The Engineering Development Array: A low frequency radio telescope utilising SKA precursor technology

Abstract

We describe the design and performance of the Engineering Development Array (EDA), which is a low frequency radio telescope comprising 256 dual-polarisation dipole antennas working as a phased-array. The EDA was conceived of, developed, and deployed in just 18 months via re-use of Square Kilometre Array (SKA) precursor technology and expertise, specifically from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope. Using drift scans and a model for the sky brightness temperature at low frequencies, we have derived the EDA's receiver temperature as a function of frequency. The EDA is shown to be sky-noise limited over most of the frequency range measured between 60 and 240 MHz. By using the EDA in interferometric mode with the MWA, we used calibrated visibilities to measure the absolute sensitivity of the array. The measured array sensitivity matches very well with a model based on the array layout and measured receiver temperature. The results demonstrate the practicality and feasibility of using MWA-style precursor technology for SKA-scale stations. The modular architecture of the EDA allows upgrades to the array to be rolled out in a staged approach. Future improvements to the EDA include replacing the second stage beamformer with a fully digital system, and to transition to using RF-over-fibre for the signal output from first stage beamformers.

9 figs, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in PASA

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• The Phase II Murchison Widefield Array: Design Overview
• Observations of Low-Frequency Radio Emission from Millisecond Pulsars and Multipath Propagation in the Interstellar Medium
• The All-Sky SignAl Short-Spacing INterferometer (ASSASSIN) I: Global sky measurements with the Engineering Development Array-2
• Measuring the global 21-cm signal with the MWA-I: improved measurements of the Galactic synchrotron background using lunar occultation
• Noise Temperature of Phased Array Radio Telescope: The Murchison Widefield Array and the Engineering Development Array
• Holographic Calibration of Phased Array Telescopes
• Accuracy vs. Complexity: Calibrating radio interferometer arrays with non-homogeneous element patterns
• A prototype for pulsar observations at low radio frequencies using log periodic dipole antennas
• Spectroscopy with the Engineering Development Array: cold H${}^{+}$ at 63 MHz towards the Galactic Centre
• The SKA Particle Array Prototype: The First Particle Detector at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory
• A Matched Survey for the Enigmatic Low Radio Frequency Transient ILT J225347+862146
• The Aperture Array Verification System 1: System overview and early commissioning results