I remember a fairly sketchy bit of gear at my old university that an amateur could have definitely made for themselves (if I recall correctly the dish was made

I remember a fairly sketchy bit of gear at my old university that an amateur could have definitely made for themselves (if I recall correctly the dish was made with chicken wire). They used it for observing the Vela pulsar for a very long time (like years and years) and looked at how the pulses changed with time.