| 8th of June 2016 |
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| Astronomical Verification of an SKA Frequency Synchronisation system prototype |
| by Sascha Schediwy (UWA) |
| During last weeks' scheduled maintenance
period, Sascha Schediwy and David Gozzard from the University of Western
Australia (as part of the SKA's Signal and Data Transport consortium), used
the Australia Telescope Compact Array to conduct Astronomical Verification
tests of a prototype of the SKA's Frequency Synchronisation system. The tests involved transmitting an 8 GHz reference frequency over 80 km of optical fibre, and using this to synchronise the ATCA receivers. The SKA system is used to maintain phase synchronisation across the array by actively cancelling the phase fluctuations introduced by the optical fibre link. Sascha and David are very grateful for the support from CASS colleagues Jamie Stevens, Jock McFee, Mike Hill, Peter Mirtschin and Tasso Tzioumis who helped make the Astronomical Verification a success. Thanks also to Simon Stobie, Gavin Siow, Maria Rioja, and Richard Dodson from UWA. From left to right, the photo shows David, Mike, Sascha, Peter, Jamie, and Jock. |