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| September 2006 |
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CAD Model of KAT antenna structure design. |
The Karoo Array Telescope (KAT) team is working towards an antenna structure that will offer a design solution to meet the stringent technical and cost requirements of the much larger Square Kilometre Array (SKA). If they succeed, it will ensure significant involvement of local industry in constructing the SKA.
The construction of a KAT prototype antenna kicked off during August 2006 with the drilling of test holes at the construction site at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO). The results from this core drilling will provide important information on the soil conditions and the location of bedrock where the antenna will be anchored. The next steps will be to pour the foundations and to manufacture the antenna.
The antenna structure is the biggest structural and mechanical portion of the building of the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT). It consists of a concrete pedestal, a composite dish, a simple backup structure, the feed support legs and a feed rotator (this is required to prevent rotation of the field relative to the detector). Its novel design and the materials used in the manufacturing of the dish should produce significant cost savings. IST Dynamics in Pretoria is designing and developing the prototype dish, while MMS Technologies in Centurion is a partner in the manufacturing process.
The prototype dish will be on site at HartRAO by March 2007, and should be
commissioned by July 2007. The KAT team aims to have the full KAT array of
twenty antennas installed at the Karoo site by December 2009.
More information:
Square Kilometre Array
Related websites:
Southern African Large Telescope
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