Allen Telescope Array Update

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Ein Seti Xmas

December 23, 2004
by Dave DeBoer
Project Manager, Allen Telescope Array

A simple solution is generally less expensive to build, operate, and maintain. Usually, a simple solution is elegantly satisfying, and yields a superior result.

Take the Allen Telescope Array ultra-wideband front end (Figure 1). In order for a single facility to cover the desired 0.5 - 11.2 GHz bandwidth, a traditional solution would have required about 3 separate feeds and receiver chains and probably a "carousel" to allow them to be automatically switched in or out. This degree of complexity would have been required to receive the signals with high sensitivity and transport them back to the signal processing lab. It also just may not have fit within the space available and would be too costly. A means to receive, amplify and bring back the entire bandwidth at once would be simpler and better. But that had never been done before.

The elements that needed to be developed were: (1) a means to receive this wide range of frequencies (the feed), (2) a means to amplify the signals while injecting very little unwanted noise into the system (the low-noise amplifier, or LNA), (3) a means to further amplify the signals by a variable amount to allow for signal power changes (the post-amplifier module, or PAM), (4) a sufficiently inexpensive way to bring back this entire bandwidth to the lab (the optical transmitter, or OTX). All of these innovations were developed as a part of the project, and all are required for the ATA to be successfully built and operated.
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