question about SETI.

do i have to have cable internet?

and how does seti work.

it works only with internet on?

Originally posted by Russian
do i have to have cable internet?
No, it will work on dial-up, DSL, or any other internet connection.

and how does seti work.
I assume you mean specificly SETI@home. It uses software you down load from them to scan radio telescope data and pick up on anything outside of normal background noise. It then send that information back to thier servers where anything abnormal is looked into further and the rest is set on to toher computers for double checking.


it works only with internet on?
No idea. Check thier website.

seti can run in the back ground all the time if you wish. you only have to connect up to the internet when it has finished analysing each work unit. there is an icon that will flash read to alert you and you connect up to send your completed unit and to download the next one.
if you wish, you can set it to only work as a screen saver when your pc is idle.

if you click on this link there is everything that you need to know about seti

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Thanx to ScienceGuyQ and pantha for replies to date!!

Russian - as stated, you don't need a cable modem or other form of "always on" connection - all you eed is someway of downloading a new work unit (WU) and to upload the results of the previous WU back to SETI@home, so DUN is quite ok. The "beauty" of cable modem, of course, is that you can set the machine to connect automatically, so that it can do these things whilst you're sleeping, eating - or even on holiday, as I do here!

SETI@home works by processing data received from the Arecibo radio telescope - the largest RT in the world. Eventually data will be colected for the SETI@home Southern Hemisphere project, which Arecibo can't accesss because of it's latitude and because it can't be "steered" (essentially, Arecibo is a crater in the ground - albeit 1000 feet in diameter!).

When the dat is collected, it is "broken" down into "bite sized pieces) and sent out as "Work Units" to participants in the programme ie people who run SETI@home (ther are nearly 5 000 000 such people worldwide!)

The software "crunches" this to look for Gausssians and triplets and the like which are assumed to be significant and less likely to be "random effects". Signals that show significant "artificial" trends are then noted and looked at again to see if the same effects are present. There are also checks run by sending the *same* WU (randomly) to other people to see if there is a convergence of the data etc. It's said that *we* receive a WU *we've* personally processed before about every 500 WU's, as a double check against our set up etc. However, nothing "sinister" is transmitted along with the "crunched" data - purley the numbers involved. Output is visual and displayed as a graph.

As regards whether it *only* works when connected to the internet: no. SETI@home only needs to "connect" to retrieve a new WU after it has uploaded the "old" ones data back to SETI@home. Otherwise, it "stands alone".

I hope this helps Russian - *if* you decide to run SETI@home, pelase consider joining the ATS SETI@home team!!

here is another handy link to a lot of info straight from the horses mouth.

the FAQ section of seti

setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu...

I have one more question.

can someone show me how plain SETI screen looks and how it looks when you find something interesting?


P.S. i will try jion your ats team TOO!

click on the link to see what we are all hoping to see on our screens

www.planetary.org...

and this is what we aren't interested in

setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu...

Hi Russian!!

Pantha just beat ne too it!! There was a discussion about this (a "WOW" signal) in the board at thread www.abovetopsecret.com...

Also, note your entry to the "team" - thanx!!

OK OK I am sorry.

But I got another question.

How long does it take you people to complete one unit of SETI?


Please all SETI people answer.




ALSO please tell me what kind of a PUTER you use.

and if its on screensaver or not.

Thank you
Russian

Hi Russian!!

Well, I've aready answered (for myself) in various posts, such as the "Active SETI maembers thread, but I repeat the answer I gave there:

"As for "how long" it takes to process a WU depends (mainly) - but not exclusively - on the machine you use. I have two P4 machines - a 2Ghz with 256 MbRAM and a 2.6Ghz with 512 MbRAM. Both use WinXP as the OS and run the client (as opposed to the Command line version).

On average, the 2Ghz machine takes around 5.5 - 6 hours to process 1 WU, whilst the 2.6 Ghz takes around 4 hours to work 1 WU. When I *first* started SETI@home I had a P3 233Mhz machine only (with 128 MbRAM) and that took about 35 hours for 1 WU. In all cases, I've had SETI@home running continuously rather than as a screensaver.

Sometimes, however, you'll find that WU's can be completed *much* faster (say, because the data is corrupted when it was collected by, perhaps, terrestrial interference) or longer, if the signals are very complex. So, all you can do - really - is to just let the machie do it's own thing and it will let you know *when* it needs to connect!!"

A "clue" has to how long it takes to complete one WU (work unit) can be determined from the ATS SETI@home team stats, which you can find from the "signature" at the bottom of this post - it'll tell you the average time taken to complete a WU.

Hope that helps?

I think I avg like 7 hours to do it.

WHAT?

It takes my puter 3 hours and 45 mins average.

Out,
Russian

Good stuff Russian!!

My P4 2.6 GHz takes around 4 hours in comparison, though I'm running the client, not command line.

Get them WU's uploaded, my friend!!

I just completed my very first WU, in almost 10 hours.
Not very good for a P4 2,4 Ghz, but am always using other programs while Seti is running. I think I'll install it on my laptop too, so I can run it on two computers at the same time... I gotta catch up with Bob88

Good job Zion!!

Yes, use *every* machine you can Sir - Bob88 needs some catching up (mid you, Sinchron's doing a fine chase indeed!! )