SETI League Photo Gallery

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Wayne Thresher, the SETI League's volunteer regional coordinator for New Zealand, removed this discarded 7 metre dish from atop a local motel, and is now putting it on the air from his Ashhurst farm in the Pohongina Valley. SETI League photo

Here Wayne Thresher contemplates aligning a polar mount the wrong way around. A native of the United States, our transplanted Kiwi is still trying unsuccessfully to align his antenna on Polaris. SETI League photo

It was necessary to split the seven metre dish in half for transport. Here Wayne Thresher inspects the final welds before rejoining the mesh skin sections. SETI League photo

Wayne contemplates the future site of Arecibo South, a semi-spherical depression on his 5-acre spread which seems to be calling for a reflective surface and feedhorn towers. SETI League photo

The Central Institute of Technology near Wellington boasts a pair of 5 metre solid dishes on polar mounts, separated by 550 metres on an east-west baseline. Wayne Thresher and CIT Prof. Edwin Budding are contemplating combining the two as an interferometer at 1.42 GHz. SETI League photo

A close look at the RA/Dec mechanism of the one 5 metre dish now operational at CIT shows a healthy gear reduction system, capable of covering much of the southern sky with active tracking. SETI League photo

An overview of the 5 metre CIT dish and its equipment shed. While visiting the facility, SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch shared with the CIT electronics faculty some feedhorn design ideas. Of course, SETI use is contemplated. SETI League photo

The SETI League packed both sides of the aisle at the Royal Astronomical Society in Wellington, NZ in late January, 1998. About 80 enthusiasts attended an informative and entertaining lecture by executive director H. Paul Shuch. SETI League photos by Muriel Hykes

Dr. SETI sings about the Wow! Signal (left) and Karl Jansky (right) at his Wellington, NZ appearance. SETI League photos by Muriel Hykes

While her husband was meeting with radio astronomers from the Central Institute of Technology, SETI League den mother Muriel Hykes took time out to dip her toes in the Tasman Sea. SETI League photo

Kiwi dishes growing wild in their native habitat, at this abandoned Saturn Communications satellite relay station. The New Zealand SETI community is considering ways to acquire one or more of these massive antennas. SETI League photo

SETI League coordinator Wayne Thresher and CIT professor Ed Budding study one of Saturn Communications' equatorial mounts, in hopes of duplicating it for several of the amateur SETI stations now cropping up on North Island. SETI League photo

With the surplus metal 30 metre dish in the background, Wayne Thresher checks out a concrete mold used for forming slightly smaller parabolic reflectors. A biochemist by profession, Wayne had formerly manufactured fiberglas wingtips for airplanes, and sees no reason why he can't build a similar mold and lay up a few dishes. SETI League photo

Caught in the Act: Though it was the dead of winter in North America, January was summery and semi-tropical Down Under, and Dr. and Mrs. SETI found themselves getting distracted from the tasks at hand. SETI League photo by Ann Thresher

Click here for lots more pictures.

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