SETI League Photo Gallery

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Members of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers tour the 140 foot radio telescope at Green Bank, WV. A Project Phoenix SETI run from this antenna commenced the week following the 1997 SARA meeting. SETI League photo

SETI League charter member Mike Gingell surveys a field of telescopes from atop the base of the Green Bank 140 foot dish. He admits that even the smallest radio telescope on site at Green Bank eclipses his own two SETI dishes. SETI League photo

SARA members visited the construction site of the 100 meter diameter Green Bank Telescope (GBT) during their 1997 Annual Meeting. About a dozen SETI League members were in attendance. The antenna mount is seen behind the group, with the dish surface support structure on the ground to the left. NP2DP photo

Closer look at the GBT antenna mount, much of which was erected during the weeks just prior to the 1997 SARA meeting. NP2DP photo

Another view of the GBT mount shows how much iron has been hoisted aloft since last year's SARA meeting. SETI League photo

This portion of the GBT mount will soon hold the reflector surface's supporting structure. SETI League photo

A SARA member studies the underside of the GBT surface support structure. Latest estimates call for the telescope to be completed during 1998, and fully operational in 1999. NP2DP photo

Another view of the backup structure for the GBT 100 meter reflector surface. The feed arm with secondary reflector will mount at the left front corner. This structure will be covered with 2620 panels, each individually adjustable by motor driven screw actuators at the corners. NP2DP photo

This view begins to suggest the paraboloidal shape of the GBT's 100 meter primary reflector. SETI League photo

SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch relaxes beneath the GBT surface support structure. NP2DP photo

The view from beneath the reflector's support structure leaves little doubt that the GBT will be the world's largest fully steerable parabolic antenna. SETI League photo

Several SARA members are seen here discussing the GBT mount. The counterweights seen above their heads are being gradually filled with concrete to balance the antenna as it is being assembled. NP2DP photo

The GBT reflector is a 100 meter diameter section of a larger (208 meter) parent paraboloid. The basic design strongly resembles a Ku-band Direct Broadcast Satellite receive antenna. The GBT's secondary reflector will be mounted off center, so that none of the aperture will be blocked. NP2DP photo

Here the secondary reflector is assembled to its support structure, prior to mounting on the dish itself. SETI League photo

A receiver cab also mounts on the secondary reflector's support structure. This area will contain multiple antenna feeds and receiver front ends on a turntable, to facilitate rapid switching between several different frequency bands. SETI League photo

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