Starlink Antenna

B

BillC

Guest
Amazing wunder who worked that out . I need a low frequency version for my TV. wind blew it down and smashed it.
 
B

BillC

Guest
Ray, some years ago I had a tour through the Parkes Radio Telescope , one of the receiver heads had microwave antenna . I think it was multi layer etched PCB. I wonder if it is similar to the Starlink Phased Array?
IMG_1753.JPG
 
V

VK3YNV

Guest
Hi Bill,

Yep, that looks like the same type of antenna, the driver/receiver board underneath looks pretty slick.

I've been watching YouTube videos on patch antennas, very interesting stuff.
 
V

VK2RK

Guest
Those receiver units that hang at the dish feed point in the Parks Telescope are immersed in nitrogen, this to reduce the thermal noise with in the panel, increasing its sensitivity.
Not sure if the one in the picture above is one of them.
 
B

BillC

Guest
Thanks for the interest I will load a few images of the radio hut . The receiver crane outside on top of the hut, Receivers in the hut ,View down one of the legs etc. Most of the RF gear seemed to be by mini circuits. Yes vacuum and cooling in the rcvr heads
IMG_1812.JPG
 
B

BillC

Guest
Looks like 13 Fets in this receiver head pre amp .Temp in kelvin ,vacuum in torr.
 
B

BillC

Guest
If I remember correctly I think at the time I was at Parkes they were experimenting with that phased array antenna system. The last image is the Multibeam status panel.
 
V

VK3YNV

Guest
Some beautiful engineering there, thanks for posting those pictures.
 
B

BillC

Guest
Hi Ray, Last night I looked up Parks Radio Telescope , Lots of images and lots of change since I was there, take a look at the new phased array receiver being hoisted into the hut ,also on the truck in one image seems to be the multi beam receiver which was in place when I climbed into the hut. All the gear is beautifully made .
 
B

BillC

Guest
Looks like John O'Sullivan from CSIRO developed That green phased array ,as seen in the first image.
 
V

VK3YNV

Guest
Hi Bill,
Great picture, I notice that the dish is dipped right down for the receiver installation, can you remember, does that bring the feed point out over the edge, so that would then be a straight vertical lift from the truck?
 
B

BillC

Guest
Hi Ray. Yes when the dish is tilted over , the winch cable clears the edge of the dish such that a truck can deliver a receiver for instalation ,usually one out then the new one in. The receiver is hoisted right up to the top of the crane on top of the hut , the dish is then placed to a horizontal position, then the receiver is lowered into the hut through the roof hatch . After that there are many hours of work building up the receiver and fitting and testing the support systems , it is high end technology for sure. There is space for two receivers in the hut each looks at different frequency ranges , the chosen unit may be slid/positioned over the aperture for the job in hand. In one image one may observe coiled umbilicals on a tray , that is to allow for horizontal displacement of the receiver when being used or parked. Fantastic engineering the whole thing.
 
Top