As a bonus for good behaviour, we're allowed a brief visit to the Federation's SETI institute, thanks to Louise Dade.
The Federation S.E.T.I. Institute has been scanning deep space for signs of extra-terrestrial life and sending out their own signals since the mid-20th Century. Quite what they plan to do if they find anything hasn't been discussed. Not in public, anyway.
This dish (inspired by OptimalControl's) has an old-style 9v motor built into it (see it working) - which needed gearing down. A micromotor might have been better, but I didn't have a spare one.