The Parkes radio telescope modified for rapid receiver changes

Author

Thomas, Bruce Maca ; Schafer, Jeffrey T. ; Sinclair, Malcolm W. ; Kesteven, Michael J. ; Hall, Peter J.

Author_Institution

Australia Telescope Nat. Facility, CSIRO, Epping, NSW, Australia

Volume

39

Issue

2

fYear

1997

fDate

4/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

54

Lastpage

66

Abstract

This paper describes improvements to the Parkes 64 m radio telescope. It is being upgraded to allow rapid switching between receivers, and to track the best-fitting focus as the elevation angle changes. Carried out under contract on behalf of NASA, the upgrade included installing a low-noise 2.3 GHz receiver for tracking the spacecraft Galileo in 1997. We explain the mechanical and structural aspects of the upgrade, including the need to replace the existing focus cabin with a larger unit, and the effect of the increased weight at the prime focus on the focusing characteristics and reflector accuracy. Finally, we summarize the designs of the feed and receiver to optimize the antenna-efficiency/temperature ratio at 2.3 GHz for the Galileo mission

Keywords

radio receivers; radiotelescopes; reflector antenna feeds; space communication links; tracking; 2.3 GHz; Galileo; Parkes radio telescope; antenna-efficiency/temperature ratio; best-fitting focus; designs; elevation angle; feed; focus cabin; focusing characteristics; low-noise 2.3 GHz receiver; rapid receiver changes; spacecraft; tracking; upgrade; Australia; Frequency; NASA; Radio astronomy; Receivers; Receiving antennas; Reflector antennas; Solids; Surface fitting; Surface treatment;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1045-9243

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/74.584502

Filename

584502