Speaker
Description
Abstract: As a part of a major infrastructure upgrade, Aalto
University Metsähovi Radio Observatory will renew the receivers and
data acquisition systems of its 14-metre radio telescope. A key part
of this upgrade is a new ultra-wide-bandwidth triple-band receiver
that is able to simultaneously observe at 18-26, 34-50 and 80-116
GHz. The dual-beam, gain-stabilized receiver will have more than an
order of magnitude better sensitivity in single-dish continuum
observations compared to the current receivers and allow wide-band
spectra to be measured simultaneously. Furthermore, the new receiver
will allow Metsähovi to carry out very long baseline interferometry
(VLBI) observations using frequency-phase-transfer technique to
compensate for the phase errors due to tropospheric delay fluctuations
and significantly increase the sensitivity of VLBI at short
mm-wavelengths. I will discuss the status of the receiver upgrade, the
related backend project and the commissioning plans.
