A new CHAIN site in New Brunswick: low‐cost HF and GNSS instruments for Solar Eclipse 2024

The Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) is an array of ground‐based radio instruments deployed in the Canadian Arctic and operated by the University of New Brunswick. The network consists of 25 GISTMs/GPS receivers and 9 ionosondes located in Canada at high geographic latitudes spanning between 56° and 80° and has been expanded recently with a new mid‐latitude station in New Brunswick, Canada. The coordinates of the new station (Blissville, 45.6 N, 66.54 W) make the station an ideal location to host space weather instrumentation for study of the Solar Eclipse 2024. The predicted path of the total solar eclipse is passing through the site. The Blissville station is equipped with a range of scientific grade instruments, including a multi‐constellation GNSS scintillation monitor and CADI ionosonde. Likewise, this station is hosting a low‐cost, low‐power HF‐radar and a low‐cost dual frequency GNSS receiver. The ongoing tests are showing good performance with room for potential improvements of the low‐cost devices with respect to the citizen science applications. The results of the data comparison of the scientific grade and low‐cost space weather instruments will be presented. Possibilities for collaboration with amateur radio community will be discussed.