Radio telescope PrimaLuceLab SPIDER230C.
Important:the delivery time is about 20 to 30 days from the date of order.In fact this time is necessary for our technicians to pre-install and test all the components of the radio telescope before delivery. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR PRICE AND DELIVERY TIME ACCORDING TO YOUR CONFIGURATION.
Observing the sky with the naked eye, let alone with binoculars or telescopes, is exciting but, until now, amateurs could admire the Universe only in a narrow band of electromagnetic waves, those of visible light.
PrimaLuceLab changes the rules, introducing SPIDER230C, the radio telescope that combines the most advanced radio technology with the most familiar to amateur astronomers to allow everyone to discover the fascinating world of radio astronomy thanks to a new highly sophisticated, modular and easy-to-use equipment.
The objects that make up the Universe emit a large amount of electromagnetic waves at different frequencies that are almost all filtered by the Earth's atmosphere. However, radio waves pass unhindered through our atmosphere and can also be captured by amateur astronomers thanks to SPIDER230C. This radio telescope has been developed by PrimaLuceLab to be the first instrument for amateur radio astronomy with which everyone can approach this fascinating science with simplicity and an accessible cost with an all-in-one solution of high scientific performance.
It is a fantastic amateur radio telescope with a large parabolic antenna of 2.3 meters in diameter. The SPIDER230C radio telescope uses the WEB230-5 antenna, a 2.3 meter diameter mesh dish antenna specifically designed to provide a large diameter at the lowest possible weight. Its weight is much less than that of a normal 1.5 meter diameter model, while offering better resolution capability over its entire surface (due to the larger diameter) and much lower sensitivity and vulnerability to wind (since the surface is perforated). The reflecting surface of this antenna (the primary reflector), consists of an aluminum mesh with 3x4 mm square holes to obtain an optimal reflection of radio waves with frequencies up to 5 GHz. This mesh material is placed and installed by hand by our technicians in order to obtain a parabolic surface as accurate as possible (within the limits of the mechanical support). The result is a superior quality parabolic antenna with mesh that offers higher gain and a more precise parabolic shape.
Don't think that its operation is too complicated, it is designed to be used with equatorial mounts!
Indeed, the SPIDER230C radio telescope is designed for use with computerized equatorial mounts already used by amateur astronomers on optical telescopes. These mounts simultaneously offer high load capacity and pointing/tracking accuracy at a reasonable price. Thus, if you already have an equatorial mount with a carrying capacity of at least 50 kg, such as the EQ8, and equipped with dovetail type Losmandy (the same used by many telescopes), you can already have your own first level radio telescope taking advantage of the mount, increasing the capabilities and potential of your observatory.
We supply the SPIDER 230C with an EQ8 SynScan mount but, if you already have an equatorial mount with at least 50 kg payload capacity, a dovetail clamp Losmandy and an ASCOM controller, you can order the radio telescope without the mount. The EQ8 mount (or other computerized mounts) is controlled by our RadioUniversePRO software through the ASCOM platform, so if you wish to use your mount, verify that it comes with an available ASCOM controller.
For proper operation of the radio telescope, the equatorial mount should not be installed on the tripod (which often does not provide sufficient rigidity), but on a separate column (recommended configuration). This way the parabolic antenna, while moving, never faces the risk of impact against the underlying mount.
Our equatorial mount support device (patented) allows you to install the WEB230-5 antenna on any equatorial mount (with dovetail Losmandy and load capacity of at least 50 kg, i.e. EQ8 type). Thanks to a sliding system of two counterweights to protect against accidental drops, you can obtain a perfect balance even on the declination axis for maximum tracking and automatic mount performance. Without counterweights, the radio telescope would be completely biased to the front (due to the weight of the primary reflector and the LNA + feedhorn group with support rods) and therefore would not be able to properly point and track objects in the sky. A special rear brace system increases the rigidity of the structure while minimizing the deformation of a large diameter dish antenna.
Specifications of the compact 2.3-meter diameterSPIDER 230C radio telescope:
- Antenna diameter (m): 2.3
- Antenna type: main focus
- Working frequency: 1420 MHz
- Bandwidth: 50 MHz
- Feeding: H-FEED, optimized for 1420 MHz
- LNA: 2 high gain, high stability 1420 MHz LNA units
- Polarization: circular, left and right
- Receiver: H142-One for 1420 MHz radio astronomy
- Spectrometer: 1024 channels
- Radiometer: instantaneous bandwidth of 50 MHz
- A/D converter: 14 bits
- Mount: EQ8 Skywacther GOTO equatorial Skywacther
- Field tripod
- Remote control: yes
- Maximum slew rate: 90 ° / min.
