  We have designed and built a large-throughput dual channel photometer,
  Diabolo. This photometer is dedicated to the observation of millimetre
continuum diffuse sources, and in particular, of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
and of anisotropies of the 3K background. We describe the optical layout and
filtering system of the instrument, which uses two bolometric detectors for
simultaneous observations in two frequency channels at 1.2 and 2.1 mm. The
bolometers are cooled to a working temperature of 0.1 K provided by a compact
dilution cryostat. The photometric and angular responses of the instrument are
measured in the laboratory. First astronomical light was detected in March 1995
at the focus of the new Millimetre and Infrared Testa Grigia Observatory (MITO)
Telescope. The established sensitivity of the system is of 7 mK_RJ s^1/2$. For
a typical map of at least 10 beams, with one hour of integration per beam, one
can achieve the rms values of y_SZ ~ 7 10^-5 and the 3K background anisotropy
Delta T/T ~ 7 10^-5, in winter conditions. We also report on a novel bolometer
AC readout circuit which allows for the first time total power measurements on
the sky. This technique alleviates (but does not forbid) the use of chopping
with a secondary mirror. This technique and the dilution fridge concept will be
used in future scan--modulated space instrument like the ESA Planck mission
project.
