Building an observing instrument
After reading Jansky’s papers, Reber constructed a dish in his backyard in Wheaton, Illinois. Completed in 1937, the roughly nine-metre reflector was dedicated to astronomical observations.
References: [1]
Mapping radio emission
Using his equipment, Reber recorded and compared radio intensity across the sky and published the results. His sustained mapping helped turn the initial detection of extraterrestrial noise into a way to investigate the distribution of cosmic radiation.
References: [1]
Institutional and independent research
In 1947 he joined the National Bureau of Standards for radio research in Virginia. After leaving government employment, he continued in Hawaii and Tasmania. He donated his papers to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 1995.