20120724-19
The Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) 2 system still has not achieved 100% operation. It is being hosted on a newer computer that also hosts a weather station and operates under Windows 7.

The receiver and radioshack-digital-multimeter-data-logger are in the next room over, helped by a small hole in the wall to pass a 5m USB active repeater cable. We have noticed however, that between the strange behaviour of the data graph at times, that once in a while there are correlations between it and local electrical events, like compact fluorescent bulbs being turned on. That and the active RF environment in a modern house.

We are listening to a station in Cutler, Maine, USA at 24.0 khz and should be seeing daytime/nighttime ionosopheric changes. Cutler is approx 900 km almost due east of us.
today

So after many months of moving the antenna around, changing its orientation, changing out light bulbs, moving other equipment away, we have decided to move it right out of the house.

The plan is to set up a new small footprint low power desktop computer running windows 7 and put it outside in a shed, as far away from the house as possible. Along with the computer will go the receiver and antenna, both mounted inside the wooden shed. The computer and received and multimeter will be further protected from any elements getting into the shed with a small sheltered shelf or box.

We will need to run 120VAC out there in the form of an extension cord and will probably add a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to help out with the probably voltage drop of the long electrical cord run. We will also need a network connection. So far it looks like there is not a real chance to bring wired network cable out there so wireless will have to do. So far an 802.11N usb dongle looks like the best bet. Only $20. 802.11N has an approximate indoor range of 70m and an outdoor range of 250m, so it should work fine.

The last time we tried wireless internet was years ago when 802.11G was the newest protocol that we could use (indoor 38m, outdoor 140m) and it actually did not work that well. The actual outdoor range was approx 30-40m.

Extension Cord – UPS – Computer – usb extension cable – serial-usb adapter – multimeter data logger – receiver – antenna

Updated: purchased a Dlink DWA-130 N300 USB wireless adapter for $25. will set it up later today and test it out.