I am very sorry to hear of the damage incurred to the Arecibo equipment. I am assuming that Seti will not be getting any more data from Arecibo for a very long time, if ever.

I do hope that funding will be made available to the Observatory for rebuilding and repairs.

However, all this is secondary to the destruction of homes and other infrastructure that the people who live there have incurred. I hope that all are able to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible.

Best wishes to all in devastated Puerto Rico.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

It is difficult to live without electricity. Since the whole electric power system in Puerto Rico was obsolete, maybe a solution could be found with the installation of photovoltaic panels on each building. But this requires a lot of money, and should be provided by the state. I am not sure what Puerto Rico is in political terms, a state of the USA or what else. But America should find the money to help those people, as it has done with the Marshall plan in Europe after WW2.
Tullio

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But America should find the money to help those people, as it has done with the Marshall plan in Europe after WW2.

In this country we historically have treated our poor worse than we treated Europe after WW2. IOW a massive rebuilding of PR ain't gonna happen.

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Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, as provided in the Treaty of Paris. It is not one of the 50 states. It enjoys Commonwealth status, and its inhabitants are United States citizens. Puerto Rico has been declared a disaster area by the federal government, making it eligible for disaster relief and assistance, in the wake of the recent hurricane.

I see you've all seen info about the damage to the telescope and the smaller 12 meter antenna. Generator power will be provided intermittently at the observatory as fuel is scarce. Communication is difficult. Both hospitals in Arecibo (town) are out of commission, it appears. Travel is still difficult, with many roads blocked.

Food, fuel, and medical services will be the big concerns for Puerto Rico in the near future. Meanwhile Congress isn't even going to start talking about aid to Puerto Rico until next week at the earliest.

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@SETIEric@qoto.org (Mastodon)

Is it time for our American members to start bombarding your members of Congress and the White House, demanding action asap to help the people of Puerto Rico?
Next week is too late.

Just a suggestion, I'll now and go sit quietly in the corner.

How you can help hurricane victims in Puerto Rico
PBS FFRF

Officials plead for swift aid to Puerto Rico to prevent 'humanitarian crisis'
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/us/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico/index.html

‘If anyone can hear us … help.’ Puerto Rico’s mayors describe widespread devastation from Hurricane Maria
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/if-anyone-can-hear-us--help-puerto-ricos-mayors-describe-widespread-devastation-from-hurricane-maria/2017/09/23/7ef5f6c4-a069-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html

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Apr 3, 1999 - May 3, 2020

Is it time for our American members to start bombarding your members of Congress and the White House, demanding action asap to help the people of Puerto Rico?
Next week is too late.

Just a suggestion, I'll now and go sit quietly in the corner.

Congress will not act in a timely manner.

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Amateur Radio Reports: Arecibo Observatory Dish Sustained Serious Damage from Maria
09/23/2017
Source: http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-reports-arecibo-observatory-dish-sustained-serious-damage-from-maria

Articles on the National Geographic and Space.com websites report that scientists and Amateur Radio operators have confirmed that Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory came through Hurricane Maria largely intact but “with some significant damage.” Universities Space Research Association (USRA), which helps to operate the Observatory, said it learned via “short wave radio contact” that staff and family members sheltering at Arecibo are safe.

“The major structures, including the 300-meter telescope, are intact, though suffered some damage when the atmospheric radar line feed broke off, and falling debris from it punctured the dish in several places,” USRA reported on its website. “Also, a separate 12-meter dish used as a phase reference for Very Long Baseline Interferometry was lost.”

Observatory officials are still assessing the damage, but Jim Breakall, WA3FET, of Penn State, told ARRL that the 96-foot line feed antenna at 430 MHz is “historically the key piece to the observatory.” It’s also the antenna that he and others have used for Amateur Radio moonbounce activities from Arecibo. The Observatory is home to KP4AO.

“To hear that this 10,000-pound key piece to the Observatory fell and hit the 1,000-meter dish is just a huge shock,” Breakall said Saturday. “This antenna was connected to the 2.5 million W 430-MHz radar transmitter that was a key to ionospheric experiments. It is a great loss for sure.”

Angel Vazquez, WP3R — the Observatory's telescope operations manager — was among the only radio amateurs able to pass along any information; among those he contacted was Princeton University professor and Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT. Vazquez is using a generator that, Breakall told ARRL, was not working very well. “Many others have heard about all of this and have come to help relay messages to loved ones and friends to let people know they are okay,” Breakall added.

