DSN Radio Astronomy
Capabilities Overview

Last updated by Tom Kuiper on 2002 July 25
In the table, Italics indicate equipment under DSN configuration control. Such equipment cannot be modified or reconfigured for radio astronomy experiments, but may be used as is. White table cells indicate a future capability.

DSN Complex
Location		 Station ID
Coordinates		 Diameter
(m)
Type1
Az. Range2		 Frequencies
(GHz)		 Aper.
Eff.		 System
Temp.
(K)		 Polarizations Observations
Types
Supported		 Spectrometers VLBI3
Recorders
Name Type Num. of
Channels		 Bandwidth (MHz)
Min.Min.
Canberra
DSCC
Tidbinbilla
ACT
Australia		 DSS-34
148° 59' E
-35° 24'		 34
BWG
-315°/+180°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP or RCP VLBI DAVOS FFT 16384 20 20 Mk IV
S2
4.7 - 5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP or RCP
31.86 -- 32.08 0.5 24 LCP Parkes AC 8192 0.0625 16
DSS-43
148° 59' E
-35° 24'		 70
ME
-225°/+360°		 1.610 - 1.705 0.5 25 LCP Radiometry
Spectroscopy
VLBI
2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP 4096 32 64
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
18 - 26.5 0.5 40 LCP and RCP sao4k4 AC 4096 0.125? 400
DSS-45
148° 59' E
-35° 24'		 34
HEF
-315°/+180°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP VLBI
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
Goldstone
DSCC
Ft. Irwin
CA
USA		 DSS-125
 34
equatorial		 2.245 - 2.345   20 LCP or RCP Radiometry
DSS-136
243° 12' E
35° 15'		 34
BWG
-90°/+360°		 2.245 - 2.345 0.7 20 LCP or RCP Radiometry
Spectroscopy
VLBI		 WBSA FFT 8192 0.15625 40 Mk IV
Mk IV
8.4 - 8.6 0.7 20 LCP and RCP
10 - 12.5 0.7 20 crossed linears
18 - 26.5 0.6 50 LCP and RCP CSP FFT 8192 0.15625 80
27 - 37 0.5 65 LCP and RCP
37 -- 50 0.57 100 LCP and RCP
77 - 100 0.157 150 linear spb500 AC 1024 0.125? 500
DSS-14
243° 08' E
35° 26'		 70
ME
-220°/+310°		 1.610 - 1.705 0.5 25 LCP Radiometry
Spectroscopy
VLBI
2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP
7.9 - 8.7 0.7 24 LCP and RCP jpl1k AC 1024 0.125? 400
18 - 26.5 0.5 60 LCP and RCP
DSS-15
243° 07' E
35° 25'		 34
HEF
-315°/+180°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP VLBI
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
DSS-24
DSS-25
DSS-26
243° 08' E
35° 20'		 34
BWG
-90°/+360°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP VLBI
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
31.86 - 32.08 0.5 24 LCP
Madrid
DSCC
Robledo
Madrid
Spain		 DSS-54
355° 45' E
40° 26'		 34
BWG
-90°/+360°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP or RCP VLBI Spectra-
Data		 FFT 512 1 10 Mk IV
S2
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP or RCP
31.86 -- 32.08 0.5 24 LCP
DSS-63
355° 45' E
40° 26'		 70
ME
-220°/+310°		 1.610 - 1.705 0.5 25 LCP Radiometry
Spectroscopy
VLBI
2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP sao4k7 AC 4096 0.125? 400
18 - 26.5 0.5 40 LCP and RCP
DSS-65
355° 45' E
40° 26'		 34
HEF
-90°/+360°		 2.2 - 2.3 0.7 18 LCP and RCP VLBI
8.4 - 8.5 0.7 24 LCP and RCP
1) BWG: Beam Waveguide, an azimuth/elevation mounted with a radio Coudé focus.
HE: High Efficiency: azimuth/elevation mounted antenna with coaxial S/X feeds at the Cassegrain focus.
HSB: High Speed Beam Waveguide, designed for tracking near-Earth objects.
ME: Master Equatorial, an azimuth/elevation mounted antenna slaved to an equatorially mounted direction indicator.
2) The elevation range of all azimuth/elevation mounted antennas is 6° to 88° though shadowing by mountains may further constrain the minimum elevation.
3) All stations have a hydrogen maser frequency standard and are time-synchronized to the GPS.
4) sao4k belongs to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. It is available when onsite (generally during the local winter) by special arrangement with Dr. Lincoln Greenhill.
5) Telescope is dedicated to K-12 education programs. Requests for use should be directed to the Lewis Center for Educational Research, Apple Valley, CA (gavrt.org)
6) DSS-13 is the DSN R&D facility. It is not used for routine spacecraft tracking. None of the equipment is under DSN configuration control.
7) Above 40 GHz, only the inner 26-m of the antenna are illuminated because of the perforations in the outer panels.