Spectrum Lab script for recording meteors
Conrad Cardano
Mike Otte
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Conrad Cardano
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Mike Otte
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Conrad Cardano
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--Mike Otte W9YS--
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--Mike Otte W9YS--
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jpett...@gmail.com
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Conrad Cardano
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--Mike Otte W9YS
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andrew....@googlemail.com
Attached & below is the conditional action file we use to record meteors in Spectrum Lab from Graves (143.050 MHz) at Lichfield Radio Observatory – I can’t claim to have written this file, and I would like to apologise to its author for not knowing who wrote it originally. The vital setting is:
SNR_Threshold = 18
This defines the threshold over the noise-floor which triggers the software to declaring that it has detected a meteor – higher number means less false positives (less false detections of meteors) but more real detections are missed; a lower number increases the false positives but reduces the number of missed real detections è you need to fiddle with the number until you find the best compromise for your location.
The script counts meteors, records a screenshot of each meteor detection, and records an audio ping file as well.
The file that counts the meteors can be read in Colourgramme software and displayed on the www.rmob.org website for comparison with other observers.
I am more than happy to provide further advice on how to use this – contact me privately if that is helpful to you.
Andy
; Exported "Conditional Actions" for Spectrum Lab
if( never ) then # ====== User definable options ======
if( never ) then # SNR_Threshold - Minimum SNR in dB to trigger an event, increase if noise is being interpreted as meteors, reduce if meteors are not being logged
if( never ) then # Meteor_Gap - the period that the signal has to drop below the threshold to be considered the end of a meteor event (in seconds)
if( never ) then # Log_Threshold - the minimum duration of a meteor event that will be logged (in seconds)
if( never ) then # Waterfall_Length - the width or height of the waterfall display in seconds, subtract 20% to be sure of screenshot containing start and end of events
if( never ) then # Log_Path - the location to log files for meteor events (remember to double escape backslashes, including trailing backslash)
if( never ) then # Capture_Path - the location to save screen captures of meteor events (format as above)
if( never ) then # Sound_Path - the location to save .WAV sound capture of meteor events (format as above)
if( never ) then # Sound_Capture - set to 1 to capture meteor sounds, 0 to disable sound capture
if( initialising ) then SNR_Threshold = 18 : Meteor_Gap = 2 : Log_Threshold = 0.05 : Waterfall_Length = 30 : Log_Path = "c:\\spectrum\logs\\" : Capture_Path = "c:\\spectrum\captures\\" : Sound_Path = "c:\\spectrum\sounds\\" : Sound_Capture = 1
if( never ) then # ====== End Of User definable options ======
if( never ) then ##### Initialise Variables #########################################################################################################
if( initialising ) then Current_Noise = noise(cfg.SpecFreqMin, cfg.SpecFreqMax) * 6 : Current_Signal = peak_a(cfg.SpecFreqMin, cfg.SpecFreqMax): Current_Signal = 0 : Current_SNR = 0 : Current_Peak_Frequency = 0 : Current_Time = 0
if( initialising ) then Meteor_Start_Time = 0 : Meteor_End_Time = 0 : Daily_Meteor_Count = 0 : Midnight_Flag = 0 : Hourly_Meteor_Count = 0 : Hourly_Meteor_Duration = 0 : Hourly_Meteor_Longest = 0 : Hourly_Flag = 0 : Logging = 1 : Capture_Time = 0
if( initialising ) then Meteor_Max_Signal = 0 : Meteor_Max_Noise = 0 : Meteor_Max_SNR = 0: Meteor_Max_Peak = 0 : Meteor_Count = 0
if( initialising ) then Intermediate_Capture = Waterfall_Length : State = "Waiting" : Queued = 0
if( never ) then ##### Measure current signal, exponential weighted average of noise and peak frequency after each FFT calculation #################
if( new_spectrum ) then Current_Noise = (Current_Noise / 6) * 5 + noise(cfg.SpecFreqMin, cfg.SpecFreqMax) : Current_Signal = peak_a(cfg.SpecFreqMin, cfg.SpecFreqMax) : Current_Peak_Frequency = peak_f(cfg.SpecFreqMin, cfg.SpecFreqMax) : Current_SNR = Current_Signal - (Current_Noise / 6) : Current_Time = time
if( never ) then ##### Signal above threshold, no meteor in progress so start of new meteor event ###################################################
if( State="Waiting" & Current_SNR>=SNR_Threshold ) then State = "Meteor" : Meteor_Start_Time = Current_Time : rec.filename = Sound_Path + "event" + str("YYYYMMDD", now) + "_" + str("hhmmss", now) + "_" + str(Daily_Meteor_Count + 1) + ".wav"
if( never ) then ##### SNR is higher than previous max SNR, record new max (subtraction gives SNR in dB) ############################################
if( State="Meteor" & Current_SNR>=Meteor_Max_SNR ) then Meteor_Max_Signal = Current_Signal : Meteor_Max_Noise = (Current_Noise / 6) : Meteor_Max_Peak = Current_Peak_Frequency : Meteor_Max_SNR = Current_SNR : rec.trigger = Sound_Capture
if( never ) then ##### Meteor in progress, signal below threshold so start timing gap in case of short break in meteor signal #######################
if( State="Meteor" & Current_SNR<SNR_Threshold ) then State = "Gap" : Meteor_End_Time = Current_Time
if( never ) then ##### Timing gap, signal back above threshold so resume current meteor event #######################################################
if( State="Gap" & Current_SNR>=SNR_Threshold ) then State = "Meteor"
if( never ) then ##### Meteor hasn't finished, but start or middle of event needs to be captured before it scrolls off ##############################
if( (State="Gap" | State="Meteor") & (Current_Time - Meteor_Start_Time)>=Intermediate_Capture & Logging ) then Intermediate_Capture = Intermediate_Capture + Waterfall_Length : capture(Capture_Path + "event" + str("YYYYMMDD", now) + "_" + str("hhmmss", now) + "_" + str(Daily_Meteor_Count + 1) + ".jpg", 100)
if( never ) then ##### Timing gap, signal below threshold and gap duration exceeded so log meteor event #############################################
if( State="Gap" & Current_SNR<SNR_Threshold & (time - Meteor_End_Time)>=Meteor_Gap ) then State = "Log" : rec.trigger = 0
if( never ) then ##### Log last meteor event ########################################################################################################
if( State="Log" & (Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time)>=Log_Threshold & Logging ) then Daily_Meteor_Count = Daily_Meteor_Count + 1 : Hourly_Meteor_Count = Hourly_Meteor_Count + 1 : Hourly_Meteor_Duration = Hourly_Meteor_Duration + (Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time)
if( continuation ) then sp.print(" Event: ", str(Daily_Meteor_Count), " Dur: ", str(Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time) + "s", " Time: ", str("hh : mm : ss", Meteor_Start_Time))
if( continuation ) then Queued = Queued + 1 : queue_event(now + max(1, (Waterfall_Length - (Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time))), 0)
if( continuation ) then fopen(Log_Path + "event_log_" + str("YYYYMM", Meteor_Start_Time) + ".csv",a,r)
if( continuation ) then fp(str("YYYY/MM/DD",Meteor_Start_Time) + "," + str("hh:mm:ss",Meteor_Start_Time) + "," + str(Daily_Meteor_Count) + "," + str(Meteor_Max_Signal) + "," + str(Meteor_Max_Noise) + "," + str(Meteor_Max_SNR) + "," + str(Meteor_Max_Peak) + "," + str(Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time))
if( continuation ) then fclose
if( never ) then ##### Reset and wait for next meteor event #########################################################################################
if( State="Log" & Hourly_Meteor_Longest<(Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time) ) then Hourly_Meteor_Longest = (Meteor_End_Time - Meteor_Start_Time)
