Introduction
The Green Bank Radio Frequency
Interference (RFI) Protection Group would like to offer two primary
tools to
observers for the purposes of RFI avoidance and mitigation. One of
these tools is an archive of RFI scans which will give the observer an
idea of
spectral occupancy as seen by the GBT receivers themselves, and
(eventually) from
the GBT RFI
Monitoring Station (pictured right).
The second, still under
construction, will be
a RFI Database which provides
details on persistent, identified RFI sources including coordination
information where applicable. For now, we have a Table
of Known RFI Sources and a number of Older
Surveys and
Band
Summaries linked below.
To maximize your chances of RFI avoidance, we
advise the following:
1) Consult the latest GBT RFI plots to determine whether the spectrum
you wish to observe is typically clear, or occupied by RFI.
2) Consult the Table
of Known RFI Sources and/or the Surveys
and
Band
Summaries to determine whether the source of the RFI is well
known and/or likely to be something we can coordinate with (broadcast
television, for instance, isn't going to coordinate with us).
3) Contact a member of the Green Bank RFI Group to determine whether
coordination is possible. If it is, you will need to obtain a fixed
window from the dynamic scheduling group for your observation, and the
RFI group can then arrange coordination.
Usually, by the time RFI is experienced during
observation, it is too late to do anything about it, but it is still
worth reporting, in case it can be mitigated in advance of future
observations.
For additional information email interference@nrao.edu.
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