Andrew Thomas is a Trustee of the UK Radio Astronomy Association and a member of the BAA.
I found that my long standing interest in astronomy was re-energised when I discovered amateur radio astronomy. This was due to a chance encounter at a business conference with a self declared ‘amateur radio astronomer’. Prior to that I had no idea that such things were possible. I enjoy building the instruments needed for making observations and encourage others to have a go. I currently observe Very Low Frequency (VLF) signals and ionospheric disturbances and occasionally meteors. My current project is to add a magnetometer to my observatory and observe the impact on the Earth’s magnetic field of solar wind and coronal mass ejections.
UKRAA is the UK Radio Astronomy Association, a charitable body which historically developed from the British Astronomical Association Radio Astronomy Group. UKRAA promotes the science of radio astronomy and all branches of radio astronomical research by designing, manufacturing, and selling radio astronomy equipment for amateur astronomers.

Date

Talk at GAS meeting

5 Nov 2020

A Zoom talk: Radio Astronomy for Amateurs It often surprises amateur astronomers that it is possible to observe at radio wavelengths without needing a huge Jodrell Bank sized dish. This talk will describe some of the observations which can be undertaken by amateur observers, the equipment needed and how to get started. Projects can start with solar observations which can be made indoors with simple equipment and can progress to more complex outdoor antennas. Radio astronomy is not limited by light pollution and weather and can be an interesting sideline to optical observations.