The following notes outline the SETI@Home project and will hopefully answer all of your questions. If you still have questions after reading these notes please do contact us. We would especially like to invite you to join our CDAS team as outlined below.

What is the project about?

The SETI@Home project is a serious search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) elsewhere in the cosmos which involves you whatever your background knowledge or experience.

What does it cost and what do I get in return?

The project costs practically nothing because SETI@Home do not charge a fee, they are just pleased to get you involved - the more the better! The program will have to download blocks of data and upload completed blocks to the internet from time to time. The cost incurred as a result of this is negligible and can even be done when you are connected to the internet without you even realising it.

In return, you get the excitement of being involved in possibly the biggest amateur - professional project ever undertaken. The possibility exists that it could be your machine that discovers evidence of extra terrestrial intelligence!!!!

How does the project work?

Once you have installed the software (as outlined below), there are two ways of using the software (you choose which when installing the software). The first method is only recommended for fast machines with a minimum of 64MB of RAM. This method is to let the machine process the data whenever the machine is turned on. With this method, whatever you may be doing with your computer, the SETI@Home project will be working in the background. Alternatively, you can use the `screen saver` mode. This only allows the processing to occur when your screen saver is running.

The SETI@Home program will process data in terms of blocks. A block is downloaded from the internet and is processed using on of the previously mentioned methods. When processing is completed, the results will be uploaded and a new block downloaded. The results are then combined back at SETI@Home.

Will I know if my machine has discovered anything?

Yes! SETI@Home promise to inform you if your computer discovers anything and even publishes a list of any significant finds on the internet - your name could be there! You can also visit the SETI@Home internet site to find out how to interpret the graphical data shown on your screen.

How long does it take to process a block?

This is variable depending entirely on your machine architecture and software. I have seen some machines on the internet able to process a block in 10 hours. They must however have an amazingly fast computer because more typical times range upto over 100 hours. Don't worry and give up though because you do not need to allocate a solid 100 hours to the task, it will keep ticking away in the background. 100 hours of course is on the excessive side - I doubt your computer will take this long.

My machine isn't very fast, can I still participate?

Yes definitely, if you set the program to run in screen saver only mode, your machine will only be active when the screen saver runs. Obviously the slower your machine the longer it will take to process a unit. Even if you only process one unit, we would be grateful but obviously would like you to process as many units as possible. Remember it doesn't cost anything and you could be the one to make this amazing breakthrough!

How do I sign up?

Firstly, you need to download and install the software from the SETI@Home site at http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/. When you have downloaded the program, just run it and follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation. Once this is complete, you will be a valuable member of the project possibly being the first to discover extra terrestrial intelligence.

Now that you participating in the project, we would like to invite you to join our team. Keep reading to find out about teams and how you can help the Cleethorpes and District Astronomical Society make an impact on the SETI@Home project.

Join the CDAS Team

Firstly, you will need to have installed the SETI@Home software. You will also need your password before you can join a team. You can find out your password by clicking here and entering your E-Mail address. The password will then be E-Mailed to you. Once this is done, click here to visit the "Cleethorpes and District Astronomical Society" team. Select join team and enter your E-Mail address and password.

What statistics are produced?

Statistics are available by visiting the SETI@Home internet page. Statistics are available about how many units any particular user has processed and the CPU time utilised. More interesting to us is the club statistics indicating how CDAS as a team is performing. We want to be at least in that top 100 on the club groups page so do join the CDAS team.

How do I find out more?

You can visit the SETI@Home internet side by clicking here or contact us and we will be glad to discuss the project because we are keen to get you involved - local or not! Do not try to E-Mail SETI@Home because with having hundreds of thousands of users, they are bombarded with E-Mail every day and so cannot respond to individual queries. Contact either myself, David Leonard dave@david-leonard.org.uk or Paul Thompson paul@prism.sofnet.co.uk.

HALF YOUR PROCESSING TIME (Optional Extra)

To dramatically decrease the time taken to process one unit, goto display properties in windows and select the screen saver tab. Now select settings and select the option to blank the screen after a period of time. This time period needs entering but if you set it to 0, the screen is blank as soon as the screen saver starts. When the SETI screen saver now runs, the graphics will not be shown so the processing time is dramatically decreased. To achieve fast results, run the SETI program in screen saver mode with a short period before the screen saver loads and 0 for the time to blank the screen. Have fun!

Email the webmaster, Paul Thompson at webmaster@cleethorpesastronomy.co.uk

Last Updated: 05 July 2001 22:50:00 +0100