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Ladu A, Schirru L, Pili M, Vargiu GP, Gaudiomonte F, Perini F, Melis A, Concu R, Murgia M. Design, Implementation, and Characterization of a Signal Acquisition Chain for SADino: The Precursor of the Italian Low-Frequency Telescope Named the Sardinia Aperture Array Demonstrator (SAAD). SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:9151. [PMID: 38005541 PMCID: PMC10674162 DOI: 10.3390/s23229151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Low-frequency aperture arrays represent sensitive instruments to detect signals from radio astronomic sources situated in the universe. In Italy, the Sardinia Aperture Array Demonstrator (SAAD) consists of an ongoing project of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) aimed to install an aperture array constituted of 128 dual-polarized Vivaldi antennas at the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) site. The originally envisaged 128 elements of SAAD were re-scoped to the 16 elements of its precursor named SADino, with the aim to quickly test the system with a digital beam-former based on the Italian Tile Processing Module (iTPM) digital back-end. A preliminary measurements campaign of radio frequency interference (RFI) was performed to survey the less contaminated spectral region. The results of these measurements permitted the establishment of the technical requirements for receiving a chain for the SADino telescope. In this paper, the design, implementation, and characterization of this signal acquisition chain are proposed. The operative frequency window of SAAD and its precursor, SADino, sweeps from 260 MHz to 420 MHz, which appears very attractive for radio astronomy applications and radar observation in space and surveillance awareness (SSA) activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adelaide Ladu
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Luca Schirru
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Mauro Pili
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Gian Paolo Vargiu
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Francesco Gaudiomonte
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Federico Perini
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Istituto di Radioastronomia (IRA), Via Fiorentina 3513, 40059 Medicina, Italy;
| | - Andrea Melis
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Raimondo Concu
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
| | - Matteo Murgia
- National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Via della Scienza 5, 09047 Selargius, Italy; (A.L.); (M.P.); (G.P.V.); (F.G.); (A.M.); (R.C.); (M.M.)
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