We describe an "active" antenna system for HF/VHF (long wavelength) radio astronomy that has been successfully deployed 256-fold as the first station (LWA1) of the planned Long Wavelength Array. The antenna system, consisting of crossed dipoles, an active balun/preamp, a support structure, and a ground screen has been shown to successfully operate over at least the band from 20 MHz (15 m wavelength) to 80 MHz (3.75 m wavelength) with a noise figure that is at least 6 dB better than the Galactic background emission noise temperature over that band. Thus, the goal to design and construct a compact, inexpensive, rugged, and easily assembled antenna system that can be deployed many-fold to form numerous large individual "stations" for the purpose of building a large, long wavelength synthesis array telescope for radio astronomical and ionospheric observations was met.
@article{arxiv.1210.0506,
title = {A wide-band, active antenna system for long wavelength radio astronomy},
author = {Brian C. Hicks and Nagini Paravastu-Dalal and Kenneth P. Stewart and William C. Erickson and Paul S. Ray and Namir E. Kassim and Steve Burns and Tracy Clarke and Henrique Schmitt and Joe Craig and Jake Hartman and Kurt W. Weiler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1210.0506},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
33 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific