Category: Deep Space Exploration Society

The 30-Foot Dish Funding Campaign

A Major Milestone for the Deep Space Exploration Society – Please Donate

We need to raise $50,ooo to complete the installation of a recently acquired 30-foot dish – here is the story and how you can contribute.

In June 2024, the Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES) completed one of the largest and most ambitious field operations in its history: the rescue of a 30-foot parabolic radio dish antenna that was just days away from being cut up for scrap.

This dish—graciously donated by Patti Clark, widow of the late Robert B. Clark, K0YW—is now safely in Colorado and will soon be reassembled at the DSES Radio Astronomy Site in Haswell.

Why This Dish Matters

Large-aperture antennas of this size are rare, expensive to build, and invaluable for radio astronomy, deep-space signal work, and STEM education. Securing this dish expands our long-term capability to:

  • Train students in hands-on radio science and engineering
  • Support NASA and citizen-science space missions
  • Conduct deep-space observations and research
  • Preserve and demonstrate legacy amateur-radio technology

This rescue ensures that Robert Clark’s passion for radio science will continue to inspire future generations.

The Rescue Operation (June 23–26, 2024)

A dedicated nine-person DSES crew traveled to Ignacio, Colorado, to dismantle and recover the antenna under challenging and often hazardous conditions.

  • The dish was found in a sideways orientation, making disassembly far more difficult.
  • Temperatures routinely exceeded 90°F with no shade.
  • Crane and man-lift operations required careful coordination and safety planning.
  • Every component—from tower sections to counterweights—was photographed, labeled, and preserved.

Despite initial doubts from even the crane operator, the team developed a safe method to remove the feed, counterweights, support structure, tower, and dish.

Hundreds of bolts, brackets, and assembly parts were marked, cataloged, and stored for accurate reassembly.

Rescue Team

Myron Babcock KL7YY (project lead),
Chas Barrett WD0C, Richard Hambly K0GD, Roger Oakey W3MIX,
Paul Sobon NO0T, RC Teal AI0RC, Ray Uberecken AA0L,
and Elaine Hambly K0ARR (photographer)

“One of the Most Challenging Projects We’ve Attempted”

DSES member Elaine Hambly, K0ARR, captured the experience in her field report: Save the Dish Report

“When we arrived on June 23rd, we faced what looked like an impossible task… The dish was sideways instead of upright, and even the crane operator had doubts.

Our team planned every step, documented every part, and endured long hot days to save this antenna.

Transport to Haswell

The following week, three fully loaded trailers carried the rescued components to the DSES site in Haswell, Colorado.

A larger volunteer crew—including Bill Miller KC0FHN and others—unloaded the parts and moved them into temporary storage.

The dish sections, tower components, pedestal, struts, counterweights, Rohn 45 sections, and hardware are now secured on-site and ready for reconstruction.

Next Phase: Rebuilding the Dish at Haswell

The 30-foot dish will be installed on a new concrete foundation engineered for long-term scientific use.

Once reassembled, this instrument will:

  • Expand our educational programs
  • Support deep-space and hydrogen-line observations
  • Provide backup and experimental capability alongside the 60-foot dish
  • Serve as a laboratory for students, educators, and citizen scientists

This will be one of the most significant upgrades to the Haswell facility in over a decade.

How You Can Support the Rebuild

DSES is now seeking financial support to fund:

  • Concrete foundation construction
  • Crane and heavy-equipment operations
  • Mechanical and structural refurbishment
  • Electrical, control, and RF system integration

Your tax-deductible donations will directly accelerate the reconstruction.

Donate Online:

Donation Information

Contact:

Paul Sobon, NO0T
President, Deep Space Exploration Society
303-601-5773
pauls@dses.science

A New Chapter for DSES

The successful rescue of the 30-foot dish marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Deep Space Exploration Society.

With your support, this instrument will soon help advance STEM learning, radio astronomy research, and community science for years to come.

DSES Fall 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of the DSES Newsletter.  This newsletter is intended to keep the membership aware of all the DSES activities and projects.

In this edition we have Operational updates from Bill Miller and descriptions of some recent Science projects from Dan Layne.

We plan to publish a newsletter every quarter.  Please let us know if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions.

Local Community Event

In a recent initiative aimed at strengthening community ties, Rob McMasters, a valued Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES) member with roots in Las Animas and now residing in Idaho, organized a noteworthy event on Saturday, April 26th, 2025, following the Friday Santa Fe Trails Days celebration. This gathering was specifically designed for educators and interested individuals from neighboring communities, many of whom Rob has longstanding connections with from his upbringing.

