New SRT
The Small Radio Telescope was developed by Haystack Observatory to serve as an educational tool for universities and colleges for teaching astronomy and radio technology. The original SRT was popular, with several hundred being built and is still in use at many colleges. It is no longer available new, however, and advances in electronics have rendered the original obsolete. Development of a new SRT was undertaken by Haystack in summer 2012.
The primary philosophy of this new design for the SRT is that the users should build the telescope themselves from commercially available equipment, based on plans, instructions, and software provided by Haystack. It is designed to be assembled easily with minimal need for special tools or skills. This approach provides an educational opportunity to the users who build the telescope. Also, users of the SRT will be more familiar with how it works if they assemble it themselves, allowing better in-house technical assistance.
The version of the "New SRT" which uses the TV dongle is simpler, costs less and performs well. We recommend this verison over the older version which uses a DAS-4020-12 ADC card and a custom down converter. To build the version using the TV dongle use the feed, LNA, post amplifier and filter described by Dustin Johnson (pdf). The block diagram and the details of the version using the TV dongle is described by Marc Higginson-Rollins (pdf).
While the SRT is no longer available, a version of an assembled "New SRT" might be available from Cassi Corp in the future.