Who We Are

The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) is a dedicated group of people that formed an international society to learn, trade technical information and do their own observations of the radio sky. This organization is a scientific, non-profit group founded for the sole purpose of supporting amateur radio astronomy. SARA was organized in the early 1980's and today has about 400 members worldwide. The group consists of optical astronomers, ham radio operators, engineers, teachers and non-technical persons. Many of our members are new to the field of radio astronomy and membership is extended to all who have an interest in radio astronomy.

Why Amateur radio astronomy?

Large professional radio observatories concentrate on deep sky objects for relatively brief periods of time. It's sort of like looking at the universe through a straw. The amateur, on the other hand, looks at broad areas of sky for long periods of time. Although amateurs can not compete with professional astronomers, we do have some benefits. Modern state of the art low noise receiving equipment now enables amateurs to do viable and useful work. Moreover, the amateur has unlimited time which may be devoted to a single observational project.

How to Join

If our work sounds interesting to you please consider joining our group. Your membership includes a year's subscription to The Journal of The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers and the chance to meet other enthusiasts at the yearly SARA convention. Membership requires a check to "Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers".

Dues are $24 (US funds) per year for U.S. members, $30 (US funds) for Canadian and Mexican memberships, and $36 (US funds) for other foreign memberships. If you wish to receive The Journal of The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers electronically (via email) instead of in printed paper form, the annual dues are $20 (US funds) anywhere in the world. (Note: The email version is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. When printed it looks identical to the mailed version, except it includes color.)

If you live out of the USA, do not send checks. Please send postal money orders. It is also important to include a street address. Post office boxes are not acceptable for all deliveries. We would appreciate the following information included with your check:

Name:__________________________

Address:________________________

City: __________________

State: _____ Zip: _________

Country:________________

Phone:__________________

Please include a note of your interests.

What kind of observational programs are sponsored by SARA?

SARA presently is encouraging radio observation of the galactic center and the Orion complex for anomalous pulses which are believed to originate from these sources from time to time. The galaxy center mechanism may involve a black hole. Pulses from the Orion complex may be due to a catastrophic processes involving the formation of new stars. In addition, some members of SARA are involved in radio observation of the sun for flare activity at very low frequencies. Other members are engaged in a supernova patrol.

A 1.4 Gigahertz radiotelescope

Send your membership information to:

Hal Braschwitz
3623 West 139th Street
Cleveland OH 44111
(216) 252-8177
w8pn@stratos.net
 

For more information about SARA, group activities, observing programs, or about radio astronomy in general, visit our web site at:

www.bambi.net/sara.html

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