This site is about a radio project based on the AOR AR5000 communications receiver that deals with radio monitoring of ionospheric conditions and sferics.

AOR AR5000 connected to a notebook via RS232-USB converter

For monitoring purposes the AR5000 is controlled by a computer via the RS232 interface by a self written software AR5000RA. The software records rf-signals on the base of the automatic gain control (agc) of the AR5000 to observe propagation of radio waves and condition of the ionosphere.

Additionally it counts steep signal rises as produced by thunderstorm lightnings (sferics). Furthermore a weak signal monitoring mode is implemented. This mode relies on the computer's sound card for data acquisition and a DSP-software for recording, editing and analyzing of the AR5000's audio-output. This mode can be used, if the rf-signals of interest are too weak to produce a recognizable change of the agc. Some examples demonstrate these features.