RV FEATURE
The giant transmission towers of Harold E. Holt Naval Communications Base( pic: SMH).
It is made up of over 130,000 2mtall Christmas tree-like antennas spread over 74 kilometres. While it’ s a vast and incredible scientific endeavour, it’ s in a very remote part of the country.
The dish at the Parkes Observatory is visually spectacular, and it holds a unique spot in Australia’ s scientific history. But it is not the largest single movable dish in the country. That title belongs to DSS-43 at the Deep Space Communications Complex in Canberra. At 64m in diameter, it is the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the southern hemisphere.
The huge dishes at Carnarvon make a great sight at night from the caravan park.
Another amazing radio telescope to visit is the Compact Array in Narrabri, NSW. It consists of six 22m dishes stretched along a 3km railway track. They make an extraordinary sight.
I think my favourite is the dish at the Carnarvon Tracking Station next to the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum. While it’ s only 26m in diameter, up close it’ s an impressive sight. Other dishes at the site make for some spectacular views at night.
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