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Benthem, P.; Wayth, R.; de Lera Acedo, E.; Zarb Adami, K.; Alderighi, M.; Belli, C.; Bolli, P.; Booler, T.; Borg, J.; Broderick, J. W.; Chiarucci, S.; Chiello, R.; Ciani, L.; Comoretto, G.; Crosse, B.; Davidson, D.; DeMarco, A.; Emrich, D.; van Es, A.; Fierro, D.; Faulkner, A.; Gerbers, M.; Razavi-Ghods, N.; Hall, P.; Horsley, L.; Juswardy, B.; Kenney, D.; Steele, K.; Magro, A.; Mattana, A.; McKinley, B.; Monari, J.; Naldi, G.; Nanni, J.; Di Ninni, P.; Paonessa, F.; Perini, F.; Poloni, M.; Pupillo, G.; Rusticelli, S.; Schiaffino, M.; Schillirò, F.; Schnetler, H.; Singuaroli, R.; Sokolowski, M.; Sutinjo, A.; Tartarini, G.; Ung, D.; Bij de Vaate, J. G.; Virone, G.; Walker, M.; Waterson, M.; Wijnholds, S. J.; Williams, A.
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 11/2021, Volume: 655Journal Article
The design and development process for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope’s Low Frequency Aperture Array component was progressed during the SKA pre-construction phase by an international consortium, with the goal of meeting requirements for a critical design review. As part of the development process a full-sized prototype SKA Low ‘station’ was deployed – the Aperture Array Verification System 1 (AAVS1). We provide a system overview and describe the commissioning results of AAVS1, which is a low frequency radio telescope with 256 dual-polarisation log-periodic dipole antennas working as a phased array. A detailed system description is provided, including an in-depth overview of relevant sub-systems, ranging from hardware, firmware, software, calibration, and control sub-systems. Early commissioning results cover initial bootstrapping, array calibration, stability testing, beam-forming, and on-sky sensitivity validation. Lessons learned are presented, along with future developments.
