INTRO PAGE
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL

Prepare the Beam Waveguides*

View this stage of DSS construction.

KEEP THE WAVEGUIDE VERTICAL WHILE GLUE DRIES

• First, take a look at a diagram that shows what the waveguides are for.

• From Parts Sheet C, cut out the LOWER VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE #3. Curl it around a pencil so it will form a tube, on its own, about 1 cm in diameter.

• Apply white glue to the marked end of the WAVEGUIDE. Curl it around on itself, slightly past the reference line near the end. Press together while aligning into a neat tube 1.1 cm in diameter. Adjust its shape to be nearly cylindrical. One end of this part will need to fit snugly and rotate within the PINTLE on the model base, so test its fit, and adjust its diameter accordingly.

• Set the ALIDADE on your work surface. Stand the WAVEGUIDE inside the central hole in the bottom of the ALIDADE. It should drop loosely through the hole and stand vertically on your work surface. The WAVEGUIDE should be nicely perpendicular to the ALIDADE BOTTOM.

• Apply white glue between the WAVEGUIDE and the ALIDADE BOTTOM, forming a bead all the way around. Be careful to keep the WAVEGUIDE standing upright. Let the glue dry. After the glue dries, turn the ALIDADE upside-down and apply a small bead of white glue around the WAVEGUIDE where it protrudes. Be sure the ALIDADE BOTTOM doesn't deform while the glue dries.
  

MAKE AND INSTALL THE LOWER PERISCOPE

• COMPLETED LOWER PERISCOPE

  From Parts Sheet C, cut out the LOWER PERISCOPE. Carefully cut out both black circles with a sharp new blade in your art knife.

• Curl the LOWER PERISCOPE around a pencil so it will form a tube, on its own, about 1 cm in diameter.

• Apply white glue to the marked end of the LOWER PERISCOPE. Curl it around on itself, up to the reference line near the end. Press together while aligning into a neat tube 1.1 cm in diameter. Adjust its shape to be nearly cylindrical. Some of the glued end surface might protrude into one of the circular holes. Trim it out with a sharp art knife.

• Cut out two squares from Parts Sheet C and glue them to both ends of the LOWER PERISCOPE. When the glue dries, carefully clip the squares with scissors to make circular end caps.

• From Parts Sheet C, cut out the MAIN VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE #2. Curl it around a pencil so it will form a tube, on its own, about 1 cm in diameter. Glue into a neat cylinder as with the others.

• Insert one end of the MAIN VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE into one of the holes on the side of the LOWER PERISCOPE. Twist and rotate to get it in. It should be a very snug fit. Don't glue it yet.
  

• WAVEGUIDES AND LOWER PERISCOPE

  Set the LOWER PERISCOPE's other hole down on top of the LOWER VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE that comes up from the ALIDADE BOTTOM. Again it will be a very snug fit. Don't glue yet.

• Carefully twist the LOWER PERISCOPE so it points toward the starboard side of the ALIDADE. That side of the ALIDADE is marked with a small "S".

MAKE AND INSTALL THE UPPER PERISCOPE

• From Parts Sheet C, cut out the two halves of the UPPER PERISCOPE. Carefully cut out the black circles. Curl each piece around a pencil so it will form a tube, on its own, about 1 cm in diameter. Glue into neat cylinders as with the others, paying close attention to the guidelines marked GLUE, so their diameters will be correct.

• The tube marked INSIDE will fit snugly within the tube marked OUTSIDE. Notice the two thin diagonal lines near corners on the INSIDE piece. Bend these corners inward slightly, making a dent in the INSIDE tube. This will make it easier to insert and rotate one within the other.

• Insert the "dented" end of one tube into the other tube where it is marked OUTSIDE, and check that the fit is snug, and that it is easy to rotate one within the other. The completed UPPER PERISCOPE will resemble the LOWER PERISCOPE.

• Cut out two squares from Parts Sheet C and glue them to both ends of the UPPER PERISCOPE. Be careful not to let glue interfere with its slip-rotation capability. When the glue dries, carefully clip the squares with scissors to make circular end caps.

• Find the exact center of the circular end cap of the INSIDE part of the UPPER PERISCOPE. Mark the center with a dot on the outside of the end cap. This will called the ALIGNMENT DOT.
  

ALIGN AND GLUE THE WHOLE BEAM WAVEGUIDE

• Imagine a line going lengthwise through the UPPER PERISCOPE and passing through the ALIGNMENT DOT. This imaginary line will need to pass through the holes in both ELEVATION BEARING TABS on the ALIDADE sides.

• WAVEGUIDES ALIGNED "IMAGINARY LINE" SHOWN RED

  Spend a good amount of time adjusting the waveguides and periscopes to achieve the following:

  • Vertical waveguides are truly vertical and parallel with each other.

  • Upper and lower periscopes are parallel with each other and perpendicular to the vertical waveguides.

  • Waveguides are true and square as viewed from any angle.

  • The imaginary line passes exactly through the UPPER PERISCOPE and the two holes in the ELEVATION BEARING TABS.

• Once this is done and you are satisfied the waveguides are neat and square, carefully apply white glue at all the joints EXCEPT the UPPER PERISCOPE's swivel joint. You can reach through the ALIDADE structure with a bamboo skewer to apply the glue. Apply glue where the MAIN VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE contacts the ALIDADE structure. Be very careful not to disturb the alignment. Let the glue dry.
  

FINISH THE ALIDADE

• Fit the ALIDADE FRONT (which was set aside previously) up against the open section of the ALIDADE. Apply glue to the lower corners. When dry, bend in the upper section and glue in place.

• Remove the OUTER swiveling section of the UPPER PERISCOPE and set it aside.

• There's one more waveguide left, and it will be used in assembling the main reflector.

The DSS's WAVEGUIDES pass microwave radio signals between the reflector (and a distant spacecraft) and the equipment below the alidade in the basement pedestal. They contain optically flat metal mirrors (not represented in your model), two in each periscope, to maintain the microwave beam as the DSS rotates in azimuth and the reflector dish raises and lowers in elevation.

• Go on to the next step.               (Previous step)

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*The steps on this page may be accomplished separately, while progress is being made on other tasks. This is convenient if more than one person is working on the project, or while one is waiting for glue to dry on a different step.

Click below to build your 34m BWG DSS 1/250 Scale Model.

INTRO PAGE
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL