Development of a low-noise active balun for a dual-polarized planar connected array antenna for ASKAP

Shaw, Robert D.; Hay, Stuart G.; Ranga, Y.

doi:10.1109/iceaa.2012.6328666

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This receiver can be connected to test arrays mounted on the aperture-array test pad or at the focus of the nearby 12 m dish via RF coaxial cables in trenches. The upgraded facility was recently used to verify an enhanced ASKAP LNA and chequerboard array design that has low-noise performance over the full 0.7 GHz to 1.8 GHz band (Shaw, Hay, & Ranga 2012). This improvement will be included in the ASKAP Design Enhancements (ADE) PAF (Hampson et al 2012).…”

Section: Ongoing Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Noise Temperatures of Phased-Array Antennas for Astronomy at CSIRO

Chippendale

Hayman

Hay

2014

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

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We describe the development of a noise-temperature testing capability for phased-array antennas operating in receive mode from 0.7 GHz to 1.8 GHz. Sampled voltages from each array port were recorded digitally as the zenith-pointing array under test was presented with three scenes: (1) a large microwave absorber at ambient temperature, (2) the unobstructed radio sky, and (3) broadband noise transmitted from a reference antenna centred over and pointed at the array under test. The recorded voltages were processed in software to calculate the beam equivalent noise temperature for a maximum signal-to-noise ratio beam steered at the zenith. We introduced the reference-antenna measurement to make noise measurements with reproducible, well-defined beams directed at the zenith and thereby at the centre of the absorber target. We applied a detailed model of cosmic and atmospheric contributions to the radio sky emission that we used as a noise-temperature reference. We also present a comprehensive analysis of measurement uncertainty including random and systematic effects. The key systematic effect was due to uncertainty in the beamformed antenna pattern and how efficiently it illuminates the absorber load. We achieved a combined uncertainty as low as 4 K for a 40 K measurement of beam equivalent noise temperature. The measurement and analysis techniques described in this paper were pursued to support noise-performance verification of prototype phased-array feeds for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope.

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Section: Ongoing Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Noise Temperatures of Phased-Array Antennas for Astronomy at CSIRO

Chippendale

Hayman

Hay

2014

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

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“…Enhancing the measurement capability has been crucial for verifying designs and highlighting areas for development of the modelling capability. The theoretical, modelling and measurement capabilities have all been necessary for the development of our current designs and good agreement of modelling and measurement has been shown in [36], [38]- [40]. For a given system, however, component and fabrication variability as well as drifts with time and temperature make it difficult to precisely predict the individual element parameters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Measuring radiotelescope phased array feed noise and sensitivity

Hayman

Chippendale

Hotan

et al. 2014

The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)

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Various challenges have arisen in the measurement of phased array feeds for radiotelescopes. We focus here on measuring the equivalent noise temperature and the sensitivity of these feeds. We outline the differences between characterizing phased array feeds compared with traditional single horn feeds and provide results from our experience in developing phased array feeds for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder.Index Terms-active arrays, antenna array feeds, phased array feeds, focal plane arrays, antenna measurements, radio astronomy, measurement.

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“…Successive generations of chequerboard currently under development have been verified to meet the 50 K system temperature specification across the entire band (Shaw et al 2012). These new Mk II systems will be installed on all ASKAP antennas, eventually replacing the BETA Mk I PAF systems.…”

Section: Physical and Electrical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder: System Architecture and Specifications of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array

Hotan¹,

Bunton²,

Harvey-Smith³

et al. 2014

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

130

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This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope -the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.

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Development of a low-noise active balun for a dual-polarized planar connected array antenna for ASKAP

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Measuring Noise Temperatures of Phased-Array Antennas for Astronomy at CSIRO

Measuring Noise Temperatures of Phased-Array Antennas for Astronomy at CSIRO

Measuring radiotelescope phased array feed noise and sensitivity

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder: System Architecture and Specifications of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array

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