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West Virginia University · Radio Astronomy Instrumentation Laboratory DSPIRA

Community Labs

A hydrogen line project at PhysicsOpenLab

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

Equipment and preparation · Optional activity
Equipment
A browser and PDF reader for the project report. Its receiver and construction choices differ from the DSPIRA route.
Before you start
Use this as an optional project reference. Compare its equipment list with your telescope before adapting the design.
Planning your time
Review the tasks before scheduling a class. A classroom duration has not been confirmed for this lesson.

Teaching guidance

PhysicsOpenLab publishes worked experiments for people doing physics outside an institution — detectors, spectrometers, electronics. Their hydrogen line project documents a 21 cm receiver end to end.

Hydrogen Line Project Documentation (view PDF)

It is worth reading next to the DSPIRA build for the parts where it makes different choices. Different builders solve the same problem: getting 1420 MHz signals from the sky into a computer. Their hardware choices differ with cost, available tools, and spare parts.

All 4 lessons in Community Labs Published July 1, 2020