We are currently in the process of upgrading the North-South arm of the Molonglo telescope to similar or sensitivity as the operational East-West arm, using technology designed on site and at Swinburne University of technology.
The project is a major part of a Future Fellowship, awarded by the Australia Research Council, to Dr Adam Deller at Swinburne.
Combined with the East-West arm, UTMOST-2D will lead to localisation of the origin of Fast Radio Bursts to a few arcseconds on the sky, sufficient to identify the host galaxy from which they came.
Removal of the defunct modules on the North-South arm, so that legacy electronics can be stripped and refitting done with the new antennas, LNA (Low Noise Amplifiers) and beamformer boards can be carried out.
UTMOST-2D antenna and Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) coupling for use on the North-South arm upgrade. The dual-pole design brings about 10 times the sensitivity of the receivers on the East -West arm.
Chief Technical Officer Tim Bateman with one of the “cassettes”, an 8 antenna, dual-pole feed 1.4 meters long. Cassettes will have two single pole beamformers giving instantaneous electronic steering in the North-South direction, and a field of view for the array of about 16 by 2 degrees.
The UTMOST-2D team members including Adam Deller, Cherie Day, Vivek Gupta, Matthew Bailes, Wael Farah, Tim Bateman, Danny Price, Stefan Oslowski, Andrew Jameson during validation of the antenna design on the North-South arm in May 2019.
Six modules being removed from the telescope for stripping and refitting to the UTMOST-2D electronics and receivers. Jan 2020.
