MMA Memo #143

Report of the Receiver Committee for the MMA

Jack Welch [1], John Carlstrom [2], Darrel Emerson [3], Phil Jewell [3], Tony Kerr [4], Steve Padin [5], John Payne [3], Dick Plambeck [1], Marian Pospieszalski [4], Dave Woody [5]

September 25, 1995

Keywords: receivers, sensitivity, frequency bands, local oscillator, LO, bandwidth, optics, image separation, polarization, cryogenics

Apart from the collecting area of the Array, its sensitivity depends principally on the system noise temperature and bandwidth (for continuum), and the receivers have a major effect on these quantities. Three developments since the writing of the MMA Proposal have changed our view of the system design somewhat. These are (a) improvements in receiver noise temperatures, (b) the low sky background temperatures at the potential site in Chile, and (c) increases in receiver bandwidths. Because of (a) and (b) at millimeter wavelengths, it is important that the pick-up of noise radiation from the surroundings be kept as small as possible. In the following paragraphs, we discuss various aspects of the receivers and make recommendations based on our current knowledge of the systems.

[1] BIMA
[2] U. Chicago
[3] NRAO/TUC
[4] NRAO/CV
[5] OVRO

From here, you can:

View an HTML version of MMA Memo #143.

Download an ASCII version of MMA Memo #143 ( bytes)

Last modified: 09 December, 1999