This is another experiment to explore other usages of my Dobson mirror Telescope.
After some thermal wavelength tests , capturing the moon using a thermal camera, I now go even lower in frequency :
The Radio Spectrum in the microwave frequency range.
https://www.astrobin.com/users/wanni60/collections/1692/Basically a "mirror telescope" can also receive and reflect radio frequencies , unlike a Teleskop made of optical lenses .
My Dobson telescope has a 305 mm mirror which is quite small compared to a typical
TV Radio dish ( 0.8m to 1m) and much smaller as my 2.5 m Radio Telescope dish.
The intended observational Frequency below 10.7 GHz is
a small frequency window internationally reserved for Radio Astronomy.
Using a conventional LNB, the frequencies are down-converted below 1 GHz
which can be received by any SDR (Software Define Radio) block and
and a Raspberry pi computer using open source Software ( i.e. Gqrx).
For my first tests , I targeted a GEO Radio Amateur Satellite, which was launched a couple of years ago :
https://amsat-dl.org/eshail-2-amsat-phase-4-a-qatar-oscar-100/I succesfull decoded the the radio beacons of QO-100 and also could tune into some Audio SSB transmition.
Why all this?
Unfortunately I cannot use my main radio dish for tracking any object in the sky.
Such a tracking mount for a 2.5m Dish would cost a fortune.
The Dobson can track and using my own software, which I had developed for long exposure to receive the so called "Hydrogen Line" ,
I can even be more sensitive, than just observing the milky way at meridian transit with the stationary large dish.
https://www.astrobin.com/297645/D/?nc=collection&nce=238What possibly can I detect there? I don't know yet.
I will first try some well known galactic Radio Sources and track them for several hours. Let's see what I can get.
Unfortunately I can only observe during good weather conditions without heavy rain and winds
for not wearing out the dobsonian rocker-box, which is made out of plywood.
However a little shower would not be a problem, as I protected the main and secondary mirror.
If the first experiments are promising, I think about a small plastic dome to cover the Dobson.
B.T.W : Such a setup can also be used for a "one satellite(star) alignment" of a telescope during daytime or overcast !!!
There are many GEO broadcast satellites which can be used for this in almost any location of the planet.
any comments or questions highly welcome
cheers
Wanni
Comments