Receivers
As of mid 2010 the Station has three large antennas in use. The CDSCC also uses the Parkes radio telescope in central New South Wales at busy times to receive data from spacecraft. There are plans to build up to three additional 34 m beam waveguide antennas by 2015. The first of these will be DSS-35 with preliminary construction having begun in July 2010.
- DSS-34 is a 34 m beam waveguide antenna, which uses a system of radio frequency mirrors to place the receiving and transmitting hardware underground rather than on top of the dish. It is the most recent antenna at CDSCC, being built in 1997.
- DSS-43 is a 70 m dish originally constructed as a 64 m in 1973 and enlarged in 1987. It is the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the Southern Hemisphere.
- DSS-45 is a 34 m dish built in 1986.
- DSS-46 is a 26 m dish. It was moved in 1984 from Honeysuckle Creek, where it was built in 1967. It was decommissioned in late 2009. In May 2010 the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) declared the antenna a Historical Aerospace Site.
- DSS-49 is the designation of the 64 m dish at Parkes.
The station's collimation tower is located approximately 3 km to the north-west, on Black Hill.
Read more about this topic: Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex