The parabolic dish antenna has been restored to mechanical working condition. The control system has been researched and the
next step is to install the system. Once the system has been installed it will need to be tested and made operational. Computer
software will be written and used for tracking. Initially the control will be from the Observatory Control Room that will be
cleaned-up and outfitted with the necessary equipment for operations.
 
 

This project involves the knowledge and understanding of receiver systems. A superheterodyne receiver will be installed on the
radio telescope. When this receiver has been installed and is operational it will need to be tested.
 
 

Receiver calibration is the first jump to a nominal system. Calibration is used so that when an RF emitting source is observed, one
can convert the data to calculate an intensity of the celestial source accurately.
 
 

Calibration starts by using the output from the receiver, which is a voltage. Then that voltage can be turned into a number that can
be related to the intensity of the celestial source doing the emitting. A common way to do this calibration is to calibrate the output in
terms of an input temperature. This can be done by installing a noise source at the antenna in the receiver box. This noise source
has its intensity calibrated in terms of temperature. From the control room one can switch between the connecting antenna to the
receiver input or connecting the noise source to the input of the receiver. By switching back and forth we can compare the noise
source to the antenna signal and hence develop a calibration scheme.
 
 

Once we have developed a calibration scheme the next point of attack will deal with temperature stability of the receiver. The
temperature must be stabilized to keep the gain of the system from drifting. If the gain drifts one can’t tell the difference between the
gain drift and a change in intensity from the celestial radio source.
 
 

Temperature stability can be accomplished in a number of ways. Some of those may include insulating the receiver, liquid cooling,
or just putting it in a controlled environment.
 
 

Of course, it would be necessary to feed back the coordinates of active locations to the software. This would be accomplished
through the use of a feedback system. Resolvers will be used to obtain this information from the dish mount, then through a
resolver-to-digital converter of 12-bit resolution will be transmitted back to the on-campus computer so that we can monitor the
dish’s location.
 
 

Along with transmitting the location data would be information from the receiver. The software should incorporate analysis of
receiver data to track strong signals as the earth rotates.