Arecibo Observatory X-High Band Receiver

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X Band

Basic Information

Calibration & Beam Parameters

RFI Situation

Recent Events

Receiver History

Contact Info

1. Basic Information:

Frequency Range (GHz):	7.8 - 10.2*
Name and Number:	X-Band (cb,11)
Measured Sensitivity (K/Jy):	2.3 - 5.5 (8.5 GHz) 2.3 - 5.5 (8.8 GHz) 2.3 - 5.5 (9.0 GHz) 2.0 - 5.5 (9.2 GHz)**
Measured System Temp (K):	28 - 30 (8.5 GHz) 28 - 31 (8.8 GHz) 30 - 31 (9.0 GHz) 30 - 32 (9.2 GHz)**
Native Polarization:	Dual Circular***
Beam Size (9.0 GHz):	30 x 34 (arcsec)
Available Filters:	N/A
Warnings and Important Notes:	Resonances click here

*Although the bandpass of this receiver is 2 GHz, only a 1-GHz wide chunk can be brought to the Control Room for processing at any given time.
**See calibration info below for a more accurate description of the telescope parameters!
***While the native polarization of the receiver is circular, linear polarization can be produced using the 180-deg hybrid present in the IF chain. If this is required, consult your Local Friend.

NEWS
Tsys from 8.5 GHz to 10 GHz improved, new values are around 30 K.

Graph prepared by Phil Perillat.
Warnings & Important Notes
Resonances in the passband of the X-Band receiver occur at 9770, and 9884 MHz. Click here for more detailed information.

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2. Calibration & Beam Parameters:

Gain and Tsys

Cal Values

Beam Maps

Polarization

Misc. Info

Gain and Tsys
Here the latest Tsys and Gain curves.

For more details of the X-Band performance as a function of zenith angle click here.

Cal Values
The most recent cal values measurements

For more information about cals click here.

Beam Maps
Not available.

Polarization
Not available.

Misc. Info
To see an up-to-date plot of Tsys, just type tsys on your terminal after logging into Arecibo's computer network.

More information on calibration techniques can be found in "Note relevant to Spectral Line User's" .
For more info on the calibration of the X-band receiver and other Arecibo receivers, go to Phil Perrilat's home page .

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3. RFI situation:

X-band suffers some Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), which is believed to be due to aircraft communications. Daily RFI monitoring plots for the past several years from the Observatory "hill-top" monitoring system can be found in binders in the telescope Control Room.

For the current daily average X-band RFI plot from the Arecibo "hill-top" monitoring system, click here .

For the current frequency v time X-band RFI plot from the Arecibo "hill-top" monitoring system, click here .

For the current frequency v time X-band RFI plot (with band-pass correction) from the Arecibo "hill-top" monitoring system, click here .

For the current daily rms/mean v frequency X-band RFI plot from the Arecibo "hill-top" monitoring system, click here .

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4. Recent Events:

For the most recent history of the X-Band receiver, click here.

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5. Receiver History:

For a full history of the X-Band receiver, click here.

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6. Contact Info:

For further information on this receiver, please contact Robert Minchin at
rminchin (append @naic.edu)

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