Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:8059 rec.ham-radio:13671 sci.astro:5362 sci.space:14308 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!oliveb!amdahl!pacbell!sactoh0!mahaun From: mahaun@sactoh0.UUCP (Mark A. Haun) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.ham-radio,sci.astro,sci.space Subject: Trying to build a fluxgate magnetometer -- help! Keywords: magnetometer fluxgate aurora solar geomagnetic field Message-ID: <1914@sactoh0.UUCP> Date: 1 Oct 89 21:49:35 GMT Organization: Sacramento Public Access, Ca. USA Lines: 34 I am trying to build a fluxgate magnetometer sensitive enough to monitor variations in the Earth's magnetic field, mostly to observe magnetic storms caused by big flares on the sun (March 13, 1989 stuff especially :-) !). I have seen an article about one of these designed to serve as a solid state compass in Radio Electronics magazine's "Hardware Hacker" column, and Radio Shack has also recently come out with a fluxgate compass. Would such a circuit be readily adaptable for my purposes? My main concern is whether it would have enough sensitivity; I would like to measure changes at least as small as 10 gammas (.001 Gauss), and if possible, even smaller. I envision having a setup with the magnetometer hooked up to a chart recorder and running 24 hours a day. It would alert me to the start of any magnetic storms and would show me the best times to try and observe the northern lights from my location here in California, if there are more *big* flares like this past March (they were actually seen here then, but I wasn't aware of it until a few days later). I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has built any sort of fluxgate magnetometer, anyone who has seen a construction article for one, or anybody with suggestions/ideas/etc. on the feasibility of this project. Please email to any of the addresses below. Thanks! -- ( Mark A. Haun KJ6PC )( UUCP: ...ames!pacbell!sactoh0!mahaun ) ( Sac-Unix, Sacramento CA )( AMPRNET: kj6pc@kj6pc.ampr.org ) ( IP: [44.2.0.56] 144.93 Mhz )( PACKET: kj6pc@wa6nwe.#nocal.ca.usa.na ) ( INTERNET: mmsac!sactoh0!mahaun@sacto.West.Sun.COM )