Speaker
Description
The Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART) is a low-cost, 24-element aperture synthesis array that continuously scans the sky for transient events. It also serves as a test bench for calibration, imaging algorithms, and hardware development for larger radio telescopes, like the MeerKAT and VLA telescopes. Now installed in several countries, TART is driving meaningful growth in radio astronomy capacity across Africa.
The current setup of TART employs commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) GPS microstrip patch antennas. However, these antennas present several limitations: they have a narrow bandwidth, cannot be modified, and are costly in the long term.
In this research, we design an Active Integrated Antenna (AIA) that can be modified at any time to enhance TART’s performance. The AIA consists of a single-fed, circularly polarised microstrip patch antenna integrated with a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to boost signal strength in the GPS L1 frequency band. The antenna is simulated using electromagnetic and circuit co-simulation tools, then fabricated and tested.
Results demonstrate that the AIA achieves higher gain, improved noise performance, and greater design flexibility compared to the existing COTS antennas, making it a promising candidate for future TART deployments.
| Stream | Science or Engineering |
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