How-To: Build a synthetic aperture radar from $240 of junk

Ever wish you could build a radar system like the ones used on space missions and spy satellites? Want to do it for less than $250? Well then, Greg Charvat has the solution for you, with The $240 High Resolution X-Band Linear Rail SAR Imaging System. By using his intellect and skillfully mining ham radio swap meets, he was able to build a working synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capable of capturing high resolution scans of tiny things. For instance, the above message was actually written in push pins, hidden behind a foam plate.

Ok, the directions are a bit sparse, and you will need some extra components that aren’t included in that price (such as a PC capable of driving the system), but it’s still a pretty impressive feat. Here are some of the features of the system:

High-resolution X-band rail SAR developed for $240
Built in my garage and basement
Built from surplus microwave components
Point-to-point wiring and other construction techniques
Utilizes a Geni garage door opener screw-drive for a linear rail
Surplus cordless drill planetary gear set transmission coupling

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3 Responses to How-To: Build a synthetic aperture radar from $240 of junk

W8ESE on June 16th, 2010 at 1:06 pm said:

It was quite funny to see greg’s sar up here, its pretty far from a ‘how to’ and would be quite difficult to replicate, but it was a very cool graduate school project, and many good times were had playing with it and frankenstein.

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badran ghosn on December 5th, 2011 at 10:31 pm said:

dear pal…i like your work..thank you…but you see ..it is all now about cash…you cant have a wife if you dont have it…so..we need a sort of metal locator that can find gold or diamonds…i was thinking of using a sort of lnb dish?? or a develob for old ground risistance meter? till now no reliable metal locator was made..max distance is 2 meter no more…thnx…badran lebanon

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philip glass on May 17th, 2012 at 4:59 am said:

well Badran, if you stop buying this worthless junk that you think is genuine phoenician art, then you will probably have enough money to buy an OKM and find the real artifacts yourself. You should really be careful what you buy. Most of the glass you show is nothing but a modern forgery from Syria. These bastards have been flooding the market with their crap. Just be careful.

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