header
News
About
Data

Radiotelescope news

Chronological review of my work on radiotelescope, from the beginning of the build, to the data collecting and processing.
The construction began in Autumn of 2021. The radiotelescope is made of wooden elements attached together with a metal plate and covered in metal mesh.


First light
2/ 2024


First light of the telescope. The feedhorn was mounted, connected to the LNA and raspberry pi was placed in main cabinet. Hydrogen line was detected but there is a lot of interference in the signal in the form of narrow spikes. Interference was traced to the RTL SDR receiver under the dish, which was not enclosed in metal foil. After enclosing it in aluminium foil the interference was mainly gone. I plan to move the SDR to near the edge of the dish to further reduce interference it emits.

...
...


Various work
8-12/ 2023

The main electrical cabinet was mounted on radiotelescope pillar, new N-type connector replaced SMA connector on feedhorn, main electrical conduit was burried in the ground, wifi repeater was setup and Raspberry pi Zero was placed in the main cabinet.
...
...
...


Feedhorn First Light
11/ 2023

Bare feedhorn was tested using Radio astronomy software and it successfully detected Hydrogen line, even from noisy Zagreb. My own software was adjusted to reduce background noise and correct the slant in the pre-final data by calculating best fit .
...
...
...


Mounting the dish
7/ 2023

The parabolic reflector was mounted and welded onto a mount. Counterweights were installed
...
...
...
...
...


Feedhorn supports
6-7/ 2023
Welding of the feedhorn supports, painting them in white. Building of the feedhorn ring clamp and attaching it to feedhorn supports. Finishing making of new aluminium feedhorn. Making of the dish counterweights.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...


Feedhorn supports
5-6/ 2023
Cutting and mounting of feedhorn supports.
...
...


Building of the dish
3-5/ 2023
Filling the dish with 6mm steel wire. Putting a 8mm wire mesh inside the dish.
...
...
...
...


Concrete pillar
2/ 2023
Building of the concrete pillar with previously made mount on top
...
...
...
...


Building of the dish
9/ 2022
Mounting the wooden arcs on the center plate that holds them together. Aligning them, and mounting a flat steel tape around them, securing them together.
...
...
...
...


Building of the dish
6-8/ 2022
Making of the wooden arcs that will make up the parabolic reflector dish. The Cat approves.
...
...
...
...


Making of the mount
3/ 2022
Building of the Alt Az mount and painting it with primer.
...
...
...

Copyright 2024, Mario Matovina
Send me an e-mail