3 ms·

Any radio / power transmission experts here to chime in on that 982.002 MHz frequency? I'm not wearing a tinfoil hat here, but started wondering about the theo

by pp19dd 6y ago

Any radio / power transmission experts here to chime in on that 982.002 MHz frequency? I'm not wearing a tinfoil hat here, but started wondering about the theoretical purpose of a monotonous 982.002 MHz signal. Best my both brain cells could come up with is either a - remote power transmission, or b - optimizing a signal to avoid absorption by water. The optimal frequency studies for power transmission I saw were all for biological applications, like pacemakers and they do come in at somewhere around 1 GHz. The optimal frequency seems to be dialed in to minimize energy losses absorbed by tissue, meaning in our case, water in cells? Remote spectroscopy must show Earth reeks of water. And water is the cheapest and most effective radiation shielding there is. Does any of that track for anyone who knows what they're talking about, because I sure don't?

mrtnmcc 6y ago
Being a precise base ten integer suggests it is human derived. 982.000 MHz is the second harmonic of 491.000 MHz, which is the center of Channel 17, UHF Television. It is probably the local oscillator of a broadcast TV tower. Harmonics can be easily generated by any nonlinear process, such as amplifiers or even a rusty contact.
- mrtnmcc 6y ago
  Or the aliens liked what we broadcast on CH17 a decade ago and are asking for more :)
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    Bring back Mork and Mindy.
- graderjs 6y ago
  491 is also interesting https://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/491.html https://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/491.html But maybe 982 has something to do with a frequency that can easily travel through that part of the interstellar medium without disturbance.
8bitsrule 6y ago
There are very few details (and no DOI). Is it a continuous-waveform (carrier-only) ? "The signal bears no trace of modulation." What is the 'signal' to noise ratio? (Was it dug out of the noise?) At what rate is the frequency 'very slightly' climbing? 'Coming from a star very close to our own?' For sure? or just from that general direction? At a 4 LY distance, given the loss in strength over that distance due to spread, the transmit power would have to be enormous. (Voyager 1 is about 10e-13 LY away, and our best scopes are needed to hear it.) If so, why invest so much energy in an un-modulated wave? On the very slim chance it's not local (harmonic bouncing off - or eminated by our space junk), some FRB's have been observed in that range, changing (much faster) in frequency. (Possibly more scarce physics.) The 'mysterious' lack of 'technology' details makes this sound like a PR 'result' for the BL project. (When Lorimer reported the first FRB, the details were there.)

by pp19dd 6y ago

mrtnmcc 6y ago

Being a precise base ten integer suggests it is human derived. 982.000 MHz is the second harmonic of 491.000 MHz, which is the center of Channel 17, UHF Television. It is probably the local oscillator of a broadcast TV tower. Harmonics can be easily generated by any nonlinear process, such as amplifiers or even a rusty contact.

mrtnmcc 6y ago
Or the aliens liked what we broadcast on CH17 a decade ago and are asking for more :)
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  Bring back Mork and Mindy.
graderjs 6y ago
491 is also interesting https://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/491.html https://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/491.html But maybe 982 has something to do with a frequency that can easily travel through that part of the interstellar medium without disturbance.

8bitsrule 6y ago

There are very few details (and no DOI). Is it a continuous-waveform (carrier-only) ? "The signal bears no trace of modulation." What is the 'signal' to noise ratio? (Was it dug out of the noise?) At what rate is the frequency 'very slightly' climbing? 'Coming from a star very close to our own?' For sure? or just from that general direction? At a 4 LY distance, given the loss in strength over that distance due to spread, the transmit power would have to be enormous. (Voyager 1 is about 10e-13 LY away, and our best scopes are needed to hear it.) If so, why invest so much energy in an un-modulated wave? On the very slim chance it's not local (harmonic bouncing off - or eminated by our space junk), some FRB's have been observed in that range, changing (much faster) in frequency. (Possibly more scarce physics.) The 'mysterious' lack of 'technology' details makes this sound like a PR 'result' for the BL project. (When Lorimer reported the first FRB, the details were there.)