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Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)

by Susan Dunn and Jason Brown

front page RFI

Introduction to the Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Unit This unit was created under the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at MIT Haystack Observatory, summer 2003 and updated summer 2004, and funded by the National Science Foundation.

This unit introduces radio frequency interference into the high school classroom to help students understand the concepts behind electromagnetic radiation, matter and energy in the Earth system, the origin and evolution of the universe, and wavelength vs. frequency. These are difficult concepts for students to grasp and the activities in this unit are intended as added tools for the high school Earth Science, Astronomy, or Physics teacher. Some of these activities are stand alone units and others will require some background set-up, electronics, and software. The electronics used were two different radio communications receivers, one used in 2003 and the other in 2004. The receiver used in 2003 is the AR-3000A communications receiver along with the SEARFE scanning software, developed in Australia. This software is available for free from the SEARFE website at www.searfe.atnf.csiro.au. The second receiver used was the WiNRADiO WR-1550e, which comes with the scanning software.

The activities in this unit include:

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