Read a report by Bill Miller DSES VP on the event here: Local Event

Earth-Venus-Earth 2025 Report

Paul Sobon, DSES President and EVE25 project manager, has written a report covering all aspects of this project. The EVE experiment was conducted on March 22, 2025.

Read the report here: EVE25 Report

Update: ORI has provided their detailed link budget analysis here: Link Budget

EVE 25 Control Room

EVE25 Main Assembly

2025 SARA Western Conference

The 2025 Western Conference of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers was held on March 14th through the 16th. Bill Miller, DSES VP, attended and presented a talk on the DSES facilities and activities.

In his report, in addition to an overview of the conference, there are links to the presentation video recording and slides.

SARA Western Conference Report

2025 Science Fair Awards

Bill Miller provided this report on the DSES team judging at the Pike Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair:

On Saturday, February 22nd the DSES team consisting of Barb McAllister, Roger Oakey, Bill Thomas, and Bill Miller participate as special awards judges for the Pike Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

We judged the senior and junior projects by splitting them into two-person teams. For time savings with so many projects to cover, we tried to judge only those projects that had some relevant aspect to what we do in our society involving, space science, radio, computers, engineering, energy, and other technically relevant areas.

For the full report click here: 2025 Science Fair.

Science Meeting 1/27/25

The first Science Meeting of the year included two interesting topics:

“Cascade Noise Figures” by Ray Uberecken

“System 1 Tracking Modifications” by Lewis Putnam, Glenn Davis and Phil Gage

The video presentation can be found on the DSES YouTube Channel here.

Las Animas High School Visit

Doug Leber provided the following report on the recent Las Animas High School Visit to the DSES site:

The Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES) hosted its first high school field trip on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, when seventeen Las Animas High School students and three staff members toured the Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center outside Haswell, CO.  About half the students will participate in this year’s Colorado Science Olympiad competition. Jennifer Pointon, Science Olympiad coach, and Las Animas High School counselor, said she wanted students to see the Plishner facilities and learn how DSES can provide opportunities for research and mentorship in astronomy, radio, electronics, and engineering. Joshua Japhet (Las Animas HS Dean of Students and Science teacher) and Cody Hines (Las Animas HS Instructional Coach) also helped make this visit successful.

Bill Miller, DSES Vice President, gave an overview of the organization’s history and the years of effort required to revive the 60-foot-diameter radio telescope at the Haswell site. He introduced radio astronomy and some of the studies DSES members have conducted since restoring the telescope, including detecting pulsars and masers, observing solar and planetary radio emissions, and mapping the hydrogen line to show which galaxies are moving toward or away from Earth.

DSES Board member Ray Uberecken and DSES member Roger Oakey showed students how we control the dish to track and focus on deep space objects as Earth revolves. Mr. Japhet said students enjoyed watching how the huge dish moved.  Mr. Uberecken also showed different ways radio frequency signals are represented, using an oscilloscope to show a signal’s waveform in real-time (the frequency and shape of an electrical signal) and the same signal in a waterfall display, which shows its intensity and relationship to other signals nearby on the radio spectrum.

Students then braved the intense winds and cold to venture to the bunker location of the DSES amateur radio station, where Board member Paul Sobon demonstrated how long-distance contacts are made using high-frequency (HF) transceivers. Under his supervision, several students learned to call ‘CQ,’ the amateur radio shorthand for “I’m here and ready to take your call!” Unfortunately, because band conditions were poor, no student got a response. Later, Paul Sobon reached a radio amateur in the Canary Islands, and students observed two-way HF radio communication between stations over 5,000 miles apart.

Since 2009, society members have devoted hundreds of hours to rebuilding the Plishner site. In 2023, a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) provided funds to complete a new building suitable for hosting groups.

DSES President Myron Babcock noted that this field trip visit to the Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center reflected the dreams of Michael Lowe, former Board DSES Board President, who sought to create a center for radio astronomy and space science education in Southeast Colorado. Over the next year, DSES hopes to host more school trips to the Plishner Center and work with area middle- and high-school students to advance their studies in science and radio.

 If you are a parent, teacher, or school representative interested in learning more about DSES and how the society can support your students, please contact Doug Leber, the DSES education outreach coordinator.