• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Arecibo Observatory Closing

Randy Jennings

Randy Jennings

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Joined
May 18, 2013
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826
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The NSF announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The NSF said it’s too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope -- one of the world’s largest -- given the significant damage it recently sustained. An auxiliary cable broke in August and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. Then on Nov. 6, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped, causing further damage and leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse. It was used in three major areas of research: radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and radar astronomy. Full story: Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope to close in blow to science
 
I had the fortune of visiting the dish in 2005 and again in 2009. It's a shame that it will be demolished, but when you think about all the years those cables endured hurricanes and earthquakes, it was only a matter of time before there would be a catastrophic failure of some sort. No word on whether it will be rebuilt or not.
 
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