DSPIRA Lessons

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Every lesson

All 51 of them, in 7 modules, each in the order it is meant to be worked through. Start at the top of module one, or filter for what you need.

Module 1 · 5 lessons

Horn Construction

Foil-faced insulation board, aluminium tape, dimensional lumber, and a paint-thinner can for the throat. The finished stand is 75 cm across, so it fits through a classroom door.

  1. What is Needed to Build a Horn Radio Telescope

    Overview of the different parts of a horn telescope

  2. Horn Construction Information

    An overview of horn construction is described, with appropriate links

  3. Horn & Can Assembly

    Instructions for building horn-can component

  4. Detailed Instructions for Assembling the CAN

    The CAN is made up of a paint thinner can and an antenna

  5. Other Horn Designs

    Links to building other horn designs

Module 2 · 5 lessons

Receiver Electronics

The amplifier is what decides how good your telescope is, so it is the part worth taking time over. Build the DSPIRA board for about $30 in parts, or buy one ready-made and get on with the observing.

  1. Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) Options

    Options for obtaining an LNA

  2. Detailed LNA Construction Instructions

    LNA Soldering Instructions for Each Component

  3. SDR Options

    Software Defined Radio (SDR) options

  4. PlutoSDR software Installation

    Steps for installing the PlutoSDR software on your computer

  5. Spectrometer Source Block Settings

    Settings in spectrometer for different SDR's

Module 3 · 11 lessons

Software Setup

Ubuntu, GNU Radio, and the DSPIRA blocks. The flash-drive route turns any Windows machine into a spectrometer without touching its hard disk.

  1. Computer and Software Needs for the Horn Telescope Spectrometer

    Details on computer systems that can be used to operate the horn spectrometer

  2. Steps for Installing Software on a Computer

    Details of horn telescope software installation on a computer

  3. The Command Line and Git

    The handful of Linux commands and git steps the rest of these lessons assume you already know

  4. Installing Ubuntu

    Details for partitioning a hard drive and installing Ubuntu OS on a Windows computer

  5. Installing Ubuntu 22.04 with spectrometer_w_cal.grc on Bootable Flashdrive

    Instructions for copying the Ubuntu/spectrometer_w_cal image on a bootable flashdrive

  6. Installing GNU Radio

    Details for installing GNU Radio

  7. Installing gr-radio_astro

    Details for installing gr-radio_astro

  8. Installing gr-radio_astro on Ubuntu 20.04

    Details for installing gr-radio_astro on Ubuntu 20.04

  9. Build a Simple Spectrometer

    Introductory GNU Radio lessons are presented along with steps for building a simple spectrometer

  10. Raspberry Pi

    Details for setting up Raspberry Pi for Radio Astronomy

  11. Download and Install WVURAIL Radio Astronomy OS for Raspberry Pi

    Step by Step instructions for downloading and installing Radio Astronomy Operating System for Raspberry Pis.

Module 4 · 10 lessons

Observing

It works in daylight, in the rain, and from a school car park. All it needs is open sky and somewhere to sit.

  1. What is a Horn Telescope?

    Overview of what makes up a horn telescope and what it detects

  2. What Can a Horn Telescope Measure?

    An overview of what a horn telescope detects

  3. Setting up the Telescope

    Details on setting up the telescope for use

  4. Horn Telescope Spectrometer Description

    Description of the spectrometer_w_cal.grc program features

  5. Running the spectrometer_w_cal.grc Program

    Instructions on how to use the spectrometer_w_cal.grc program in GNU Radio

  6. Instructions on Running spectrometer_w_cal

    Instructions on how to use the *spectrometer_w_cal* program

  7. How to Calibrate the Horn Telescope

    The procedure for calibrating the telescope using the spectrometer_w_cal program is outlined.

  8. Horn Operation Tutorials

    Documents and videos explaining the operation of the horn telescope

  9. Observations - Mapping the Sky and Measuring the Rotation Curve

    Reduce the data your telescope produces - a drift map of the sky, and the rotation curve of the Milky Way

  10. Setting Up a 2 Horn Interferometer

    Details of setting up 2 horns for doing interferometry

Module 5 · 8 lessons

Digital Signal Processing

Six lab exercises that build a spectrometer in GNU Radio one block at a time: sampling, Fourier analysis, filters, and finally correlation, the trick that turns two horns into an interferometer.

  1. Digital Signal Processing

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of lectures and demonstrations

  2. Making Waves with Fourier Series

    Students make complex waves by adding various sine cosine waves

  3. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Introductory Lab

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of labs using GNU Radio

  4. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Software Defined Radio

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of labs using GNU Radio

  5. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Fourier Analysis

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of labs using GNU Radio

  6. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Digital Filter

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of labs using GNU Radio

  7. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Fourier Analysis and Radio Astronomy

    A deep dive into Digital Signal Processing through a series of labs using GNU Radio

  8. Correlation and the Two-Element Interferometer

    Convolution, autocorrelation and cross-correlation, and why two horns see what one cannot

Module 6 · 8 lessons

Astronomy

The part it is all for. Where to point, what hydrogen looks like at 21 cm, and how a rotation curve ends up as an argument for dark matter.

  1. The Milky Way Galaxy

    The Radio Horn works best with the Milky Way, so let's learn about it

  2. Astronomy Activity : Understanding Celestial Coordinate Systems

    A quick introduction to different coordinate systems used in astronomy

  3. Tools for Observational Astronomy

    The Radio Horn works best with the Milky Way, so let's learn about it

  4. How Fast Are We Moving?

    Exploring how fast we are moving in the Milky Way Galaxy

  5. Measuring the Earth's Speed around the Sun

    This is a multi-activity lesson leading towards measuring the Speed of the Earth around the Sun

  6. Determining a Velocity Curve of the Milky Way Galaxy

    Instructions and handouts for determining a velocity curve of the MWG

  7. Interferometry

    Basic theory and instructions for operating a 2-horn interferometer

  8. Astronomy Lecture Recordings

    The astronomy lectures from the DSPIRA summer institute - six recordings and the slides - and where to read further

Module 7 · 4 lessons

Community Labs

Schools, clubs and students who built the hardware and then went somewhere the curriculum does not: cosmic rays, motorised mounts, and checking the thing against the literature.

  1. Cosmic rays and radio, at the WISRD lab

    A student group running the horn telescopes alongside a cosmic ray detector, looking for radio from air showers

  2. Is the telescope good enough for the public?

    A WVU undergraduate tested the DSPIRA design against published values to see whether it holds up outside a classroom

  3. A hydrogen line project at PhysicsOpenLab

    An independent write-up of a 21 cm hydrogen line receiver, published as project documentation

  4. Somebody motorised a horn telescope

    An independent Instructables build that borrowed the DSPIRA horn design and put it on a motorised mount