African VLBI Network Training Site

14 May 2019 15:00 - 16:00

Title: Receiver and Optics Design for the Goonhilly
 Antenna Conversion

Author: Dr Alexander (Alex) Pollak
              Postdoctoral Research Assistant
              Department of Physics
              University of Oxford
            

Abstract:
I will present the design and development of a complete receiver system for a conversion project, which replaces the commercial receiver of a telecommunication antenna with a cryogenically cooled radio astronomy receiver. Part of the project was to explore the synergy between radio astronomy and deep-space communications, which share many technical requirements, but also have technical conflicts. Therefore, I will cover attempts to solve some of these technological issues and present a design for a receiver system, where radio astronomy and communication applications can successfully share the same hardware and infrastructure.

More about the author:

I work in the field of experimental radio astronomy at the University of Oxford. My activities include the development, implementation and verification of analogue and digital signal processing systems. For these systems I also develop new hardware components, such as filters, amplifiers, analogue control circuits, etc. as well as program the necessary software environment. In order to verify these systems and components, my work also includes the design and construction of test stands in the laboratory, as well as the implementation of test series and the evaluation of the experiments. Prior to my studies, I worked in the field of special purpose machinery in the automotive industry where I gained practical experience.