Kiwi satellite earth station recycled – as radio telescope • The Register Forums

Sunday 3rd August 2014 23:00 GMT DJV

Excellent!

I'm now waiting for Jodrell Bank to come up for offer on Freecycle!

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1. Monday 4th August 2014 08:27 GMT Francis Boyle
  
  Re: Excellent!
  
  I think I saw Arecibo on there once but I had to pass since there was no pick up option.
  
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Sunday 3rd August 2014 23:18 GMT OzBob

If they are looking for intelligent life,

then it's interesting to note they are pointing the disk away from Hamil-tron.

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1. Sunday 3rd August 2014 23:58 GMT Smitty Werbenjaegermanjensen
  
  Re: If they are looking for intelligent life,
  
  and away from Oz :-)
  
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  1. Monday 4th August 2014 04:40 GMT Sorry that handle is already taken.
    
    Re: If they are looking for intelligent life,
    
    Maybe you guys can use it to beam a clue into our government?
    
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2. Monday 4th August 2014 04:50 GMT Deltics
  
  Re: If they are looking for intelligent life,
  
  And indeed away from New Zealand in general.
  
  Or Earth, for that matter.
  
  ;)
  
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3. Tuesday 5th August 2014 00:56 GMT LINCARD1000
  
  Hamiltron - Re: If they are looking for intelligent life,
  
  ...It's as if the voices of a million bogans cried out and were suddenly silenced...
  
  :-)
  
  Sorry to any SW fans in the audience.
  
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Monday 4th August 2014 01:10 GMT KrisMac

So pleased to see this!

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Warkworth station as a teenager - it was still an (almost brand new!) operational earth station at the time and I remember the chills up my spine when one of the technicians flipped a switch and someone's phone conversation started coming through the control room loudspeaker... I thought at the time it was both spooky and kind of cool - half a lifetime and an Edward Snowden event later it would just be creepy..

It is fantastic to see such an iconic piece of New Zealand's technological heritage being repurposed for worthwhile science - it would have been a true shame if the gas axes had come out for it...

*Edit: Spelling

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Monday 4th August 2014 15:35 GMT Ugotta B. Kiddingme

now THAT

is useful recycling. Good job and beer all round.

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Tuesday 5th August 2014 02:04 GMT pixelgeek

For those that remember...

If you want to see more of this beauty in its younger days. Go find an early(ish) New Zealand film called The Quiet Earth (stars Bruno Lawrence). Has a bit of a tiki-tour of the North Island during the "Apocalypse" and some iffy 80's acting.

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1. Wednesday 21st January 2015 14:54 GMT Alan Brown
  
  Re: For those that remember...
  
  The dish in "The Quiet Earth" is Warkworth 1 - that was dismantled in 2008.
  
  Picture at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/warkworth-satellite-earth-station - 2 is on the left, 1 on the right. The base of 1 is 3 floors high.
  
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Wednesday 21st January 2015 14:48 GMT Alan Brown

Pity it's Warkworth 2

The older dish (Warkworth 1) was more than twice the diameter.

It was quite impressive to see it as you crested the hill coming up the driveway

When you finally noticed the cars parked at the base and realised it was 3-4 times larger than it originally appeared, it was even more impressive

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