A Visit to the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory (and the surrounding Quiet Zone)

Because my kids went to college in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I sometimes found myself asking Google Maps how long it would take to get to the radio astronomy observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia.  It looked close on the map, but as these two guys found out, it really was quite far away.  So we never made the trip.  I am glad that these guys did. See the video above. 

Look, I am a former member of the SARA, the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers.  I am a huge fan of the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia, the focal point (!) of the movie "The Dish."   I also have on my shelf the book, "Big Ear Two -- Listening for Other Worlds" by John Kraus W8JK:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Kraus.  I am really interested in this stuff.  

This video was a really nice look at the observatory and at the surrounding area.  I may have to try again to get out there: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Radio_Astronomy_Observatory

 

The Art of Electronics #5 Paul Horowitz on SETI (and lots of other radio stuff)

In 2016 Paul Horowitz  talked about SETI at Google. Fascinating stuff.  Paul did an especially good job of weaving in a lot of radio/electronic and computer info.  

-- I was pleased to learn that one of the early radio astronomy antennas used plywood covered with copper.  I hope it was copper tape! 

-- I didn't know that the Fast Fourier Transform was something developed in the 1960s. 

-- Parkes Telescope!  Yea! 

-- Paul's "chirping" of receivers to screen out targets that are NOT doppler shifting (i.e. terrestrial signals). 

-- Paul tells the group that "amateur" does not mean unprofessional -- it means that the person is doing it for the love of doing it.  Amen. 

-- SETI at Home. 

-- Tube op-amps!  (was that two 12AX7s?)  

--  A variometer!  Wow!  I have two here -- one in the ET-2 regen receiver  (a gift from Pericles HI8P), and another that I homebrewed using a 35mm film can.  

Great stuff from Paul. 

Australia and Apollo 11 -- Honeysuckle Creek

Trevor reminded me that Parkes ("The Dish") was not the only Australian antenna at work during Apollo 11.  This very nice video gives a more complete description of what happened.  

I saw one piece of Collins gear.  And some of Curious Marc's HP frequency counters.  

More on the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station here: https://honeysucklecreek.net/

SETI, Proxima Centauri, The Parkes Dish, and Intermodulation Distortion?

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/exciting-mystery-space-technosignals-were-indeed-produced-by-sentient-life-us

A cosmically interesting troubleshoot.  But I'm not sure about their explanation.  Why would the intermod disappear when they moved the Parkes Radio Telescope off of Proxima Centauri?  

Opening up an Apollo Command Module Microwave Radio System

So much radio goodness in this video.  The enthusiasm of the narrator is unmistakable, and entirely justified. 

A number of things struck me: 

-- Nice shout out to our beloved Parkes Radio Telescope, of  "The Dish" fame. 

-- I like how the French narrator takes some friendly jabs at out use of "archaic British measuring units," and his skillful use of American slang" "Let's open up these bad boys!" 

-- Wow, they filled the radio cases with Nitrogen!  That will definitely save you  money on De-Oxit! 

-- When they opened up the boxes, the construction looked very similar to what I found inside my HP-8640B frequency generator.   

-- Collins built some of this stuff.  

-- 11.6 watts to transmit the TV signal from the moon. 

-- PLL.  

-- A tube type amplifier.  

--- Lots of SMA connectors, but many BNCs also, right? 

-- Finally, and this is really amazing:  THEY HAD A MORSE KEY WITH THEM, JUST IN CASE. 

Thanks a lot to Bob, KD4EBM for sending this to us.  There will be more episodes.  These guys intend to fire up the equipment. 

"The Dish" Turns 60

 

Thanks to Peter VK2EMU for alerting us to this important birthday.  

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-26/parkes-dish-will-assist-first-commercial-flights-to-the-moon/100027874

The Parkes Radio Telescope Picks Up a Possible "Wow" Signal from Proxima Centauri (maybe)

An article about SETI and our favorite dish.  From Scientific American:  

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alien-hunters-discover-mysterious-signal-from-proxima-centauri/

The Dish -- Virtual Tour -- New Indigenous Name

Thanks to Peter VK2EMU for this update on the Parkes radio telescope.  Parkes is the subject of our favorite movie about an antenna:  'The Dish."   If you haven't seen it, well, you are just wrong. 

The video update is very nice, with an interesting juxtaposition of old and new test gear.  

But the coolest thing that Peter sent us is the story of the Parkes Radio Telescope's new indigenous name: Murriyang in the Wiradjuri language: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-09/the-dish-is-given-a-wiradjuri-name/12862452   

Thanks Peter. 

The CHIME Radio Telescope and Fast Radio Bursts

The new Canadian radio telescope is very interesting.  It has a great name for a radio telescope:  CHIME  

And it it always nice to come across a reference to the Parkes Radio Telescope.  

More info here: 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/03/fast_radio_burst/

And here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_radio_burst

Good luck on getting a QSL from the FRB station.

The Antenna that Brought us Apollo 11

July 20/21 seemed like a good day to point to the beautiful shot of the Parkes Radio Telescope Dish, the magnificent Australian antenna that brought us the video from the Apollo 11 moon walk.  Like many of you, I was watching.   Three cheers for The Dish!  Three cheers for Apollo 11!


http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120719.html


As we've mentioned, this antenna and the Apollo 11 reception are the basis of a really nice movie called -- THE DISH.  Get it here:



Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Happy 50th Birthday to the Parkes Radio Telescope

http://www.cio.com.au/article/402613/australia_celebrates_50_years_dish_/?fp=16#closeme

This is my favorite antenna. And it is the subject of the BEST movie ever made about an antenna.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20