Arecibo Observatory: S-High Receiver

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S-High Receiver

Basic Information

Calibration & Beam Parameters

RFI Situation

Recent Events

Receiver History

Technical Description

Contact Info

1. Basic Information:

Frequency Range (GHz):	3.0 - 4.0
Name and Number:	*sbh, sbh1_2, and 8, 81 ()**
Measured Sensitivity (K/Jy):	~ 7 - 10 ()**
Measured System Temp (K):	~ 27 - 29 ()**
Native Polarization:	Dual Linear()*
Beam Size (at 3.3 GHz):	~ 85 arcsec ()**
Available Filters:	No RF filters at present
Warnings and Important Notes:	None

* The two different names and numbers are used for different IF/LO paths in IFSETUP command
** See calibration info below for a more accurate description of the telescope parameters

*** Can be circularized by using the 10-GH upconversion IF/LO path and a hybrid (More Info)

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2. Calibration & Beam Parameters:

Gain and Tsys

Cal Values

Beam Maps

Polarization

Misc. Info

Beam Maps

No beam map at this frequency is yet available, however some beam-related parameters can be viewed here. The plots show coma, 1st-side lobe level, main beam effeciency and main beam + 1st side-lobe effeciency at different frequency ranges.

Here is a recommended internal memo on this subject (even though this Receiver wasn't available at the time of these observations): Main Beam and First Sidelobe Parameters for Arecibo's Receiver Systems by C. Heiles et al (5MB PS file )
Polarization

Polarization properties of this Rx has not been determined yet. However, here is an useful documents The Mueller Matrix Parameters for Arecibo's Receiver Systems (Not including this Reciver) by C. Heiles et al (~5MB, PS file)

A short introduction to digital spectropolarimetry written be Carl Heiles can be found in this PDF file
Misc. Info
To see an up-to-date plot of Tsys, just type tsys on your terminal after logging into Arecibo's computer network. It will open an IDL environment and show a plot of Tsys vs day number for all Rxs. You may then follow the instructions to plot only one Rx.
More information on calibration techniques can be found in Chris Salter's "Note relevant to Spectral Line User's"

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3. RFI situation:

Yet to be fully characterized.

A few RFI-related useful links (on AO pages) are:

Various RFI info
How to look at RFI monitoring data taken with the telescope (X111) using IDL

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4. Recent Events:

It has been decided in April 2005 to keep this Rx uncooled while NOT in use (due to low usage at this time and high demand on cryogenics). It can be cooled down with 2 days' notice.

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5. Receiver History:

The Receiver was installed in 2001. Currently, it is kept at room temperature, but can be cooled (in 2 days) when needed.

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6. Technical Info:

Technical details are only avaiable on our internal pages (click on the appropriate links on top of the RX table. If you arelooking for any specific information/diagram etc, please see below.

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7. Contact Info:

For further information on this receiver, please contact T. Ghosh at
tghosh (append @naic.edu)

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