Daily Image
26-10-2010
Visit to CSIRO and the ASKAP site
| Submitter: | Laurens Bakker |
| Description: | In August-September I visited CSIRO for 6 weeks, in order to get acquainted with the people who are developing and building ASKAP, and to gain a better understanding of the complete ASKAP system. As part of this visit we investigated the possibility of integrating an ASTRON APERTIF tile in the ASKAP receiver package. After some discussion, we decided to go for a 172 element Vivaldi array in order to make a good comparison with the CSIRO "chequerboard" array. Clear electrical interfaces were defined. The most challengeing part will be to incorporate the 65dB of gain required in the receiver package (APERTIF has "only" 42dB of gain). Plans are to install 3 of these Vivaldi arrays on three of the first 6 ASKAP dishes. Every good collaboration is a two-way street. For APERTIF we still need to develop a temperature stable synthesizer. During the visit I had the opportunity to have a look at the ASKAP synthesizers, which seem to be temperature stable, and look promising for APERTIF. Another highlight was the visit to the ASKAP site at Boolardy. Most impressive was the total emptiness of the landscape. It will be a real challenge to integrate the antenna, PAF and all the other electronics on such a site. A lot will happen in the coming year. |
| Copyright: | ASTRON |
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