if( State="Log" ) then Intermediate_Capture = Waterfall_Length : Meteor_Max_Signal = 0 : Meteor_Max_Noise = 0 : Meteor_Max_SNR = 0: Meteor_Max_Peak = 0
if( continuation ) then State = "Waiting"
if( never ) then ##### Capture a screenshot of the display at end of event (see also Screen Capture tab) ############################################
if( queued_event ) then capture(Capture_Path + "event" + str("YYYYMMDD", now) + "_" + str("hhmmss", now) + "_" + str(Daily_Meteor_Count - Queued + 1) + ".jpg", 100)
if( continuation ) then Queued = Queued - 1
if( never ) then ##### Increment the hourly flag (this will happen multiple times during the last five seconds of the hour) #############################
if( str("mmss", Current_Time)="5955" ) then Hourly_Flag = Hourly_Flag + 1
if( never ) then # If the hourly flag has just been triggered, log and then reset the meteor count to zero for the new hour, if the hourly flag has been triggered already, do nothing
if( Hourly_Flag=1 ) then fopen2(Log_Path + "hourly_log_" + str("YYYYMM", Current_Time) + ".csv",a,r)
if( continuation ) then fp2(str("YYYY/MM/DD", Current_Time) + "," + str("hh", Current_Time) + "," + str(Hourly_Meteor_Count))
if( continuation ) then fclose2
if( continuation ) then fopen4(Log_Path + "RMOB-" + str("YYYYMM", Current_Time) + ".dat",a,r)
if( continuation ) then fp4(str("YYYYMMDDhh", Current_Time) + "," + str("hh", Current_Time) + "," + str(Hourly_Meteor_Count))
if( continuation ) then fclose4
if( continuation ) then fopen5(Log_Path + "RMOB_Dur-" + str("YYYYMM", Current_Time) + ".dat",a,r)
if( continuation ) then fp5(str("YYYYMMDDhh", Current_Time) + "," + str("hh", Current_Time) + "," + str(Hourly_Meteor_Count) + "," + str(Hourly_Meteor_Duration) + "," + str(Hourly_Meteor_Longest) + "," + str(Current_Noise))
if( continuation ) then fclose5
if( continuation ) then Hourly_Meteor_Count = 0 : Hourly_Meteor_Duration = 0 : Hourly_Meteor_Longest = 0
if( never ) then # If the current time is on the hour, reset the hourly flag ready to trigger again at the end of the next hour
if( str("mmss", Current_Time)="0000" ) then Hourly_Flag = 0
if( never ) then ##### Increment the midnight flag (this will happen multiple times during the last fice seconds of the day) #############################
if( str("hhmmss", Current_Time)="235955" ) then Midnight_Flag = Midnight_Flag + 1
if( never ) then # If the midnight flag has just been triggered, log and then reset the meteor count to zero for the new day, if the midnight flag has been triggered already, do nothing
if( Midnight_Flag=1 ) then fopen3(Log_Path + "daily_log_" + str("YYYYMM", Current_Time) + ".csv",a,r)
if( continuation ) then fp3(str("YYYY/MM/DD", Current_Time) + "," + str(Daily_Meteor_Count))
if( continuation ) then fclose3
if( continuation ) then Daily_Meteor_Count = 0
if( never ) then # If the current time is midnight, reset the midnight flag ready to trigger again at the end of the next day
if( str("hhmmss", Current_Time)="000000" ) then Midnight_Flag = 0
if( never ) then ##### ##############################################################################################################################
if( never ) then # TODO: upload to web site? auto image display online, auto generate colourgramme via web..
Conrad Cardano
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Mike Otte
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Conrad Cardano
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Mike Otte
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andrew....@googlemail.com
Ditto – I also take up to 160 GB data in single solar astrophotography session – I never worry about filling hard drive with meteor screen shots.
More of an issue if Spectrum Lab set up to take periodic 1 min screenshots continuously – so I tend to wipe out that folder every now and again.
Andy
From: sara...@googlegroups.com <sara...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Conrad Cardano
Sent: 28 November 2025 14:40
To: sara...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SARA] Spectrum Lab script for recording meteors
Hi
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