Audio Add-on

Not sure if this is possible, as I'm niether a computer programmer or audio expert, but...

Given the info that comes across our comp's like frequency and time and what not, I would have to wonder how hard it would be to crunch the numbers and accurately recreate the actual sounds. While not neccisarily on a streaming basis, you could possibly record the information, or at the least go through a program like monitor and just listen to your recorded events. Does anyone know if this can be done? and would anyone be interested in actually giving it a try. I'd personally would love to be able to hear what is going on out there.

[Edited on 25-5-2004 by Lythium]

Hi Lyth!!

I have no experience of this, but there is a program, WU2WAV , which "converts SETI@home workunits into wav sound files."

I found this through the SETI@home add-ons site , which is well worth a "visit" if you haven't already had a look??

Good luck and happy listening!!

I did go to the add ons site and didnt see it-after your post I went back and still didnt see it but just went and dld from the link you posted. I'm a bit curious about one thing-I ran it and it seemed to work-I played the file and got 1.45 minutes of static-so this unit that my computer has been annalyzing over the past 7 hours is only 1.45 minutes long? or is that just the 26% I have scanned so far? Just looking for clarification

Originally posted by Lythium
...I played the file and got 1.45 minutes of static-so this unit that my computer has been annalyzing over the past 7 hours is only 1.45 minutes long? or is that just the 26% I have scanned so far? Just looking for clarification

Hi Lyth!!

Well, I'm not qualified to give an opinion about this really, as audio files, etc, are not my forte. The thing to remember, though, is that SETI@home wasn't *designed* to give audio output, but rather to check signals for spikes, Gaussians, triplets and pulses - the audio "add-on" (which I've never tried to use) is a "third-party" addition, so I wouldn't start to guess how "useful" it might be.

As regards taking 7 hours to process a WU: that's not unusual, depending on the machine(s) you have available. I used to use a P2 233Mhz machine that took 35 hours or so to crunch one WU, and - yes! - I had it running all the time, not simply as a screensaver!!

I'm sure one of the more knowledgable people will offer a better explanation of the audio part later?

And, have you noticed how quickly "crunched" data is returned to SETI@home - the hours spent "crunching" takes mere seconds to return to SETI@home rather than the time it took your machine to analyse!!

Good luck Lyth!!

Oh-I thought you had used it before, anywho the thing worked well-just wasnt sure if the recording I got back was the entire file or just what I had already processed or what-either way my ears are ringing and I have a headache from listening to it lol-and im not done yet with the WU-according to monitor I have 18 hours to go for a total of 26 hrs-I take it thats not the average-my comp is a 5 year old hp pavilion with some beefed up RAM so my specs and your old specs are about the same. I woulda thought it would have handled better-but i guess not-Off to buy a new computer...

PS thanks for the info and help

[Edited on 25-5-2004 by Lythium]

[Edited on 25-5-2004 by Lythium]