This website has all the information you need to
consrtruct a 1/250 scale model of a:
34-meter (34m)-aperture Beam Waveguide (BWG)
Deep Space Station (DSS, a tracking antenna)
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL
 COMPLETED 1/250 SCALE MODEL |
The scale model has enough fidelity to demonstrate how most of its major mechanical components, and its larger microwave components actually work, as they track and communicate with interplanetary spacecraft in flight. It illustrates waveguide articulation as it rotates in azimuth and elevation.
This scale model may not be appropriate for people younger than about 14 years, depending largely upon motivation.
The scale model replicates a station like the 34m BWG DSS-55 at Madrid,
Spain, and its counterparts in Australia and the U.S. While you're building your scale model, you can view extensive
photography, video clips, and descriptions of building the real DSS-55 in
Spain: each step in model assembly offers links to appropriate photos and narrative.
//// CAUTION //// Assembling this scale model requires using, and changing blades of, a razor-sharp art knife. It is not intended for children except under strict adult supervision. |
Bigger and Better
Parts and assembly instructions on this site provide a simplified, relatively easy-to-construct scale model. However, by
studying this website and its links, an experienced model builder will see how easy it would be to improve on this version,
using materials obtained locally. Scale model and hobby shops have I-beams and other components available in plastic
and metal which would greatly improve on fidelity. This may be of interest for a school, a science museum, or a planetarium
wishing to build a 34m BWG DSS model of any scale.
 |
 Three 34m BWG DSSs, DSS-24, DSS-25, and DSS-26, appear to be tracking the same spacecraft, from the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California's Mojave Desert. |
The 34m BWG DSS was selected for this scale model because it is DSN's newest design. It offers a new concept in tracking antennas that are easily replicated in a small model, as well as being remarkable and of great interest to a builder who has some technical interest. It is fortunate that so many photographs of constuction an actual 34m BWG DSS (DSS 55 at Madrid), as well as narrative, have been made available.
Click below to build your 34m BWG DSS 1/250 Scale Model.
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL
