<p>From my simplistic analysis, it's not good for much.</p>
<p>For comparison, the first <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope" rel="nofollow noreferrer">radio telescope</a> was 9 meters.</p>
<p>One of the favorite parts of the spectrum for radio telescopes is the water hole - 21 cm.</p>
<p>From my quick mental arithmetic, this dish would be able to <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_resolution" rel="nofollow noreferrer">resolve</a> sources of 21 cm signals of they were about 5 degrees apart.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-06-02T02:04:06.457Z
2021-05-11T09:18:22.460Z
2021-05-11T09:18:22.460Z
andy256
<p>Rather than looking for ready-made systems, take a look at projects. Right now, plenty of amateurs are using software defined radio coupled to various antennas for astronomy. Start here:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-for-budget-radio-astronomy/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-for-budget-radio-astronomy/</a></p>
<p>And while it has nothing to do with imaging, there's plenty of radio astronomy that amateurs can do using simple (albeit sometimes large) antennas:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://radio-astronomy.org/pdf/qex/radio-jove-proof.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://radio-astronomy.org/pdf/qex/radio-jove-proof.pdf</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.radiosky.com/project.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.radiosky.com/project.html</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-04T20:00:26.433Z
There is a Mexican radio-astronomer with a podcast who contributed to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast.  He did discuss building one's own.  I can't remember his name, but his podcast (or perhaps the one from Green Bank) might be very interesting to the OP.
IchabodE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-06-03T18:25:15.837Z
2021-05-11T09:19:21.583Z
2021-05-11T09:19:21.583Z
blamblambunny
<p>There are apparently not many reasonably priced radio telescopes available for the amateur users. I only could find <a href="http://www.primalucelab.com/radioastronomy/spider230-amateur-radio-telescope.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a SPIDER 230C 2.3 meter diameter compact radio telescope</a>, which costs ~10 k€. Reading the page, I don't get a good overview what kind of things I could &quot;see&quot; with a radio telescope that has a 2.3 meter antenna.</p>
<p>Is the instrument already a (semi-)professional one?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-11T20:44:43.660Z
Related question with very insightful answer: [How big a dish do I need for radio astronomy?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/21833/37191)
B--rian
<telescope><amateur-observing><radio-astronomy>
What kind of things I could "see" with an amateur radio telescope?
mmh
# What kind of things I could "see" with an amateur radio telescope?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-01)

There are apparently not many reasonably priced radio telescopes available for the amateur users. I only could find [a SPIDER 230C 2.3 meter diameter compact radio telescope](http://www.primalucelab.com/radioastronomy/spider230-amateur-radio-telescope.html), which costs ~10 k€. Reading the page, I don't get a good overview what kind of things I could "see" with a radio telescope that has a 2.3 meter antenna.

Is the instrument already a (semi-)professional one?

**Tags:** telescope, amateur-observing, radio-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related question with very insightful answer: [How big a dish do I need for radio astronomy?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/21833/37191)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-06-03. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

Rather than looking for ready-made systems, take a look at projects. Right now, plenty of amateurs are using software defined radio coupled to various antennas for astronomy. Start here:

<http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-for-budget-radio-astronomy/>

And while it has nothing to do with imaging, there's plenty of radio astronomy that amateurs can do using simple (albeit sometimes large) antennas:

* <http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/>
* <http://radio-astronomy.org/pdf/qex/radio-jove-proof.pdf>
* <http://www.radiosky.com/project.html>

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: There is a Mexican radio-astronomer with a podcast who contributed to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast.  He did discuss building one's own.  I can't remember his name, but his podcast (or perhaps the one from Green Bank) might be very interesting to the OP.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-06-02. Score: 5

From my simplistic analysis, it's not good for much.

For comparison, the first [radio telescope](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope) was 9 meters.

One of the favorite parts of the spectrum for radio telescopes is the water hole - 21 cm.

From my quick mental arithmetic, this dish would be able to [resolve](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_resolution) sources of 21 cm signals of they were about 5 degrees apart.


---

