History of the SBMS / OVRO EME Project


In February of 2004, three members of SBMS participated in the First Annual West Coast Conference of The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers. The conference was hosted by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory.

During a tour of the 40 meter antenna, it was suggested that a proposal be made to the observatory to put the dish back on the air. Naturally, the thoughts of EME flashed through our heads.

A proposal was presented to the director of the observatory who asked us, "When can you start?"

The rest is history. Our team began a design, and with a surplus receiver housing from the antenna, built two transverters and feeds, one for 1296 MHz, and the other for 10.368 GHz.

Team members built 144 MHz IF systems, control systems, and helped survey the antenna's cable plant.