scott wrote:
> OOC how sensitive is the SETI equipment and project?  I mean how big must
> a signal be from 200 ly away that we are able to detect it with that
> system? Extrapolating from the Voyager power levels and distance, I make
> it that we
> need a 350 GW signal to be transmitted from 200 ly away.  Is that
> realistic to expect?

Eric Korpela, one of SETI@Home admins, replies:

> SETI@home has a sensitivity of about 1e-25 W/m^2, so if I'm doing my math
> right, a transmitter at 200 ly would need to be about 7e+12 W EIRP
> (effective isotropic radiated power). If the transmitter was attached to a
> telescope the size of AO, it would have a gain of about 2 million, so the
> actual transmitter would need to be about 3.5 MW total power.
>
> Of course for a directional transmitter ET would need to suspect we are
> here.

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