Recently, the European public procurement of the APERTIF Telescope Cabins has been completed. The contract has been awarded to the Dutch company COMTEST Engineering B.V. in Zoeterwoude.
Published by the editorial team, 20 November 2012
APERTIF, Focal Plane Array technology, aims to increase the field of view of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) with a factor 30. The Telescope Cabins will house the receivers and digital processing electronics of the APERTIF Phased Array Feeds. Faraday cages will be installed in the cabins to shield the highly sensitive antennas from the RFI generated by the powerful processing boards. The design of the cabins is very similar to the containers placed near the LOFAR international stations.
The containers (twelve in total) will be installed at the WSRT from January to March 2013. The photo shows an impression of the cabinets next to the Westerbork dishes.