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28-01-2025
Receiver archaeology: digging for ALF
| Submitter: | Ilse van Bemmel, Lute van der Bult, Jeroen Herrewijnen, Mark Ruiter for the ALF project |
| Description: | Going back to the roots of ASTRON, literally and figuratively, the ALF project aims to develop an ambient temperature L-band receiver: the Ambient L-band Feed, or ALF. The project started in October 2024, and its goal is to determine the feasibility of such a system in the high RFI environment of the Westerbork telescope. A single WSRT dish, RT2, will be used. The project aims to build three demonstrators, the final one being the full ambient L-band receiver which will be used to study Fast Radio Bursts. The first deliverable of the project is to have a demonstrator on the telescope as soon as possible, using the technology we currently have in house. To model the dish and feed, the WSRT dish structure needed to be added to CAD. The old 1960’s drawings were recovered and digitized. The front-end box was modelled as well to make sure it can hold all the hardware for this and future demonstrators. In addition, the existing MFFE L-band feed will be used in the front-end, which required significant modifications. Only the L-band feed was kept, the others were removed from the frame. To ensure it is still cantered in the frame, new metal rods had to be made to mount it. The inside of the L-band feed has not been seen since it was closed after construction, and it revealed interesting insights. The feed system consists of a ridged waveguide horn, an orthomode transducer and an axial corrugated horn to ensure proper illumination of the 25-metre reflector. Going back in time to uncover old drawings, knowledge and receiver technology almost feels like doing archaeology. It connects the origins of ASTRON and the amazing work that happened here decades ago, to the cutting-edge technology of today. |
| Copyright: | ALF project, ASTRON |
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