weather monitoring}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, abstract = {In addition to auroral observations, magnetic field measurements are one of the traditional ground-based methods for observing space weather phenomena. For this purpose, magnetic sensors, known as magnetometers, are widely used in space research. Ground-based magnetometers provide critical information on how solar activity impacts the Earth{\textquoteright}s magnetosphere and the ionosphere. In particular, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) due to temporal changes in the magnetic field (dB/dt), are a major concern in space weather studies. As part of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project, a low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf magnetometer has been developed to provide quantitative and qualitative measurements of the geospace environment from the ground for both scientific and operational purposes at a cost that will allow for crowd-sourced data contributions. The PSWS magnetometers employ a magneto-inductive sensor technology to record three-axis magnetic field variations with a field resolution of approximately 3 nT at a sampling rate of 1 Hz. Data from the PSWS network will combine these magnetometer measurements with high frequency (HF, 3{\textendash}30 MHz) radio observations to monitor large-scale current systems and ionospheric disturbances due to drivers from both space and the atmosphere. Once established, a densely spaced magnetometer array will demonstrate space weather monitoring capabilities over an unprecedented spatial extent. Magnetic field data collected by PSWS magnetometers installed at various locations across the United States are presented and compared with data from nearby existing magnetometers, demonstrating that the PSWS instruments provide performance that is well suited for scientific investigations.}, author = {Hyomin Kim and Nathaniel Frissell and Rachel Frissell and David Witten and Daniel Clancy} } @proceedings {971, title = {Development of a Contesting and DXing Dashboard for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station}, year = {2025}, month = {03/2025}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newark, NJ}, abstract = {

This project aims to develop a dashboard display specifically for amateur radio HF contesting, DXing, and general operations using data from the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station as well as potentially adding other local and remote real time data. The HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station is a multi-instrument system designed to measure space weather for both scientific research and amateur radio operations. The core of the PSWS is the RX-888/KA9Q-radio WSPRDaemon-Grape High Frequency (HF) software-defined radio (SDR), capable of capturing and analyzing signals across the 0.3-30 MHz range. While most PSWS development efforts thus far have focused on strictly scientific objectives, this project will aim to make the data available and useful in real time for Ham Radio Operators. The dashboard has a goal of enhancing real-time HF propagation assessments for amateur radio operators. By decoding WSPR spots and integrating with external space weather observations, this dashboard will provide propagation insights on an individual station basis. The dashboard will also contribute to a larger understanding of both localized and global HF conditions. This should allow amateur radio operators to optimize their transmissions based on real-time ionospheric conditions, which can help improve contesting efficiency and DXing success. This project will involve the HamSCI Community, the Frankford Radio Club, and W3USR. This project aims to advance amateur radio capabilities and strengthen science contributions to space weather research.

}, author = {Owen Ruzanski and Nathaniel Frissell and Ray Sokola and Bud Trench} } @proceedings {865, title = {Development of Back-End Software for the Grape 2}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

This poster showcases several software tools developed to support the development and operation of the main Grape 2 system. G2console is a terminal-based interface that communicates with the data collection system, providing users with valuable information such as software versions, amplitude, frequency, GPS, and magnetometer metrics for viewing and diagnostics. GrapeSpectrogram is a data processing script that generates Dopplergrams, aiding developers in validating the system{\textquoteright}s operation. Additionally, we will discuss future project developments, such as integration with the Linux GPS background service (gpsd) to provide accurate timing to the Raspberry Pi, and DigitalRF as a more efficient method of data storage.

}, author = {Cuong Nguyen and William Blackwell and John Gibbons and Nathaniel Frissell} }