Sensitivity simulation and measurement of the SKA Band 1 wideband feed package on MeerKAT
Paper in proceedings, 2019
Advances in wideband feed technology for radio telescopes enable high sensitivity observations over large bandwidths. The wideband quad-ridge flared horn (QRFH) feed package for Band 1 of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) was optimized for high sensitivity. The 3:1 feed package covers 350-1050 MHz and is a complete room temperature system with low-noise amplifiers integrated inside the ridges of the horn. The QRFH is dual-linear polarized and designed with spline-defined profiles for the horn and ridge shape. Measured feed s-parameters show input reflection less than -11 dB across the band with good port isolation. In this paper we present the first measured sensitivity levels of the Band 1 feed package, which was tested on the SKA precursor reflector MeerKAT. We also present measured aperture efficiency and intrinsic cross-polarization (IXR). The measured results show good agreement with simulations.
meerkat.
wideband
measurement
antenna
square kilometre array
quad-ridge flared horn
Author
Jonas Flygare
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
Adriaan Peens-Hough
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
Leif Helldner
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
Magnus Dahlgren
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
George Smit
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
Pieter Kotze
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
Ronny Wingdén
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
Tobia Carozzi
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala Space Observatory, Observation Support
Ulf Kylenfall
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
Lars Pettersson
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
Miroslav Pantaleev
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory, Electronics Laboratory
13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP 2019
Vol. EuCAP 2019 8740087
13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP 2019
Krakow, Poland,
Krakow, Poland,
Infrastructure
Onsala Space Observatory
Subject Categories
Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering