Welcome to the TABRTP

In May, 1996, Tracey Delaney and Alison Peck undertook a graduate lab project to construct a radio telescope from found parts in the various "boneyards" connected with New Mexico Tech and the VLA. We have had very good luck finding things we can use in a number of old military radar shacks. Although the project has evolved substantially since its inception, we include only brief details and photos here.

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The day you've all been waiting for has arrived! Alison has finally got organized enough to attach the PostScript version of the report. (Some of the figures are still missing...I'll work on that) In the meantime, here is the text, and the figures.

Fig 1 || Fig 2 || Fig 3 || Fig 4 || Fig 5 || Fig 6 || Fig 7 || Fig 8 || Fig 9

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Also, here are some links to other people's radio telescope projects.

Rob & Ernie's Radio Telescope

NOTE: I've had a little trouble with this site crashing my browser...

If you've built a radio telescope, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Let us know and we'll add your picture here, too!

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Now, here are our photos.

	May 22, 1996 This is the receiver we decided to use. It works in either X-band (8 GHz) or C-band (5 GHz). It contains all the necessary components except the local oscillator, and so in this photo we have connected an oscillator externally and an additional signal generator in order to measure the gain and plot the bandpass of the receiver.
May 31, 1996 Here are Tracey and Dave Westpfahl looking proud of a dirty old crate which we were promised would contain an 8-foot antenna.
	May 31, 1996 Tracey and Alison leap back in astonishment as the top of the crate collapses as soon as they pry the nails out.
May 31, 1996 Dave surveys the wreckage.
	June 5, 1996 One of the surprises we found inside the crate was a controller for the drive motors which appears to be in perfect condition. We'll find out when we try to turn in on, of course, but we might be able to use it! (Getting replacement tubes if one blows could be challenging...)
July 10, 1996 Howard Beckley doing some precision machining for the project. (Having precisely located the bolt, he can no longer determine how fast it's going.)
	July 10, 1996 Howard working on the feedhorn he made for our radio frequency interference (RFI) survey.
July 15, 1996 A good start towards our modelling career.
	July 15, 1996 Here are the amplidynes which power the drive motors.
July 15, 1996 The inside of the antenna pedestal.
	July 15, 1996 We had to LIFT this counterweight.
August 9, 1996 The nasty old control panel and power conversion unit that we rewired.
	August 9, 1996 Severe rodent damage!
Sept 10, 1996 Embarking on the RFI survey.
	August 19, 1996 Our dirty picture.
Not part of our project
James Mathis

If you'd like to make any comments, suggestions or requests, send 'em to apeck@mailhost.nmt.edu. We'd love to hear from you!

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Last Revised:Tuesday, 20-May-1997 15:57:49 MDT