Radio telescopes are used to observe our universe and to provide astronomers with detailed images and spectra.ASTRON’s R&D department develops antenna technology to receive radio signals from the universe. There are different types of antennas: dishes such as used in the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), and dipoles such as used in the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). Many antennas are required to be able to do our science for the signals are very weak and because we need very sharp images. The WSRT has 14 dishes and LOFAR consists of over 100.000 small dipoles. Combining the signals from all antennas is called interferometry and requires electronic boards, photonic links, supercomputers and a lot of algorithms and software.

RF course (Toegepaste RF-techniek)

The market for wireless devices has grown unimaginably. Cordless telephone, cable modem, anti-theft labels, remote control, wireless internet: Radio frequency technology (RF) has penetrated all aspects of daily life.

Many technicians, including test and verification engineers, work with high-frequency systems. Understanding the coherence of system components is extremely important for overseeing effects, causes, and consequences. Because high frequency aspects play an increasingly important role in the design of embedded electronics, the RF course is also excellent as an introduction for Digital / Analog engineers who are or will be involved in the development of RF systems. More information (site is in Dutch).