The history of SETI at the hat creek radio observatory

Since the first SETI search in 1960, observations have encountered an exponentially growing problem with radio frequency interference (RFI) generated by our own communication, entertainment, and military technologies. The signal processing equipment that is used for SETI has gotten much faster and more capable, yet the fraction of the possible search space that has been explored remains very small. More than 100 searches have been reported in the literature. Tarter (2001) has summarized the various search strategies and the SETI Institute maintains an updated search archive at http://www.seti.org/searcharchive. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) at Hat Creek Radio Observatory will be the first instrument designed with SETI as a goal, and its speed and flexibility will permit a significant exploration of our local region of the Milky Way Galaxy, targeting similar to 1 million stars for weak signals, as well as surveying for stronger signals from similar to 40 billion distant stars, located in the direction of the galactic center and the surrounding 20 square degrees. Just as Jack Welch has been responsible for many of the innovations in the ATA and the SETI observations it will soon undertake, lie has been the key to enabling SETI at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory for the past three decades.