About SRT

The Small Radio Telescope (SRT) is developed by the Haystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as an inexpensive radio astronomy kit which provides everything needed to introduce students and amateur astronomers to the field of radio astronomy. The SRT is a continuum and spectral line radio telescope of observations in the L-band (1.42 GHz) and it was available as a kit from CASSI Corp. The SRT composes of a standard 2.3 meter diameter satellite television dish which mounted on a motorized Az-El mount. Controlling software was provided for free by Haystack Observatory for controlling the antenna and selection of sources. Data can be stored in plain text format and can be reduced by various softwares.

For more details, please refer to:

Specifications

FeaturesParameters
Aperture2.3 Meters
LO Frequency Range1370 - 1800 MHz
LO Tuning Step40 kHz
Preamp Frequency Range1400 - 1440 MHz
System Temperature150 K
Pointing Accuracy1 Degree
Travel Limits (degrees)0-360 Azimuth/~0-90 Elevation

Observation mode

Modebin spacing (kHz)number of binningbandwidth (MHz)
17.81250640.5
23.90625640.25
31.95312640.12
4*7.812501561.22
* mode 4 is suggested to need to display the hydrogen line with the digital receiver

The 25–point scan

The 25-point scan is a special observational mode of the SRT, which scans the region around the selected object using 25 pointings, each offsets in 3 to 5 azimuth and elevation degrees. An example pattern:

Scan offsets


Scan result map

Control software

The SRT control software is a JAVA-based program which displays the current status and information on the mount and receiver. A simplified sky map showing the major radio sources and pointing position of SRT helps the operation of SRT. Spectra and 25-point scan map are also displayed at the top. Through the control panel, user can easily operate the SRT via mouse clicks and/or line commands.