Breakall said he’s less concerned to learn that his own Amateur Radio contest station, built on a hill on his 12-acre farm not far from the Observatory, was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. “Angel said it is totally destroyed,” he said. “While this is sad for me and others, my concern is with the safety and health of many friends and the people of Puerto Rico in General. This is my second home, and many of the people there I treat as my brothers and sisters.”

USRA has reported that the access road to the Observatory is covered with debris and impassable.

The National Geographic article said that the Arecibo’s staff had begun to prepare the day before Maria arrived on September 20, but power went down and, not long afterward, telephone service. Power is reported to be out across much of Puerto Rico.

Amateur Radio may still be the only reliable communication link with the Commonwealth. “It was reported that Amateur Radio seemed to be the only communications that were operational and that was somewhat limited, as many 2 meter repeater systems were still not operational,” Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) National Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH, said in a SATERN update today. “There is no operational public water system, and many local roads are impassable although some major roads have been cleared.”

Breakall told ARRL that he’s worried about what might happen in the weeks and months ahead. “I just hope that desperation does not set in, and things get out of hand there,” he said. “It is going to be very tough.”

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Is it time for our American members to start bombarding your members of Congress and the White House, demanding action asap to help the people of Puerto Rico?
Next week is too late.

Just a suggestion, I'll now and go sit quietly in the corner.

Congress will not act in a timely manner.

There is some suspicion in the media that 45 didn't know that the people of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are Americans.

This may be helpful; I heard this story earlier today on NPRs' Morning Edition:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/25/553594041/puerto-ricos-arecibo-radio-telescope-suffers-hurricane-damage

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Had a read of a few articles. It doesn't sound great for anyone down there right now.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/hurricane-damage-threatens-arecibo-observatory-s-future
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/arecibo-radio-telescope-damaged-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-science/

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

As I see, the most part of linked articles is based on the first message from this thread, and describes Friday's situation. Is any updates from Angel?

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CX

NWS has published the annual exceedance probabilities (AEP) for the worst case 12 hour rainfalls in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria:
ftp://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/pub/hdsc/data/aep/201709_Maria/AEP_HurricaneMaria_September2017.jpg
The map indicates:
1. Rainfalls at Arecibo had AEPs of between 1 in 200 and 1 in 500. Other parts of PR had more rare 12 hour rainfalls, with some areas being more rare (more extreme) than the most rare 1 in 1,000 estimates NWS computes for NOAA Atlas 14.
2. The plotted track of Maria shows the center passing very close to Arecibo

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Here's a more recent update from space.com:

Arecibo Observatory 'Still Standing' After Hurricane Maria Ravaged Puerto Rico

Not good and Arecibo is nonoperational but not as bad as the press interpretations of the description 'lost' first suggested. Still not good.


Until we get more news and hear of plans for repairs and hear of repaired housing for the staff also!

Keep searchin,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

might it be time to conceder refurbishing older 8 foot satellite tv dishes in an array?

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might it be time to conceder refurbishing older 8 foot satellite tv dishes in an array?

There is already the Allen Telescope Array:

• Wikipedia page
  
• SETI Institute 'Fact Sheet'
  

There are also various radio hams and others that have converted domestic satellite receivers with "Software Defined Radios" to try searching for anything.


Lots can be done yet!

A very clever trick would be to use the Software Defined Radio with GPS timing signals to form a distributed worldwide interferometer receiver... (Who cares if the processing isn't exactly 'real-time'! :-P )

And then there is the SKA... :-)


Meanwhile, we already tap into the receivers at Arecibo and Green Bank and Parkes(?)...

Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

There may be also FAST. Read the post by Eric in the thread on Tabby's star.
Tullio

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The workers and families weathered the Hurricane in the structures at the array. The antenna was damaged with a boom falling from the supported antenna structure to the panels below mangling the boom and damaging several reflector panels. The Onion enclosure remains secure although it is feared that antennas within will need realignment as they did in previous high wind event hurricanes. The suspension rigging was not damaged and is being examined to insure site and worker safety.

Costs are not yet determined as damages still need assessment and replacement repair price breakouts calculated.

Arecibo remains difficult to access due to many downed trees, road washouts, and mudslides. Power is running on generators with conservation of diesel being exercised.

The above was gleaned from a news report and interview with the Director of the site.

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Never engage stupid people at their level, they then have the home court advantage.....

I called the ARRL HQ in Newington, CT. They report that the staff has power and shelter. Their repeater which covered 90% of the Island was totally destroyed, however an Amateur Organization donated a brand new repeater to the effort and they hope it will be online soon. If I obtain additional news I'll post it here. I'm listening on 20 meters now but not too much news RE: PR coming through at the time.

Rich Vitello - W1RV
Holden, MA