Daily Image
15-09-2008
The LOFAR LBA-LNA in production
| Submitter: | Henri Meulman |
| Description: | The LBA-LNA is the Low Noise Amplifier of the LOFAR Low Band Antenna. The picture shows a circuit board with two such amplifiers, one for each of the two polarizations of the incoming radio signals. These units will be placed at the center of the two dipole antenna's that make up a LBA. The LNAs will amplify the very weak signals from galaxies far - far away, in the Low frequency band 30MHz to 80MHz, while adding only a very small amount of noise. In the picture you can see the electronics that form the heart of the LBA-LNA. The four antenna wires will be soldered to the printed circuit board, forming two highly sensitive dipole antennas. Then the electronics will be sealed in, protected against wind, rain and sunshine. Thousands of these antennas together will constitute the "ears" of the biggest low frequency radio telescope in the world. One of our local industrial partners in the north of the Netherlands, the electronics firm Neways in Leeuwarden, is producing these LBA-LNAs at this very moment. |
| Copyright: | Astron |
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