- Control software: RadioUniversePRO
- Weather resistant: no
Developed specifically for 1420 MHz Radio2Space radio telescopes, the H-FEED is designed for optimal illumination of the primary reflector, allowing high gain while minimizing side lobes and spillover, thus obtaining the best possible performance from the 2.3 meter dish antenna. The feedhorn is designed to allow dual polarization reception with support for two professional low noise amplifiers (LNA) for the 1420 MHz frequency. The hornfeed is placed at the perfect antenna focus point through a rigid structure with four supports to minimize obstruction, with a focusing device to precisely focus and maximize the performance of the entire radio telescope.
H142-One: the 1420 MHz receiver for radio astronomy, radiometer and spectrometer.
In order to get the best possible performance from the 2.3 meter diameter antenna of the SPIDER 230C, the H142-One receiver has been specially developed including a 1420 MHz superheterodyne type radiometer / spectrometer, double conversion (UP/DOWN type) with 50 MHz received instantaneous bandwidth (RF = 1.395MHz-1.445MHz) and 14-bit analog-to-digital converter. The H142-One receiver has a spectrometer with 1024 channels (every 61 KHz) which are displayed and processed in real time by the control software supplied with the radio telescope. Thanks to the high gain and low electronic noise of this receiver, the SPIDER 230C radio telescope can record many radio sources throughout the universe.
RadioUniversePRO: the control, data capture and processing software for radio astronomy.
SPIDER 230C comes with RadioUniversePRO software that is specifically designed to allow you to operate, verify all system parameters and record various results with the radio telescope. RadioUniversePRO can be installed on a standard Windows computer and is compatible with Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10. The graphical interface provides a simple mode with integrated planetarium that displays, in real time, the position of radio sources in the sky, and then allows you to simply use the SPIDER 230C radio telescope. At the same time, RadioUniversePRO offers the possibility to activate the advanced interface that adds many options, customizations and functions typical of professional radio telescopes and is therefore particularly useful for expert users (who will find in RadioUniversePRO the same modus operandi of large radio telescopes).
All the elements that make up the radio telescope are supplied pre-installed and then you just have to follow the instructions to install it in your observatory in a short time and start immediately to study the Cosmos through radio waves.
Spider230C is designed to record radio waves coming not only from strong and close sources such as the Sun or the Moon, but also from the most distant objects, which until now could only be studied by professionals.
Thanks to its high sensitivity, it is possible to record radio waves coming from faint objects such as Cassiopeia A (supernova remnant), Cygnus A (radio galaxy) or Taurus A (M1, supernova remnant). Thanks to the advanced features of the Spider230C software, different results can be obtained for each object: radio imaging, transits or continuous single-point monitoring.
Full dish dishes ensure, with the same diameter of a mesh model, a higher gain and are therefore theoretically ideal, but they are also much heavier (a 1.5 meter diameter aluminum dish weighs no less than 20 kg, much more than the primary reflector of our mesh dish which weighs only 10 kg). Thus, on the same mount (for example, an EQ8), you can install our 2.3 meter diameter WEB230-5 dish antenna, instead of a much smaller full dish antenna. Thus, the WEB230-5 brings many advantages:
- Our mesh dish antenna is larger in diameter, so it brings greater sensitivity to the entire system and ensures better resolving power that allows you to record finer details.
- The full parabolic dish also reflects infrared radiation which heats up the system concentrating the heat on the sensor and therefore increasing electronic noise. Our mesh dish antenna does not reflect infrared to avoid overheating of the LNB.
Optionally you can also equip your radio telescope with a dome. Equatorial mounts are not water resistant so it is necessary to cover the radio telescope with a special protective structure (which should also protect the dish antenna from strong wind). In this way, the instrument will always align easily and quickly, as the mount can maintain polar orientation and alignment stars thanks to the parking functionality. The dome also serves to protect the radio telescope from the wind: when exceeding 25 km/h it is necessary to keep the radio telescope pointing to the zenith (the vertical) and keep the dome closed.
NOTE: The delivery time is about 20 to 30 days from the date of the order. In fact this time is necessary for our technicians to pre-install and test all the components of the radio telescope before delivery. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR PRICE AND DELIVERY TIME ACCORDING TO YOUR CONFIGURATION.
Radio telescope PrimaLuceLab SPIDER230C.
