Sensitivity simulation and measurement of the SKA Band 1 wideband feed package on MeerKAT
Paper in proceeding, 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

Adriaan Peens-Hough

South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

Leif Helldner

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Magnus Dahlgren

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

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

Tobia Carozzi

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Ulf Kylenfall

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Lars Pettersson

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Miroslav Pantaleev

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP 2019

Vol. EuCAP 2019 8740087
978-88-907018-8-7 (ISBN)

13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP 2019
Krakow, Poland,

Infrastructure

Onsala Space Observatory

Subject Categories

Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

More information

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