Skip to main content
Flying WV
West Virginia University · Radio Astronomy Instrumentation Laboratory DSPIRA

Browse

Every lesson

50 lessons in 7 modules. Search for a topic or browse below. Find a starting point.

A finished horn telescope on its wooden stand in a field.

Module 1 · 6 lessons

Horn Construction

Foil-faced insulation board, aluminum 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 and Can Assembly

    Cut the horn panels, join the seams, and attach the can receiver.

  4. Assemble the Can and Antenna

    Prepare the metal can, solder the copper probe, and install the feedthrough connector.

  5. Build the Cradle and Stand

    Build the wooden cradle and base that support the horn telescope.

  6. Optional activity

    Other Horn Designs

    Links to building other horn designs

A soldering station set up for assembling the low-noise amplifier.

Module 2 · 5 lessons

Receiver Electronics

The amplifier affects telescope sensitivity. Take time to choose and assemble it carefully. Compare the DSPIRA board with ready-made options before ordering parts.

  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. Optional activity

    PlutoSDR software Installation

    Steps for installing the PlutoSDR software on your computer

  5. Spectrometer Source Block Settings

    Settings in spectrometer for different SDR's

A GNU Radio flowgraph for the DSPIRA spectrometer.

Module 3 · 11 lessons

Software Setup

Ubuntu, GNU Radio, and the DSPIRA blocks. Review compatibility before choosing an installation route for your computer.

  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 DSPIRA Software

    Install the telescope applications and their processing blocks together.

  8. Optional activity

    Historical GNU Radio 3.8 Setup on Ubuntu 20.04

    Recover the older combined package for an existing GNU Radio 3.8 environment.

  9. Build a Simple Spectrometer

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

  10. Optional activity

    Raspberry Pi

    Details for setting up Raspberry Pi for Radio Astronomy

  11. Optional activity

    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.

Two observers running a horn telescope from camp chairs in a field.

Module 4 · 8 lessons

Observing

Set up and calibrate your telescope, record spectra, and analyze observations of the Milky Way.

  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 calibrated-spectrometer.grc program features

  5. Running the Calibrated Spectrometer

    Instructions on how to use the calibrated-spectrometer.grc program in GNU Radio

  6. How to Calibrate the Horn Telescope

    The procedure for calibrating the telescope using the calibrated spectrometer is outlined.

  7. 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

  8. Optional activity

    Setting Up a 2 Horn Interferometer

    Details of setting up 2 horns for doing interferometry

A spectrum with the 21 cm neutral hydrogen line standing above the noise.

Module 5 · 8 lessons

Digital Signal Processing

Six labs build a GNU Radio spectrometer one block at a time. Topics include sampling, Fourier analysis, filters, and correlation. Correlation turns two horns into an interferometer.

  1. Digital Signal Processing Lectures and Demonstrations

    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

    Build your first GNU Radio flowgraph and explore signals, sampling, and sound.

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

    Connect a radio receiver and investigate amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, and FM reception.

  5. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Fourier Analysis

    Build signals from sine waves and explore their Fourier transforms.

  6. Digital Signal Processing using GNU Radio - Digital Filter

    Design digital filters and compare their effects on signals and noise.

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

    Use I/Q signals, Fourier transforms, and window functions to build a radio spectrometer.

  8. Correlation and the Two-Element Interferometer

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

Horn telescopes and a lit tent under a field of stars at Green Bank.

Module 6 · 8 lessons

Astronomy

The part it is all for. Learn where to point and how hydrogen appears at 21 cm. Use a rotation curve to investigate 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. Optional activity

    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

Students setting up a horn telescope in a school parking lot.

Module 7 · 4 lessons

Community Labs

Schools, clubs, and students extend the curriculum with their own hardware. Projects cover cosmic rays, motorized mounts, and comparisons with published measurements.

  1. Optional activity

    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. Optional activity

    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. Optional activity

    A hydrogen line project at PhysicsOpenLab

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

  4. Optional activity

    Somebody motorized a horn telescope

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