Mountaintop Neutrino Detection: A nu(tau) concept

High-energy neutrinos traveling from the distant universe produce detectable signals at radio frequencies after interacting with the earth or its atmosphere. This is the principle behind a new experiment, the BEamforming Elevated Array for COsmogenic Neutrinos, or BEACON. BEACON will be a high altitude array of antennas that is sensitive to up-going tau neutrinos ($\nu_{\tau}$). These elementary particles serve as sources of information about the extraordinarily high energy events in the universe that create them, and also the laws of particle physics that govern their behavior. This report details the construction of a transient detector used to characterize site locations for future BEACON arrays. This transient detector and used in a field test at Owen\u27s Valley to assess the suitability of White Mountain Research Station as a potential site location and to motivate future design parameters for the first BEACON array to be built summer 2018