Okay, now that we're over ourselves and have that our of our system, it's time to get down to business. First, put the money you took out of your savings account back. You're not going to need it. Most of the items you need, you probably already have. Although not required, a computer is almost a must. If you don't have a computer, this will be the most costly item on your bill of materials. I'm assuming that if you don't have a computer, you may not be that technically savvy. If this is the case, I recommend that you have a computer geek friend help you with your lab. At least with the setting up of the computer and training you how to use the Operating System and software discussed in this article. If you don't already have the items in this article, don't fret. They can be purchased cheap from garage or estate sales, or you can also find the items on-line from e-Bay very cheap as well.

Here is the list of materials you will need. Each item and the specific requirements for each will be described in more detail below.

Bill-of-materials:

The FM Tuner will be the core component of your lab.  Sounds expensive, doesn't it?  Well, it doesn't have to be.  The picture above is a used Digital FM Tuner that I bought off eBay for $8.00 total (including shipping).  The thing I like about this tuner, is that it's not complicated and doesn't have too many controls.  The memory presets come in real handy as well.  When I find stations that work well, I program them into the memory presets for easy access later.

On the back of the tuner,  make certain that you are able to plug in an external antenna, and that you have some sort of audio outputs to plug into your computer.  All FM tuners have audio outputs of some sort.  Become familiar with the type of output jacks that you have because if you are going to hook a computer up to your tuner, you will need the appropriate cable to make the hookup.

First and foremost, safety should be your most prominent concern. Mounting antennas should be done by someone with experience. Please re-read the safety warning at the beginning of this document.  For safety reasons, this document nor any part of the accompanying web-site, phoxes.com will explain how to mount antennas.  If you must personally install the antenna yourself, please read the accompanying installation manual of your antenna, and or seek professional assistance.  Please be safe!

This is another core component.  I suggest that you get a directional Yagi style antenna.  A directional antenna will allow you to 'aim' the antenna towards the direction of the station that you are tuned into.  This will allow minimal interference from other FM Transmission towers that may be in your area.  Your antenna may be in the medium price range of items to purchase, but it all depends on where you get it.  I purchased mine at Radio Shack a while back for around $140, but I have seen them on e-bay for around $50.00 or less.  Just watch the shipping charges. I started with a standard 18 element FM Antenna from Radio Shack to see how it worked in my area.  I made certain from the Sales Representative that I would be able to return the antenna if it didn't work for my application.  I'm glad that I did, as I did need to return it because there are way to many high powered local stations in my area.  I found it hard to lock onto a distant transmitter.  They were happy to sell me the more expensive antenna anyway.  :)




Along with your antenna, you will need a cable kit which can be purchased at Radio Shack.  Most antennas don't come with the cables that connect your antenna to your FM Receiver.  If you are in doubt what cables you need, again, ask your local Radio Shack expert.  They seem to be very knowledgeable in this area and are very helpful.

Last but not least in the antenna department, you may find it very useful to get an electric rotor for your antenna.  This is a small motor that is mounted on the mast of your antenna.  A control box is wired inside your lab that allows you to easily rotate the antenna in any direction from the comfort of your own home.

Computer
This is the 'fun' component.  It will also make your life easier and more enjoyable.  Listening for meteors through a speaker is fun at first, but you will find that sometimes waiting for a 'ping' will put you to sleep fast.  And the constant listening of static has been known to drive some people insane!  Let the computer record your sessions for you automatically.  By using software, you can have it automatically record, and mark points of interest.  Those interests being the familiar sound of a meteor Ping!

I use an old IBM Server PC that I purchased for $35.00.  Don't let the 'Server' part scare you.  In this PC's hay-day, it was a beast of a machine that ran Windows NT Server operating system.  I reformatted the hard drive and put Windows 2000 on it.  Even thought Windows Vista just made it's release yesterday, you don't need a powerful or new operating system to make due of this hobby. 

This article won't go into detail on how to use your computer or setup the software needed to listen to meteors. (Although I have links on the Red Phoxes web-site that take you to Freeware available just for this purpose).  If you aren't computer savvy, enlist the help of a friend that can help you with the computer part.

The only main requirement that I list is that your computer has a sound card with a Line In input.




The middle jack of this picture is the important jack for our implementation.  It's a Line In input that allows me to take the output of my FM Tuner directly to the Line In of the sound card. 

And because my output from my FM Receiver uses RCA Male jacks, I needed a RCA Female to Mini cable to make the connection.

So what now?
The diagram below depicts a simple hookup configuration.  Computer inputs, tuner inputs, antenna connections, as well as Antenna and audio cables are all different, so be certain that when you purchase your cables, that you are familiar with the input and output connectors of your equipment.