David DeBoer, William Welch, John Dreher, Jill Tarter, Leo Blitz, Michael Davis, Matt Fleming, Douglas Bock, Geoffrey Bower, John Lugten, G. Girmay-Keleta, Larry D'Addario, Gerry Harp, Rob Ackermann, Sander Weinreb, Greg Engargiola, Doug Thornton, Niklas Wadefalk
The Allen Telescope Array, originally called the One Hectare Telescope (1hT) [1] will be a large array radio telescope whose novel characteristics will be a wide field of view (3.5 deg-GHz HPBW), continuous frequency coverage of 0.5 - 11 GHz, four dual-linear polarization output bands of 100 MHz each, four beams in each band, two 100 MHz spectral correlators for two of the bands, and hardware for RFI mitigation built in. Its scientific motivation is for deep SETI searches and, at the same time, a variety of other radio astronomy projects, including transient (e.g. pulsar) studies, HI mapping of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, Zeeman studies of the galactic magnetic field in a number of transitions, mapping of long chain molecules in molecular clouds, mapping of the decrement in the cosmic background radiation toward galaxy clusters, and observation of HI absorption toward quasars at redshifts up to z=2. The array is planned for 350 6.1-meter dishes giving a physical collecting area of about 10,000 square meters. The large number of components reduces the price with economies of scale. The front end receiver is a single cryogenically cooled MIMIC Low Noise Amplifier covering the whole band. The feed is a wide-band log periodic feed of novel design, and the reflector system is an offset Gregorian for minimum sidelobes and spillover. All preliminary and critical design reviews have been completed. Three complete antennas with feeds and receivers are under test, and an array of 33 antennas is under construction at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory for the end of 2004. The present plan is to have a total of about 200 antennas completed by the summer of 2006 and the balance of the array finished before the end of the decade.
A class of large satellite communication antennas built in the mid-1970's comprise a potential set of large antennas available for use by radio astronomers upon upgrade. With the advent of low noise technology these facilities have been superseded in the communications industry by smaller, more manageable facilities. Although many have sat idle and decaying over the intervening years, these facilities remain a potential resource for research and education. A pair of such dishes has been acquired by Georgia Tech and one of the 30 meter antennas has been completely mechanically and electrically stripped and new mechanical, control, RF, and electrical systems installed. The antenna is now driven by four continuous-speed vector-controlled three-phase AC induction motors with variable frequency vector motor drives. Sixteen bit resolution optical absolute position encoders on each axis provide telescope pointing data. Sixteen bit resolution optical absolute position encoders on each axis provide telescope pointing data. A programmable logic controller provides interlock monitoring and control. The antenna is controllable both manually via a portable remote control unit and via a Pentium PC running control software on a real-time UNIX-based platform. The manual unit allows limited control at two user-selectable speeds while computer control allows full tracking capability with accuracies of better than 0.3 arcminutes. The facility can be remotely controlled via the internet, although currently only a dedicated line is used. The antenna has been refitted with an ultra-broadband feed system capable of operating from 1-7 GHz.
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